Wondering if my lovely Raleigh Superbe can be converted to Pedalec?

[Deleted member 16246]

Hi All.

I have a rather fine 1970s Raleigh Superbe and was wondering if it would be possible to do a non-destructive conversion of such a machine. In many ways, the sturdy Raleigh is ideal, since it is strong and all steel and already quite heavy. The issues that could cause problems might relate to the now unusual wheel size and the old fashioned rod brakes. I REALLY don't want to change the brakes or damage the classic nature of the bicycle - its a fine commuting bike and a bit of a classic.

Maybe I am asking too much to propose what I am doing, but I would probably favour a gearless, front hub motor and a rack born battery pack. It may be that I would have to have the rims laced specially. The nature of the traditional rod brakes pulling up onto the inside of the rim rather than the side of the rim would mean I would have to get a wheel specially made up.

This isn't my actual bike, but it is just like this so you can see the problem I might have.


What would the process be likely to cost, I wonder?

Thanks for any insights you can bring.

 

[flecc]

I think an internally geared front hub motor would be more discreet, less likely to spoil the appearance of the bike as well as being more capable of pulling the weight uphill.

First important point though is how many spokes are there in the front wheel?
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[Deleted member 16246]

I think an internally geared front hub motor would be more discreet, less likely to spoil the appearance of the bike as well as being more capable of pulling the weight uphill.

First important point though is how many spokes are there in the front wheel?
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Many thanks for the advice. I had thought (probably wrongly) that the ungeared type would be more reliable, but I know little about this technology inspite of being well able to strip a and service an AW three speed. I'm all ears so to speak, because I know nothing about this stuff. The current wheel has 36 spokes. If I had to have the wheel remade, I would buy a spare rim and spokes. They are available. I am a bit doubtful that a 26 inch mountain bike wheel rim would work with the brakes for the reason I mention in the earlier post.

I don't really need power assist just yet, but as I get older, I can imagine it might be a blessing... I am using my car less and less these days. I've had it six years and have just passed 27,000 miles. I much prefer the old Raleigh for local travel.

 

[flecc]

36 spokes is perfect, since that is what most hub motors use. There shouldn't be any difficulty in accessing spokes either.

While I agree that direct drive motors have less to go wrong, they are rather large diameter so tend to spoil the appearance of a bike like yours, and are not so good for pulling weight uphill.

There's plenty of suitable front hub kits for 26" wheel size on the market, but most have the motor already built into a wheel. However, some of them are a low enough price that it would still be acceptable to scrap the supplied alloy rim and its spokes in favour of your own steel rim and new spokes.

Others may be able to suggest kits that are supplied without the motor built into a wheel.
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[Deleted member 16246]

36 spokes is perfect, since that is what most hub motors use. There shouldn't be any difficulty in accessing spokes either.

While I agree that direct drive motors have less to go wrong, they are rather large diameter so tend to spoil the appearance of a bike like yours, and are not so good for pulling weight uphill.

There's plenty of suitable front hub kits for 26" wheel size on the market, but most have the motor already built into a wheel. However, some of them are a low enough price that it would still be ok to scrap the supplied alloy rim and its spokes in favour of your own steel rim and new spokes.

Others may be able to suggest kits that are supplied without the motor built into a wheel.
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Thanks Flecc. Very encouraging. I'm sort of hoping someone will have trodden this path before and converted a bike like mine already and will know all the answers. I haven't measured the width of the drop outs but I think they are pretty standard looking. Re the geared drive motors, given the extreme reliability of epicyclic gears in the Sturmy Archer hubs, maybe I needn't worry too much about reliability of the geared hubs. As long as they have been properly built and greased they should hold up and by now there must be a lot of reliability data available over the last few years of use.

Cheers....

 

[flecc]

Ideally the dropout width should be 100mm athough a small discrepancy won't matter since steel forks can be safely stretched out wider. There's also the odd motors of 80/85 mm width suitable for folders, but they tend to be the less powerful ones so not as suitable.

Today's geared hub motors are very reliable, and they are very easy to strip for greasing after several thousand miles. In addition most have replacement gear sets available.
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[Alan Quay]

Flecc's Correct, geared hub motors are very reliable.

I have a Q128 that is about 5 years old. I've put about 2500 miles on it, and I bought it secondhand. In all that time I've done no maintenance on it what so ever.

 

[Deleted member 16246]

Flecc's Correct, geared hub motors are very reliable.

I have a Q128 that is about 5 years old. I've put about 2500 miles on it, and I bought it secondhand. In all that time I've done no maintenance on it what so ever.

Thanks for that Alan.

 

[Battenhall]

So how did things work out?
Did you lace a front motor into a hub retaining your rod brakes? I'm asking because looking to do the same project.

Anyone else have experience this type of work?