I own a front motor, one bafang mid motor and a few rear motor conversions. It's important to get the wheel weight down so that they are easier to accelerate.
I once bought a very inexpensive $79USD fat tire bike. Everything was steel, including the rims. I could barely pedal that bike 1.5 miles. In the process of converting to a rear motor fat bike, I replaced everything but the frame. Even with motor/battery it only weighs about 2 pounds more, I can ride that bike 10 miles w/o power because I've reduced the wheel weight by about 3 pounds on both. I saved almost 2 pounds just on tube/tires per wheel.
I mounted my front motor originally on an alloy fork, with double torque plates. I finally changed it to a steel front fork this month. It was hard to find a 20" steel fork that took disk brakes and had a 10" steerer tube to fit my minivello.I went front motor to keep the 8 speed cassette on that bike. The ride is harsh on bumpy roads, and the tire spins on loose or wet surfaces. I tell myself it's worth it to keep the cassette and have "two wheel" drive. I will be doing a second front motor on a cruiser style bike soon.
My mid drive conversion is on a lower end bicycle, but it's still pleasant to pedal and ride. Quite fast if I choose to hammer along, but no need. At my speeds, nothing will wear out. I bought a new chain when I converted it in 2016, but still am using the old one.
What has worn out are two DNP 11T-28T freewheels on our rear motor 20" folder conversions. Both wore out the pawls around 3000 miles. That was predicted, and it happened. I also wore out the rear tire on mine at 2500 miles.
I once bought a very inexpensive $79USD fat tire bike. Everything was steel, including the rims. I could barely pedal that bike 1.5 miles. In the process of converting to a rear motor fat bike, I replaced everything but the frame. Even with motor/battery it only weighs about 2 pounds more, I can ride that bike 10 miles w/o power because I've reduced the wheel weight by about 3 pounds on both. I saved almost 2 pounds just on tube/tires per wheel.
I mounted my front motor originally on an alloy fork, with double torque plates. I finally changed it to a steel front fork this month. It was hard to find a 20" steel fork that took disk brakes and had a 10" steerer tube to fit my minivello.I went front motor to keep the 8 speed cassette on that bike. The ride is harsh on bumpy roads, and the tire spins on loose or wet surfaces. I tell myself it's worth it to keep the cassette and have "two wheel" drive. I will be doing a second front motor on a cruiser style bike soon.
My mid drive conversion is on a lower end bicycle, but it's still pleasant to pedal and ride. Quite fast if I choose to hammer along, but no need. At my speeds, nothing will wear out. I bought a new chain when I converted it in 2016, but still am using the old one.
What has worn out are two DNP 11T-28T freewheels on our rear motor 20" folder conversions. Both wore out the pawls around 3000 miles. That was predicted, and it happened. I also wore out the rear tire on mine at 2500 miles.