Fact: Between our Alameda location and our Sacramento location we are on a trajectory to convert over 1,000 bikes to electric in 2020. That is a lot of bikes, that is a lot of experience. 

Here are some of our recent conversions: 

Hello, I am Dr. Carpenter, CEO of Island City Bikes, LLC. In 2017 we began the electric bike manufacturing company of Island City Bikes. Instead of using bike frames shipped from China we chose to use existing framesets such as those by Giant, Trek, Raleigh, Diamondback and others. The reasons we chose this approach was because we knew these bikes have already met the high standard of quality each company requires. We would take these framesets and incorporate a Bafang mid drive motor and a long distance lithium battery. The final result was a quality electric bike built with the best components available and yet only one third of the cost of other electric bikes. 

As our reputation grew, people began to bring their existing bikes to us for conversion to electric. We grew for one employee to six employees and opened a second location in Sacramento. Today, converting existing bikes to electric represents 80% of our business. We convert cargo bikes, mountain bikes, leisure bikes, tandems, city bikes, folding bikes, choppers, Burning Man bikes, road bikes, cruisers, adult trikes, and many others. If you are not sure if your bike is a good candidate for conversion just give us call. We keep a large database on all bikes and can tell you in minutes if your bike is a viable candidate. 

Click the button below to see many of our recent conversions.

There are some very compelling reasons to have us convert your existing bike to electric:

1. All electric bikes are simply bicycles with motors and batteries.

If that is the case then it makes sense to convert your current bike to electric as you are already familiar with the bike, you know it fits, and it is a bike you originally chose as your personal bike. It is our job to insure your bike will be a safe, reliable means of transportation after the conversion to electric. All electric bikes are blending new technologies with standard bicycles. It is not magic....but it feels like it when you ride your eBike for the first time. 

2. Electric bike conversion costs 1/3 of a prebuilt electric bike. 

It is far less expensive when you supply your own bike for the installation of the motor of your choice and the battery of your choice. Why pay for the bike portion of an eBike when you already have that in your garage? 

3. Service of your converted electric bike

If an eBike purchased at a bike shop, or online, needs repair it has to be returned to the manufacturer.  All of our conversion bikes are serviced in house. We have the tools, mechanics, electrical technicians, and the knowledge base to fix anything on our conversions. We can replace a motor in 30 minutes and a battery in 5 minutes. 

4. All of our conversions use the Bafang Mid Drive Motor

The Bafang BBS02 750w mid drive motor is the most popular electric bike motor in the world. Bafang Industries produces and sells over 1,000,000 of these motors every year. They are maintenance free, reliable, lightweight (eight pounds), simple to use, and have incredible hill climbing torque. 

5. Our batteries are built for long distance riding. Our smallest battery is 624 watt hours and comes standard on all of our builds. 

It is a categorical imperative that all electric bikes are built according to the standards of both Federal and State Law. It is our responsibility to insure 100% of the bikes we convert to electric adhere to these standards. The laws regulating electric bikes in the US and California are very generous and we are fortunate to be able to ride electric bikes just about anywhere we can ride a bicycle.

Here is a primer on the laws regulating electric bikes in California.

California electric bike law      

We find that most people prefer a throttle on their bike and this makes it a Class II bike. Others prefer a bike that can go 28MPH and that would be a Class III bike. We let you choose what type of electric bike you would like. One of the benefits of the Bafang mid drive is you can set you own MPH limit anytime you wish by changing the setting in the display. 

The cost of converting your bike to electric is $1499. This includes the most popular, powerful, reliable, maintenance free motor in the world and a long range 48v battery rated at 624 watt hours. We also include a 90 day no fault warrantee on the motor and the battery. "No fault" means you do not have to fill out reams of information to explain why the battery is failing to charge or the motor to run, just give us a call to set up an appointment and let's get you back on the road. 

What it includes: For the best explanation of what it includes see our next page on the conversion process. The entire process can take up to three days as it is very labor intensive. Each employee is trained in bike mechanics, and in the installation methods of motor, battery, cabling, and instruments of the Bafang motor system. 

We have developed proprietary methods of both motor and battery installation. In addition, we have our own machine shop that allows us to mill custom bottom bracket adaptors, and battery spacers. We we do not have a part we make it ourselves to insure your bike is finished on time.

Our consultants include a Senior Engineer at Tesla Motors, a Professor of Federal Law at Golden Gate University. Our employees are former road bike racers, old school mechanics, new to the field  mechanics, in training, and even our CEO has over 50 years of experience working on bikes.