Underlying premise

A dream of mine when moving out west was to get more into mechanical pursuits - ideally through a project car. The original vision for my bay area life was a one-bedroom in Pacifica with a garage where I could keep such a car, but that vision didn't pan out. Instead, the tandem garage I now have in the Richmond limits me from the project car dream (as well as the financial ramifications).

Instead, I've decided to direct that mechanical interest towards less capital-intensive projects. I would have loved to go for a motorcycle, but the inherent risk is something I'm still trying to get a little more comfortable with. A bike is also appealing because it solves a legitimate friction in my life - the annoyance when there are no Lyft e-bikes available at the stand near me (as well as the ~5m walk to the stand). Since I already have some experience working with bikes, it's not uncharted territory either.

The e-bike retrofit idea is actually a revival of a high school ambition I had. Back then, I used a hybrid Specialized hand-me-down from my dad to get to and from school, which entailed a substantial climb (particularly on the return trip) on Redhawk Parkway. I had considered a retrofit then, but the lack of capital stopped me from executing on my vision.

That's less of a concern now. After noticing that my office had indoor bike storage, I was strongly motivated to commute by bike, but the SF hills would probably leave me sweaty for hours (in fact, I'm already warm from the assisted e-bike ride). As such, this e-bike retrofit project would solve multiple issues at the same time.

Broad conceptual iterations

My initial thought was to retrofit an old road bike. I actually had one in high school, but I never even considered the retrofit on it then. Although it's appealing for the aerodynamics, I felt that it would be a betrayal of what a road bike stands for, and it would also feel duplicative once I purchased an actual road bike for cycling.