Stokemonkey FAQ

Does it charge as you ride it?

No, it doesn’t generate any electricity. Stokemonkey’s use of your bicycle’s gearing yields far higher net efficiency than the regenerative braking schemes used in some other products, and the two approaches are mutually incompatible.

Can you use it in the rain?

Of course. Mud and snow are good too. Try not to immerse it. You should plan on taking the battery inside for charging if the bike has to stay outside, as the chargers aren’t weatherproof.

Will it work without an Xtracycle?

No, not as is. Stokemonkey attaches to Xtracycle’s product, not directly to your bicycle. There are too many bicycle design variations to create a safe, reasonably universal mount for Stokemonkey without Xtracycle’s product. Meanwhile, there are already a number of electric bike products for those who do not require the exceptional capability that Xtracycles and Stokemonkey offer together. Stokemonkey is designed to deliver more low-end torque than anybody could need without heavy cargo.

Apart from providing Stokemonkey a mounting point and clearance in your bike’s rear triangle, Xtracycle’s product provides a superior place to carry one or many battery packs, while still leaving plenty of useful cargo space. The extra wheelbase improves handling with heavy loads and at high speeds, permitting you to remain seated on the steepest climbs that would cause the front wheel to lift on ordinary bikes.

Will it work with a recumbent/trike/quad/tandem/velomobile/unicycle/hovercraft...if it does/does not have an Xtracycle?

See above. Stokemonkey is designed to work with Xtracycles attached to ordinary bikes as described in the compatibility notes. In all other cases, fitting Stokemonkey means embarking on an engineering adventure whose success cannot be guaranteed. At a minimum, you will need to fabricate your own mount. This is not always an easy task; Stokemonkey’s mount took several failed prototypes to develop. We can’t provide much if any support, nor can we extend our usual warranty for experimental installations.

If you’re still interested, please understand that you’re mostly on your own. We don’t know about your vehicle’s structural properties, clearances, and other important details. Pictures don’t provide enough detail and we can’t read CAD files.

That said, Stokemonkey has been successfully adapted to a number of special vehicles including recumbent trikes and at least one velomobile. We were happy to provide what support we did in these cases, but our time for special projects is generally scarce.

When are you coming out with a version that doesn’t force the pedals around? Isn’t that really dangerous? And do you want suggestions about how to achieve this?

Don’t hold your breath, no, and no, thanks. If you don’t like having to pedal, consider Ecospeed, ZVO, or Cyclone products. If you do like pedaling, and our warnings don’t scare you off, we ask you to give it a good try before opining about the worth of driven pedals.

Admittedly, we were a little surprised to discover how well we liked it, too. You don’t have to pedal any harder than you want to, but just moving your legs lightly along will raise your heart rate and make you want to work. It’s not pleasant to let your legs be driven, so you always lead the motor with at least light pressure on the pedals. Thus you feel, shape, gate, and augment the power that goes on to the wheel with your largest muscle groups, not just with your fingertips on the throttle. This accomplishes a much more intimate human-machine synergy than typical power-on-demand or pedal-activated designs, offering sensitive enough control for powered use even on loose or slippery surfaces.

Subjective considerations of feel aside, driving the pedals is essential for cueing you when and how to shift for best power and range. “Improving” Stokemonkey with optional pedaling would break the feedback loop that lets Stokemonkey perform so well.

Is there a learning curve?

Skilled bicyclists will have no trouble using Stokemonkey immediately. It takes between a few moments and a few hours to become accustomed to the sensation of driven pedals, and to add throttle control to one’s existing shifting skills. If you have trouble changing gears smoothly and appropriately to maintain steady pedaling speeds as you start, climb, cruise, and descend, you’re not ready for Stokemonkey.

Many cyclists habitually shift to a very low gear and spin the pedals rapidly as they climb the steepest hills. Yet Stokemonkey provides maximum power at cadences of 60 or 80, depending on the mode setting. We have witnessed cyclists pedal up staircase-steep grades with Stokemonkey at cadences higher than 120, complaining that the motor wasn’t helping much. It can take a while to learn how to let Stokemonkey do the hardest work.

To lessen the chances of disappointment, we strongly recommend that you equip yourself with an Xtracycle and become accustomed to it before ordering Stokemonkey. You just might discover that you can carry as much as you need without motor help. In any case, having the Xtracycle ready before you get Stokemonkey means that you won’t waste time during the money-back guarantee period just setting it up and getting used to many new things at once.

Is it street legal?

Local laws vary, and are frequently difficult to ascertain and interpret for unusual vehicles. For example, many laws describe motorized bicycles only in internal combustion terms, while others refer to speed under motor power alone — a mode of use that Stokemonkey does not support. Stokemonkey installations can be configured to conform to common maximum speed laws through the mode switch and by restricting the high-end gearing of your bicycle. For instance, setting Stokemonkey to “low” may be sufficient to restrict your top speed to below 20 MPH if you limit your contribution or are carrying a passenger. If not, using the limit screws to prevent your front derailleur from being able to engage your largest chainring, or the rear derailleur from engaging the smallest sprockets should do the trick.

US federal law defines Stokemonkey installations limited to 20 MPH on level ground as bicycles rather than as mopeds or motorcycles. This federal definition pertains only to safety standards required of vehicle manufacturers, and may or may not be reflected in your local laws governing bicycle use and access to facilities, however.

Ultimately, you are responsible for knowing your local laws, configuring Stokemonkey, and operating your bike in a safe, responsible manner. Because Stokemonkey is virtually silent and requires you to pedal just like a regular bike, it is unlikely to attract unwanted legal attention. Just in case, you might consider carrying a copy of relevant sections of state or local law in demonstration of your concern, plausible conformance, or honest confusion.

Doesn’t the extra weight cancel out the benefit of the motor?

We usually answer this question by offering to haul the person asking up a nearby hill.

The real answer depends on the distance involved. With little or no cargo and higher gearing, you and Stokemonkey will almost always be able to outpace even very strong riders on the lightest ordinary bicycles as long as Stokemonkey’s charge lasts. With more cargo or multiple battery packs to extend your range, the extra weight begins to cut into the performance advantage, with declining returns as you add further packs. With nickel-metal hydride batteries and modest cargo, it is usually possible to ride 50 miles faster than most any unassisted rider, while still keeping the weight reasonable for unassisted pedaling. At 100 miles, the answer is less clear: while you could carry enough batteries to cover the distance more quickly than without, probably you wouldn’t care to pedal the dead batteries very far. And at 200 miles, accomplished unassisted riders would probably beat you, Stokemonkey, and all the batteries you could carry. Lighter batteries change the story somewhat, but for the near term Stokemonkey will likely remain most compelling for trips under 50 miles.

Can I install it myself?

Your local bicycle shop has all the tools and skills required to install Stokemonkey. In many cases, home mechanics will be adequately equipped, too. If in doubt after reviewing the installation instructions, take it to a shop!

Unfortunately, many bike shops have had bad experiences with other electric bike products, and others may profess support for exclusively human-powered vehicles, turning you away to contemplate the car racks they sell, their parking lot, etc. You have been warned. It may help to assure them that Stokemonkey works similarly to a tandem bicycle, using only standard bicycle drivetrain components, and that no electrical expertise is required. Please help us compile a list of shops who “get it” — until then, you’ll probably fare best with Xtracycle dealers.

Isn’t it cheating to put a motor on a bicycle?

Only if you use it for trips that you could enjoy, or learn to enjoy, on your own power alone. We think you should use a regular bike for those trips. A worse form of cheating is using a multi-ton vehicle for trips that Stokemonkey makes easy, while flattering yourself that you are too strong and pure a bicyclist to use a motor.

What’s that red thing?

You should know if you’re reading this, but you’d better get used to answering the question if you ride with one. For the record, it’s an electric motor assist kit called Stokemonkey (as opposed to Stoke Monkey or StokeMonkey), and it’s from Cleverchimp (as opposed to Clever Chimp or CleverChimp). It’s an accessory for Xtracycle’s product called the FreeRadical (though people call it an Xtracycle and sometimes incorrectly Extracycle), which in turn is an accessory for a regular bike. It’s hard to keep all this straight, so most people don’t. We propose calling the whole thing an X/SM, High Occupancy Sport Utility Bicycle, or just “the family car.” And no, it doesn’t charge as you ride it.