48v hub drive bike - (not UK legal)

[Az.]

What about you ?

I have... None

I converted 29" Carrera for my wife and then bought her electric step through, which is much more suitable for her needs. So now I use her Carrera with front hub. Far fromideal for my needs, but it is electric and it is available, so I use it. I love ebikes now. It is just so much better.
I am waiting for tsdz2 turbo to convert my MTB for new sezon. Can't wait.

Nice collection of bikes you have. I would have more, but space in shed is very limited (kids have bikes too)

 

[Saracen]

I had my 2 bikes converted with the largest 750w 2 amp hour Bafang batteries and the 001 MID drives £850 each with colour display, beats any hub drive for mountainish, Welsh forest riding, I would 100% upgrade any GOOD bike you already have.

Here I am soaking from a 6 mile forest ride 22/9/23, cold and LOOOOVING every second. I have never been fitter or had such a great time.

 

[saneagle]

I had my 2 bikes converted with the largest 750w 2 amp hour Bafang batteries and the 001 MID drives £850 each with colour display, beats any hub drive for mountainish, Welsh forest riding,

It's nice to hear that you're happy with your electric bike. They really open up cycling in ways that some people can't imagine. Can you explain a bit more about how what you have beats any hub motor? Which characteristics does it have that does it? Which hub motors did you try or investigate to make the comparison? Did you compare yours with a Bafang BPM, Q128H or a MAC, or even a 2-speed Xiongda motor? In other words, does yours beat those motors?

 

[Az.]

I had my 2 bikes converted with the largest 750w 2 amp hour Bafang batteries

Did you mean 20Ah? 2Ah battery is super tiny.
Neither 750W motor nor 20Ah are "the largest". Not even close...

I am glad to hear you are having fun and you are happy on your bike. We hope you or your son won't get caught while riding them.
There is no point to start "my ebike is the best" flame war. All conversions have pros and cons and as long as owner is happy, all is as it should be.

 

[Saracen]

It's nice to hear that you're happy with your electric bike. They really open up cycling in ways that some people can't imagine. Can you explain a bit more about how what you have beats any hub motor? Which characteristics does it have that does it? Which hub motors did you try or investigate to make the comparison? Did you compare yours with a Bafang BPM, Q128H or a MAC, or even a 2-speed Xiongda motor? In other words, does yours beat those motors?

I borrowed three bikes before buying, front/mid/rear

With both the hub motors it was a faf (think wet, cold, rain) to get the wheels off, you have to unplug the electrics WHEN WET in the rain, undo NUTS so need a spanner, heavier especially rear wheel making (for me anyway) getting the damn thing back with the gears a real pain.

Mid hub............. life as usual.

Also, I ride forests, gravel now hills, the front hub SPAN badly on chippings, mud, wet ground. Neither were as efficient when climbing.

 

[saneagle]

I borrowed three bikes before buying, front/mid/rear

With both the hub motors it was a faf (think wet, cold, rain) to get the wheels off, you have to unplug the electrics WHEN WET in the rain, undo NUTS so need a spanner, heavier especially rear wheel making (for me anyway) getting the damn thing back with the gears a real pain.

Mid hub............. life as usual.

Also, I ride forests, gravel now hills, the front hub SPAN badly on chippings, mud, wet ground. Neither were as efficient when climbing.

You don't need to take wheels off to fix punctures on any ebike. You just take the tyre off and fix it, which is the same on any bike. In fact you don't need to get punctures at all if you use the right tyres.

So you didn't try any of those motors, I listed above. In that case, how do you know that yours is better than them?

This bike I built has hub-motors 2-wheel drive. Do you think it would climb up wet leafy/grassy hills better of worse than yours?

 

[Saracen]

You don't need to take wheels off to fix punctures on any ebike. You just take the tyre off and fix it, which is the same on any bike. In fact you don't need to get punctures at all if you use the right tyres.

So you didn't try any of those motors, I listed above. In that case, how do you know that yours is better than them?

This bike I built has hub-motors 2-wheel drive. Do you think it would climb up wet leafy/grassy hills better of worse than y

Never assume

I know what I tried

Also never assume we are all the same, I take MY wheels off to fix punctures, you don't so what

 

[saneagle]

Never assume

I know what I tried

Also never assume we are all the same, I take MY wheels off to fix punctures, you don't so what

We get it that you like your bike, but be careful not to mislead uninformed people who read this forum with false facts, like scaring them about punctures and saying which bikes are best without qualifying your statement and that you have an illogical brain that can't figure out simple ways to do things . What you should have said is that you tried a couple of basic hub-motored bikes and you prefer your one for your needs. You have to bear in mind that there are substantially different hub-motored bikes to the ones that you tried that you know nothing about, and other people have different needs to you.

Some people have limited funds and need to make the right choice first time. You should always consider that when you post stuff.

 

[Nealh]

I have spent several years riding hub bikes off road also included a bbs01 mid motor which proved less reliable then the hub bikes. I have yet to have a hub motor fail but have had a controller issue with thermal cut outs, the BBS controller when it fials can be very unpredictable before it finally gives up.

 

[Saracen]

We get it that you like your bike, but be careful not to mislead uninformed people who read this forum with false facts, like scaring them about punctures and saying which bikes are best without qualifying your statement and that you have an illogical brain that can't figure out simple ways to do things . What you should have said is that you tried a couple of basic hub-motored bikes and you prefer your one for your needs. You have to bear in mind that there are substantially different hub-motored bikes to the ones that you tried that you know nothing about, and other people have different needs to you.

Some people have limited funds and need to make the right choice first time. You should always consider that when you post stuff.

Nothing I have said is false nor misleading, I have tried front rear and mid and I DO as stated READ "I as in ME" prefer to remove the wheels when fixing punctures, also mid hubs are easier to work on in MY opinion.

Finally there are many qualified sites such as Mountain biking and Cycling news who clearly state in "their" opinion mid drives out perform hub drives, so go argue with the professionals LOL

Just one as I learned from MY testing before buying, I read as much as I can and try out THEN commenst from PERSONAL experience if you don't like that tough

While it’s generally less sophisticated, a hub drive system offers simplicity, lower cost, and enough pedal-assist power for commuting, and even off-road applications.… But if you’re after more performance and better handling, look for a mid-drive system.

Do I Need a Hub Drive or a Mid-Drive Motor?

Which ebike system is best for you: a hub drive or a mid-drive motor? You’ll want to consider cost, use case, and the motor’s location on the bike, among other factors.

www.cyclevolta.com

.

 

[Az.]

Nothing I have said is false nor misleading,

you have to unplug the electrics WHEN WET in the rain

No, you don't have to. You don't have to when it is raining and you don't have to when it is sunny.

 

[AGS]

You will find that your mid drive will require much more ongoing maintenance than a hub drive Saracen.

Your drive train wear will increase, so keep an eye on your chain, derailleur and rear sprocket. They will need changing more often.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

View attachment 54133

I'm intrigued by this one, was it built with a specific purpose ? is that the same Rocky Mountain that you are planning your road trip with ?

What are the specs of the two hub motors ? The red / white and black "panels" - did you fabricate and paint them yourself ? Presumably there is a battery hiding behind ?

 

[saneagle]

I'm intrigued by this one, was it built with a specific purpose ? is that the same Rocky Mountain that you are planning your road trip with ?

What are the specs of the two hub motors ? The red / white and black "panels" - did you fabricate and paint them yourself ? Presumably there is a battery hiding behind ?

That's my original Rocky Mountain that I built around 2012. I still have it in my shed. We didn't have downtube batteries in those days, so I had to build my own box. The motors were originally Q100 standard version 36v 201 rpm, but they were a bit slow, so I upgraded to Q100H 260 rpm.

It was just a project to test the principle of 2WD. It was absolutely brilliant in snow and on slippery grass, mud and things like that - the ebike version of a Landrover. Obviously, with two motors running with 15 amps, it could climb any hill easily. For normal riding, there was no advantage, so I switched to a good single motor rear wheel drive, which is all you need for normal travelling around.

Later, I built a bike with three motors with a total of 5.5kw that had acceleration like getting shot from a gun as long as the tyres could grip, but most of the time they couldn't. It left black stripes whenever I opened the throttle too fast.

 

[Az.]

Later, I built a bike with three motors with a total of 5.5kw that had acceleration like getting shot from a gun as long as the tyres could grip, but most of the time they couldn't. It left black stripes whenever I opened the throttle too fast.

Sounds like a perfect bike to run circles around SW