10 Top Reasons to add electric-assist to your Catrike with a Neodrive Z20

These days, there are so many options to add electric-assist to your Catrike, including using the Catrike OEM E-Kit featuring a Bosch mid-drive motor, it can make your head swim.

Only one works on the full range of Catrikes while simultaneously preserving the full, original gear-range and sticking to the 250W Class 1 motor designation of Catrike's own E-Kits: The Neodrive Z20.

Here are the 10 best no-nonsense reasons to upgrade your Catrike with the Neodrive Z20 electric-assist hub-motor.

1. Drop-in wheel replacement: You simply remove the existing rear wheel, move the cassette, tube, and tire to the new Neodrive Z20 wheel, and your Catrike is instantaneously motorized. [Note: the battery and mounting bracket must be bolted on, controller mounted to a shifter, and wiring must be zip-tied to existing infrastructure.]

2. Full gear range: Catrikes generally come with 3 chainrings paired to a 10-speed cassette, yielding 30-speed with about a 567% gear-range. When you put on a Catrike E-Kit, you lose the lower and upper front chainrings -- with a corresponding loss of gear-range (down to 327%). In contrast, a Neodrive keeps all of your front chainrings and rear cassette speeds unchanged. All of your original 567% gear range is still available after your Neodrive EKit is installed.
3. Compatible with Catrike 142mm through-axles: Neodrive EKits are available in the 142mm through-axle format found in Catrike 26" and 700c models and the 20" wheels found on the MAX. They are also available in the 135mm quick-release format provided for the Villager, Trail, and older Catrike models.
4. Instantaneous torque-arm engagement when installing the rear wheel: Torque-arms are necessary for all motors. With hub-motors, they have been particularly problematic resulting in many interesting and potentially unsafe solutions. The Neodrive Z20 has an integrated torque-arm that mates to the Catrike frame in such a way that it instantly engages with no extra effort simply by inserting the rear wheel in its proper spot.
5. Simple installation: The Neodrive Z20 has three pieces: battery, controller / user-interface, and motor -- all connected with a wiring harness. To install, simply bolt the battery-mount in its place, put the display / controller on left or right SRAM shifter, and insert the rear wheel in its place. The wiring harness can be zip-tied to existing frame and cable infrastructure.
6. 250W Class 1 rating: The Catrike OEM EKit features a 250W torque-based, German-made Class 1 motor with 43Nm of output at the rear wheel of a 30-speed Catrike in 1st gear.The Neodrive is a 250W torque-based, German-made Class 1 motor with 40Nm of torque in all gears.
7. Overall higher torque on the pavement: The Bosch EKit puts out 50Nm of torque. After working through a 42T front chainring mated to the 36T cog of a Catrike 559 first gear, it becomes 43Nm at the rear hub. All other gears will have lower torque going all the way down to 13Nm in the highest (fastest) 11T rear gear. In contrast, the Neodrive Z20 puts out a maximum of 40Nm at the hub in all gears. This means that you can accelerate as strongly at 15mph as at 2mph.
8. Easier on rear derailleur: Mid-drive systems such as the Bosch Active-Line Plus send the assisted force through the chain to the rear gears and rear derailleur. This is hard on the gears. The Neodrive hub-motor sends the assisted force directly from the hub to the ground giving the rear-derailleur normal, human-powered cycling forces only.
9. No gears: The Neodrive Z20 is a direct-drive motor. There are no gears inside and, consequently, no potential for gear failures.
10. No moving parts or sensors: The only thing that moves in a Neodrive is the motor (hub) around the axle with just big huge bearings between the two. There are no gears, no grease, no pivot-points. There aren't even any sensors!!! Not even a heat sensor. Instead, the heat inside the motor is determined extremely accurately simply by knowing the voltage and current and then calculating it from the instantaneous resistance of the coils. The torque-sensor has a very slight movement that causes it to send out different RFID signals to the controller. No wires. All of this results in the least wear and tear with extraordinary durability.

Neodrive Z20 systems come with a two-year warranty. energy-sipping efficiency, and energy recuperation.

All Neodrive Z20 Catrike upgrade systems are available from your nearest Catrike dealer.

MG recently upgraded his Catrike Dumont to an electric-assisted system using a Neodrive Z20. Here are some photos of the amazing result.