I’m trying to convert both my wife and I’s bikes into ebikes so we can ride them more often and drive our cars less. I’ve never done somethings like this. For the very little I’ve done so far, there are three types of kits: front hub motor, rear hub motor and mid drive motor. Which of these is best for inner city commuting? Which one is cheap and easy to install?
How mechanically inclined are you?
I did a mid drive conversion because of the lower centre of gravity and to not have to move the motor’s weight as the tire spins. However, rear wheel seems easier and was fairly cheaper the last time I looked (approx 4 years ago). I believe the rear hub comes preinstalled in the wheel, so you’ll need to switch over the tire but that is easy.
It was a fairly easy process, hardest part was removing the bottom bracket with only 1 person (tool would slip, ended up using ratchet straps). Took a couple hours of work but I had everything I needed to do the job.
You’ll need:
From what I saw, front drive motors were the least desirable as it alters the bike’s handling and feel.
In my neck of the woods the motor was ~$400 and battery ~$800 but I went for a large battery.
I actually kinda like front drive but it has to be torque sensor on the bb, and very dialed in. It gets this pseudo-dual drive feel. It was less of an assist and more of a mirroring what my legs put in to the rear, except for when the gears changed 2 or more positions. If there was a reliable way to track gears and match the motor output I would have kept that bike. Realistically though I would also recommend mid, especially for hilly routes.
What kind of bottom bracket did you have? I’m still not familiar with all of them but so far the ones I worked with haven’t been that troublesome sounding.
Here is a breakdown of everything I did on my bike.
this is similar to the bottom bracket tool I used. I’m not sure what variety of bottom bracket I had, but this tool fit. Just needed a second person or a ratchet strap to hold the tool on without slipping.