Hub motors

Hysteresis · #1 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 03:52 PM

Has anyone here ever bought a hub motor? I'm just curious as to where you would buy one and what all you had to do to get it mounted. Anyone have any experiences with their hub motors that they would care to share, such as are they worth it? and was the distributor any good?

deacon · #2 (**permalink**) 06-27-2009, 04:32 PM

The distributor was fine. My problem was that I didn't know enough to know what to buy. I bought a 250watt 24v hub motor. Mounting it was pretty straight forward. I did not like the way the batteries would have been mounted so I built a trailer for them. The motor when set on a 26" mountain bike is a good helper motor. Mine runs under 20 mph with a range of about 2amp hr =1mile on a really good day.

If I were to do it over, I would buy at least a 600watt 36v hub motor. However I doubt that I will. I now build pusher motors for the bike. I can build a pusher motor for about 50 to 100 dollares. Hub motors are quite a bit more expensive.

Hysteresis · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 03:53 AM

Yeah I agree they are pretty pricey. I haven't found many good distributors online that I would be willing to buy from yet. I'm probably going to end up going with a chain driven motor mounted to the frame somehow. You have any pics of your pusher motors? The one in your avatar I can't see very well.

deacon · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 06:52 AM

I would go with the izip from wall mart. I hear really good things about it. The only thing I don't like about it is the battery arrangement. It has a proprietary battery pack system.
How to begins

also take a look at the how to begins post it is a discription of the build step by step...

If I were just starting in the ebike area, I would go with the walmart bike and just adapt it to other things. However my pusher runs a non geared scooter motor. In theory it is a better performer. I cant swear to that though.

Hysteresis · #5 (**permalink**) 06-28-2009, 08:16 PM

Thanks for the info. I think I'm going to skip the izip so I won't be disappointed when I buy it. My plan for my first ebike is to do the following:

1. Find frame and hardware components get weight's etc determine motor specs
2. Find suitable motor preferably brushless
3. Design controller using the ATMEGA 128 microcontroller
4. Wire and assemble
5. Ride to glory

I'm not too sure if that is the way to go or not. I figure if I get the weight of the bike frame and other hardware components I can add it to my weight to see how much power I will need. Once I figure out the power I can find a motor and design a controller. I'm estimating I won't have this ready until next summer. A hub motor would be nice but I don't want to spend big cash.

deacon · #6 (**permalink**) 06-29-2009, 06:00 AM

Sounds like a plan. I'm not sure anyone has solved the freewheel problem yet. I think the easiest way to do that would be the China bike kit sprocket bolted to the rear wheel. Good luck keep us informed we are always looking for new ideas around here.

I have an interesting bike... I picked up a racing bike at the thrift store for eight bucks, but I didn't like those skinny wheels, so I switch both of them out for a mountain bike set of wheels I had laying around. I also had to add a higher set of handlebars. My knees hit the mountain bike bars. Other than the pedals being in the wrong place the bike works fine.

Oh yeah I had to add a fat butt seat. I have the frame in the shop. I used it with a pusher motor but switched out the motor. A 26" bike is a bit high for me these days. I have some balance issues and would rather climb onto a 20" frame. I have a 24" frame mountain bike that I am be using for my experiments. Even then I had to change out the handle bars. My knees hit them on a mountain bike that small.