front suspension or not? that is the question...

[pengyou]

I am putting the final touches on my plans to convert my beach bike into an ebike. I have noticed that most ebikes come with a front suspension - 2 shocks up front. I am guessing the top speed of my bike run only on batteries will be about 23 mph. Because I am putting the electric motor on the front wheel I will still have access to my 5 gears in the rear, so if I do a little pedaling I should be able to hit 30 mph without sweating too much. I do most of my riding on streets that are fairly well paved but occassionally have cracks - springtime a couple of potholes here and there.

The motor, as I stated, will be mounted on the front fork. It will weigh about 6 pounds.

Practically speaking, what is the difference between have a suspension up front and having no suspension? For the conversion it will be easier to fabricate a motor mount if the fork does not have a suspension so I am trying to weigh the options.

[Peterpan1]

From a bike perspective, I would not really be looking for suspension. Smooth roads for the most part, do not demand it, and most suspension systems are designed for MTBs which are not really set up to deal with the micro stuff we find on paved roads, potholes maybe.

Also weight up front tends to soak up some road bumps. My experience in that regard is front panniers which are softer than a mounted motor and may work differently in killing vibe.

All that said, motorcycles, really anything where weight isn't at a premium, tends to use shocks. Shocks can't just be swapped for any old fork the whole set up it different. Also, if you are running the motor up front, then is one to assume you are driving the front wheel? That could get complicated with suspension, because the wheel does not stay in one place.