Hi all,
we are narrowing our search for a bike that we are going to add a WE front hub kit to. It's now down to between two bikes; one bike has an AL frame and steel forks, the other bike has an AL frame and AL suspension forks. I'm leaning toward the the second bike for comfort reasons, as well as it being a better bang for the buck.

A bit worried about the suspension forks, tho. Would it be prudent to replace the fork with a steel/non suspension version before adding the WE kit? The bike has disc brakes front and rear so DH was going to keep the rear disc brakes and add V brakes to the front wheel. Any foreseeable problems there?

Oh, and I want to replace the existing tires with something cushier (like the Big Apples)....would that fit ok on the WE rim (there's plenty of clearance on the bike itself).

TIA for any advice!

WE? Wilderness Energy? Careful using slang shortcuts and posing questions with little or no ELECTRICAL information regarding your desired setup. I've seen hub motors on aluminum suspension forks with many miles. They weren't particularly powerful motors and they did use a torque arm.

Some folks will scream DON'T DO IT - for legit safety reasons. Usually the best public advice but there are those that in private take the risk and are never worse the wear. It's a judgement call...

Sorry...trying to post with rug rats running in and out and demanding attention = scattered thought process/incoherent posts

yes, I was talking about the Wilderness Energy hub kit (http://wildernessenergy.com/product_info.php?cPath=24&products_id=31&osCsid=434f55bcf53f66cf5cb5b6614b0eb455).

your aluminum fork is more than strong enough for that motor if it is designed for disc brakes ( the brakes will put more torque on it than the motor ever will) . The problem is the dropouts may not be stout enough. The fix there is using a torque arm. ( not a bad idea on a steel fork too) I'm using a cheap 10mm open end wrench as a torque arm with a small hose clamp to hold it to the fork. You probably should use one on each fork. I put them on the inside (required a small widening of the fork)

Will someone please explain what a torque arm is, where to get one and how to use it.

your aluminum fork is more than strong enough for that motor if it is designed for disc brakes ( the brakes will put more torque on it than the motor ever will) . The problem is the dropouts may not be stout enough. The fix there is using a torque arm. ( not a bad idea on a steel fork too) I'm using a cheap 10mm open end wrench as a torque arm with a small hose clamp to hold it to the fork. You probably should use one on each fork. I put them on the inside (required a small widening of the fork)

Can you put a picture up here of how you did that? That sounds like a very good idea for a torque arm !!

Will someone please explain what a torque arm is, where to get one and how to use it.

I am in the market for a new bike and am enticed to buy an all-aluminum-bike but I am afraid to have aluminum forks. I would like to know what this torque arm is as well. I found pictures but I don't understand how this helps protect the dropouts. Any help is appreciated. :thumb: