I would like some advice please, I think am going to get a front hub motor conversion kit. Are they all of similar difficulty when it comes to fitting them? I want something not too challenging for my first time. Also I am looking to get a new bike to fit it to, probably an American cruiser type, is there anything that a should be aware of when choosing a bike with a front hub fit in mind? Thank you, Darryl
Advice on first time buying and fitting a front hub kits
- Thread starter Deadeye
- Start date
The bike needs fairly robust forks.
Probably different front wheel kits are fairly similar to fit. Some (eg Swytch) have a fairly small battery that sits on the handlebars. They are probably a bit easier to fit but have limited range and the weight could affect steering.
Fit a legal 250w kit, and whatever you do don't fit one of the high powered direct drive kits (often advertised as 1000w or 750w). They need high power expensive batteries, are very heavy and have short range. Bad on the rear, probably especially unsuitable on the front wheel.
You might look at one ready built if you don't already have the bike: eg https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?crusa at £850. That is all reasonable quality components, good quality motor and a battery with a decent size/spec. Battery is significant part of the cost of an ebike. If you are looking to build yourself you might save a bit but make sure you get a suitable battery. (Ask here for more advice; I can't advise too much on many battery details; but they are important.)
Probably different front wheel kits are fairly similar to fit. Some (eg Swytch) have a fairly small battery that sits on the handlebars. They are probably a bit easier to fit but have limited range and the weight could affect steering.
Fit a legal 250w kit, and whatever you do don't fit one of the high powered direct drive kits (often advertised as 1000w or 750w). They need high power expensive batteries, are very heavy and have short range. Bad on the rear, probably especially unsuitable on the front wheel.
You might look at one ready built if you don't already have the bike: eg https://wooshbikes.co.uk/?crusa at £850. That is all reasonable quality components, good quality motor and a battery with a decent size/spec. Battery is significant part of the cost of an ebike. If you are looking to build yourself you might save a bit but make sure you get a suitable battery. (Ask here for more advice; I can't advise too much on many battery details; but they are important.)
Front forks need to be 100mm between dropouts. The dropouts themselves need to be deep or able to be filed deeper to completely envelope the motor axle and tab washer. Always fit a torque bracket. The better ones need a mudguard boss to fit to. Others have a jubilee clip that goes round the fork - personally I think they look naff. Steel forks would be best, however I've been running an Ezee in ally suspension forks for about 9000 miles now with no issues. (Torque bracket fitted).
If front disc is fitted you may need to go the next size up (with suitable adaptor) to stop the caliper fouling the motor.
In frame or rear rack battery gives better weight distribution.
Front hubs can be 'scrubby' on steep inclines with loose or greasy surfaces. Normally the answer would be to move ones weight forward more over the handlebars. Not sure this would be possible on a cruiser.
If front disc is fitted you may need to go the next size up (with suitable adaptor) to stop the caliper fouling the motor.
In frame or rear rack battery gives better weight distribution.
Front hubs can be 'scrubby' on steep inclines with loose or greasy surfaces. Normally the answer would be to move ones weight forward more over the handlebars. Not sure this would be possible on a cruiser.
Thanks for the advice. I will bear that in mind about the legal 250w and robust forks. I looked at Woosh website before thanks.
Thanks for the good advice. When you say "next size up" , next size up of what exactly?
The issue isn't vibration with nuts but the torque affect on aluminium fork drop outs, if they are meaty/thick then ok with Torque arms but if Rockshock type they will crack.
A 160mm disc will have the caliper fouling on a lot of motors. You may need to fit a 180mm or even 203mm coupled with the appropriate adaptor bracket for the caliper. 10 minutes work with the right wrenches.
The Akiema 100sx front hub is not vey large and shouldn't need a any brake alteration nor the Bafang G370 with 92mm spoke hole flange though due to the axle design would need steel forks as you can't utilise ant torque arms at all and can only fit one AR washer on the rhs. If you are light weight the Aikema 75sx is for 100mm forks and only 1.2kg.
Ok thanks, I'll take your word for it but at the moment I am not following what you mean, it's ok I will have to watch some videos.
the brake rotor needs to be bigger than the motor casing to give some space to the caliper.
If your motor casing has 120mm in diameter, your 160mm rotor is OK.
If your motor casing has 140mm in diameter, your 160mm rotor may be too small for some, OK for most.
If your motor casing has 160mm in diameter, your 160mm rotor is too small, you need 180mm or 203mm.
For example, the Aikema 100SX:
the diameter (C) of the casing is 120mm
My Bafang SWX02 has 140mm diameter, Bafang BPM 160mm etc.
I have put a little guide together (with pics) to help with a front-wheel conversion. You can download here: https://www.thebikeshed.online/downloads
I recently fitted a Woosh XF07 to my front wheel. Dead easy conversion, wheel and tyre swap, new bottom bracket with torque sensor and chainset on right side, drill holes in downtube to mount battery (bottle holder lugs in the wrong place, clamp LCD to handlebars, wire up. The bike speed is set by adjusting wheel size so no magnets on the wheel to worry about either and no brake cutouts to fit. At least that's all that the bikeshop said they did....oh and Woosh were extremely helpful before and during the conversion.
Regarding the torque sensor kit, more common with crank driven bikes but feels much more "natural" to me than cadence assist and saves on battery juice. On the flat I actually find my cruising speed tends to be around 17mph so the motor cuts out just before I reach peak speed but it assists me effortlessly and rapidly to get to that speed which may explain the good battery life. Hills up to 1 in 10 feel like flat and flat roads feel like they are gentle downwards slope. I really like it - it's an old steel framed bike and compared to a new ebike it's probably a bit rough around the edges but it does what I need it to for a fraction of the cost of a new ebike.
Potential negatives seem few at this stage. I've not felt any loss of traction though cycle on road or decent towpaths with gravel. Front wheel feels much heavier to lift at rest but I haven't noticed anything uncomfortable about having a spinning mass at the centre of the wheel. Fit thick tyres if you don't want to curse every time you hit a small pothole though. And I've had to fit a bottle dynamo for lighting as I can't tap off the Woosh battery and didn't want to have to recharge my lights separately (I don't particularly mind bottle dynamos but most people seem to hate them).
The only negative I can think of with a torque sensor over a cadence sensor is that if my chain broke I wouldn't be able to get home whereas with a PAS I'd turn the pedals and the bike would still move.
Regarding the torque sensor kit, more common with crank driven bikes but feels much more "natural" to me than cadence assist and saves on battery juice. On the flat I actually find my cruising speed tends to be around 17mph so the motor cuts out just before I reach peak speed but it assists me effortlessly and rapidly to get to that speed which may explain the good battery life. Hills up to 1 in 10 feel like flat and flat roads feel like they are gentle downwards slope. I really like it - it's an old steel framed bike and compared to a new ebike it's probably a bit rough around the edges but it does what I need it to for a fraction of the cost of a new ebike.
Potential negatives seem few at this stage. I've not felt any loss of traction though cycle on road or decent towpaths with gravel. Front wheel feels much heavier to lift at rest but I haven't noticed anything uncomfortable about having a spinning mass at the centre of the wheel. Fit thick tyres if you don't want to curse every time you hit a small pothole though. And I've had to fit a bottle dynamo for lighting as I can't tap off the Woosh battery and didn't want to have to recharge my lights separately (I don't particularly mind bottle dynamos but most people seem to hate them).
The only negative I can think of with a torque sensor over a cadence sensor is that if my chain broke I wouldn't be able to get home whereas with a PAS I'd turn the pedals and the bike would still move.
Related Articles
-
Swytch announce new conversion kit with ‘pocket-sized’ battery- Started by: Pedelecs
-
New Swytch launches on Indiegogo, raises £100k in first hour- Started by: Pedelecs
-
Swytch to unveil 70% smaller, 50% lighter conversion kit- Started by: Pedelecs