Originally Posted by
adamtki
With that much weight, I'd recommend disc brakes, especially if there's ever a time you'll be biking in the rain.
Also, sounds like all the weight's on the rear, so having a rear wheel motor is better.
Dh is worried if we put the motor + batteries + xyrcycle kit + cargo/kids on ALL on the back wheel, it'll be too much weight and the bike will handle badly. He used to work in a bike shop years ago and knows his bikes pretty well, so I trust him on that part. I can see how all that weight on the rear of the bike will make the front wheel too light. He was thinking if we put the hub motor on the front, then the batteries can be stored on the back and I'll effectively have AWD since I can use the front hub power + pedal the back wheel if I need to.
Disc brakes: I was hoping to find a bike with DB already on it, so I wouldn't have to upgrade. My local LBS says it'd be about $200 for a DB upgrade. I was thinking if I got a bike with existing DB, we could leave the rear one on and put a V-brake on the powered front wheel?
I think in your case the more gears the better time you'll have towing kids up hills. I had a Wilderness Energy brushless 36V hub for a couple of years before it was stolen and found it reliable. None of the hubs do a really great job on hills. You will still have to pedal. Find a dry place to mount the controller and cover the accelerator with a plastic bag in the rain and you're good to go.
Thanks for the info. I was planning on pedaling on flats and up all the hills...the e-assist would just be to help me get cargo/kids up the hill faster and in a less-sweaty manner.
If you're experiencing back and wrist pain, you might want to check out a Dutch-style or recumbent bike.
I love the look of the Dutch bikes, but I dunno if that's a do-able alternative since it's all hills here. I will actually be up in Portland this weekend and am planning on visiting Clevercycles so I'll be able to check out the Dutch bikes in person.