carbon forks and hub motors?

[Nealh]

I find my Ute with tsdz2 an easy ride with no power and that is also towing my carry freedom , flat road terrain and on the Worth way as well.
Gearing and cycle fitness both play their part, with Ute I have a double chain ring set up 32/42t that works perfectly because of the LWB/ rear chain stay so have a full 1 eighteen gears if needed.

 

[PJ53YYY]

• So clearly views differ and I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who has fitted a hub motor to carbon forks and their experience.

I have a Swytch kit fitted to a Boardman Hybrid with a carbon fork. It has a torque arm fitted. I think probably just because I saw Swytch offering them and thought I should fit one. I have been using the bike regularly for 4 years without issue.

 

[Nealh]

Personally I prefer steel /chromoly forks simply because they feel better then CF, the one mtb bike I had that was all CF I got shot of because I just didn't like the riding.
Each to their own and how a bike rides /feels will differ to that which one will feel comfortable with.

 

[saneagle]

I understand where you're coming from of course, but these riders and others like them, aren't worried about the added weight and are happy to trade that off to get the assistance when they need it on the hilly parts.

I've stripped back one of my TSDZ2 bikes (allow frame, carbon forks, and just a tool bag and mudguards) and use an 8Ah battery and am able to comfortably ride on the flat with little or no assistance because the bike is light and I'm not carting around some heffer-lump of a 17Ah battery, but the power is there when I get to the hills: 50-60 miles for me on the 8Ah battery.

If I had the inclination to spend £1k on an ebike conversion, I think I'd rather like the Cytronex and would I put it on my carbon Trek Madone? Quite possibly.

I got myself a carbon roadbike. After I lowered the gearing a bit, I found that I could pedal it just as easily and fast as my electric bikes. At first the hills were hard, but it wasn't long before I could do 80 mile rides. If hills are hard, you just lower the gearing to make them easier. It's only a question of how fast you want to go up the hills.

 

[AndyBike]

There are carbon forks and there are carbon forks, I've used carbon forks(White Brothers Rock Solid) offroad with a 180mm rotor and 4 pot brake and they were fine, but I wouldn't put a motor on a pair. I just think thats too much.

I'm very much with the above. A set of good quality steel or even 4130 cro-mo forks wont go wrong, and the fork area is the very last place you want to have any issues with.

 

[Peter.Bridge]

There is a very particular niche requirement which I and probably many others have, and for which there is not yet a perfect solution.

I can no longer manage the small proportion of serious uphill riding without assistance.

How about a 1.44kg akm-75 hub 36v 201rpm motor, maybe build your own wheel , coupled with a 36v 10ah bag battery (1.8kg) with top quality cells (like the ones Woosh offers). Add a KT controller, little LCD4 and pas sensor. That's going to be less than 4 kg added. I think the 201 rpm version would be ideal up hills if you are adding a significant amount of pedalling effort and has low motor drag.

Just thinking , a 54 mile ride, 27 miles flat/downhill unpowered, 27 miles incline / hills powered - 360Wh/27 = average 13.33 Wh/mile, although compared to a analogue road bike, depending on the route, there is probably a good proportion of the incline / hills where they would be above the motor cut off speed (even if you pushed it to 17 mph)

 

[sjpt]

I think the best solution at the moment for very lightweight bikes and hills is still pushing. Maybe that depends on how bitter you find the taste of shame.

 

[Bikes4two]

• So clearly views differ and I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who has fitted a hub motor to carbon forks and their experience.

• I can't help you directly but I've been talking to cycling buddies in Portsmouth CTC (link) and to date I've come across three separate riders who ride with Cytronex in carbon forks.
• All of them were strong riders in their days and still are relative to their ages and use the motor sparingly and report zero problems.
• Yes, I get the point of 'walking up hills' or 'going to a lower gear' and I'm not bashful about both approaches, but when you're in a group, enjoying the companionship and pace, you really don't want to keep your buddies waiting.

I like the idea of the AKM-75 @Peter.Bridge , a lot more than I like the £1,000 Cytronex

 

[saneagle]

• So clearly views differ and I'd be pleased to hear from anyone who has fitted a hub motor to carbon forks and their experience.

The big question is why you'd want to do it in the first place, when a rear motor would be so much better. Fitting a motor to any forks makes the bike shite!