These days innovation is everywhere in the bicycle industry, as the world progresses towards e-transport becoming the global norm and e-bikes in particular continue to take centre stage.

Enter RETHINK, a series where we highlight both our own work and the industry players we admire who are re-imagining what e-mobility and the bicycle sector can do.

This month, we highlight the modular mounts that we are known for at MODMO, which we believe to be setting a new industry standard for accessorising your bike through cutting edge design and multi-purpose utility. You know about our Mods, but what about the mounts themselves? What makes them so groundbreaking?

Multi-purpose Modular Mounts

Here are the details plus some teasers regarding what our Mod team is working on at the moment. We will be releasing the first of our Mods later this year - sign up to our newsletter, follow us on Facebook or watch this space for updates.

Two Modular Mounts

Our Saigon ebikes all come with two seamless mounts on the front and back of the bike, designed to be intuitive, versatile and functional. We want you to be able to slide on and off your chosen Mods with ease. During the design process, our team focussed on three characteristics - utility, full aesthetic integration and building the mounts to serve multiple purposes so as to make them as unique and, let’s be honest, as cool as possible.

Utility

Unlike traditional bicycle accessories, our Modular Accessories don’t have to attach to the bike as permanent fixtures. They simply slip onto our Mod Mounts so you can take them off and put them on again in seconds with no tools needed - hands only. 

The mounts are intuitive structures, covered with a cap that once removed exposes a u-shaped slot. You take your Mod and slide it downwards into the mount, securing it with a lever screw to the right hand side. This screw can be secured with nothing but your hands. If you use the anti-theft version you will need a small allen key provided by us when you buy your MODMO ebike.

This agility makes using your Mods far easier and more convenient to use. You can dash home from work, slot on a child seat and cycle out on the school run. Or head to the shops with the trailer, unload your bags, slip the trailer off the mount and ride back out to meet up with friends. No need to take an accessory around with you all day just because it’s too time consuming to take on and off between rides. 

Full Integration

Then there’s the look and feel of the mounts - our Mod mounts are a smooth, fully integrated part of the bicycle frame. They are not retrofitted. 

This means that even when you don’t have Mods on your Saigon ebike, the mounts look like a natural part of the overall shape of the bike - they are not obvious accessory ports. You can cycle your Saigon S or + knowing that it looks ultra sleek with or without Mods attached.

Multi-Purpose

Added to this, our Mod Mounts are in fact more than just tools for attaching modular accessories. Both the front and back mount have multiple purposes. This is part of our overall vision for our bikes - to be fiercely utile and high performance, all in one powerful, zero-emission, matte-black package.

FRONT MOUNT

The modular mount protruding from the front of the Saigon S and Saigon+ is both a mount and a charging port for our battery, which is hidden inside the frame. 

Simply remove the Mod Cap and use the magnet on its inside to pull out the protective cover that hides the battery charging slot, then plug in the charger and leave your bike for a few hours depending on the battery you have installed.

While our battery is removable via a latch at the bottom of the frame, simply plugging it in via the Mod Mount can be a quicker, easier option for those looking to park and leave their bike ready for their next ride. For more on removing the battery, check out this How To video.

We currently offer two batteries which work with both our Saigon ebike models - a 10.5Ah and 17.5Ah - available for purchase on our website. The Saigon S comes with the 10.5Ah battery installed and the Saigon+ with the 17.5Ah battery, offering up to 115km and 200km range of pedal power assistance respectively, and 3 to 4 hours of charging time. Check out this blog post for more on our batteries.

BACK MOUNT

Inside the back Modular Mount we have hidden a specific tool for loosening the uniquely shaped nuts that secure the wheels to our bikes. These nuts, called Mod Nuts, are fitted with a uniquely shaped groove into which only one kind of tool - our Mod Nut Adapter - will fit, protecting the wheels from theft.

You may wish to remove the tool from the bike and secure it somewhere else, but if keeping it with you is most convenient, hide inside the rear mount, ready for use.

The Mods Themselves

Finally, we wanted to update you on the Mods that are facilitated by our Mod Mounts. They have been in production for some time and we really appreciate your patience and enthusiasm.

We have a range in the pipeline which will suit different needs, from a pannier rack and a child seat to a delivery box, a trailer and a front basket. All are currently in development, some in the final stages of prototyping, with some set to be released early next year.

Right now, our team is preparing the front and rear baskets for ISO dynamic and static testing, two forms of testing designed to confirm and certify the strength of our Mods. These two forms of testing differ in how loads are put onto the bikes - in static testing the load is just laid onto the Mod incrementally, but in dynamic testing the Mod is pushed a set number of times with a specific load over a set number of hours, which can better simulate the kind of stress the Mod will come under in a natural riding environment.

Meanwhile, we are currently finalising the prototypes for our child seat and delivery box. Our team will then link these Mods to our Mod Mounts via an internally developed adapter. This all rests on what our team calls the Mod Tube, an aluminium tube that acts as a frame for the rear Mods and slides into the rear Mod Mount.

Finally, our trailer - this Mod will be released further down the line as our team proceeds through the earlier stages of R&D, gathering the requirements and design specifications we want to see in the trailer, sourcing suppliers and preparing to build the product. 

We hope to bring the first of our Mods to you later this year, but you can stay up to date with our progress by linking up with our email newsletter or following us on Facebook. Please also feel free to contact customer service with any enquiries at hello@modmo.io.