f0x

I'm not sure if I should get the motor on the front or back tire. I bent a few front tires before but never the back but the back tire has so many parts. And I think it might be a good idea to get extra thick tires any ideas?

alfonsopilato

what do you mean by "broken tires"?

f0x

Sorry I meant bent

lucasgo

I like the idea of a rear hub motor. The force is applied to the wheel that normally has the force applied to it, so it feels (I imagine, having never ridden a front-wheel drive) more natural. Once it's bolted into place and you have dialed in your gears, it is no more mess. If, for some reason, the hub became damaged and locked up, I'd rather be skidding on the rear wheel than face planting over the front. Get a self-sealing tube if you're really concerned. A durable tire is the best bet, something like an Armadillo or Gatorskin. Tighten your spokes!!! My kit arrived quite loose and I've had to tighten twice. If you don't know what you're doing with that, take it to a shop.

f0x

good advice! I didn't know the hub could lock up. lol I read some where the motors are the brake. And about the tires isnt there a small motor cycle tire or some thing? Just running over a rock at even 20 mph sounds like a really funny youtube video.

nwmtnbkr

if you have an aluminum fork, do not use a hub motor on the front, unless you replace the fork. The drop outs on aluminum forks are cast and subject to failure without warning due to the toque of the hub motor (torque arms aren't really the answer with aluminum).



Clearly, such a failure could cause serious injury. There's a strong debate about the safety of hub motors in the bike forums on Endless Sphere. One of the members there has a link in his signature with a photo that's absolutely painful to look at--a photographer snapped a photo just as a rider's front drop outs failed and he was pitched face first into the front tire, which was no longer attached to the bike. You see his nose being pushed in by the tire.

f0x

hubs have to be safer I seen a lot of bad chain accidents. That's good info man thanks. do you know if the hubs come with built in brakes?

morph999 

I don't think most e-bike hubs come with brakes. I've been using a hub motor for over a year and on the e-bike forums and we rarely hear of any forks being snapped. Use a steel or chromoly fork and you'll have no problem. Just make sure your nuts are tightened and use a torque arm. I use two torque arms on mine. One on each side. They are cheap.

SteepGradient

that looks pretty broken to me

f0x

I'm trying to find a thicker inter tube or tire bicycle tires tend to explode.

Zephyr Boy

My e-bike has the electric hub on the front tire. Before I purchased my cruiser, I tested the front fork by placing a magnet on it to see if it is made from steel and not aluminum, it stuck firmly. I perfer having my e-hub on the front because it balances out the overall bike with the battery pack placed over the rear tire. I also like that when I ride up a hill, I get both wheels with power (rear w/peddling & front w/e-hub) --> all wheel drive.

morph999 

I've heard good things about the Schwalbe big apples.

crackerdog

How did you manage to bent a few front wheels? What were you doing? When talking about tires, are you saying you get a lot of flats? Your tires blow up? You live in a different reality than me, none of those things have ever happened to me in 40 years of biking, maybe I'm not having enough fun.