i seen something cool

[diceman2004]

i was at an e-bike rally , one of the guys had a home built bike .
it was a light wieght 10speed style bike .

the cool part was this guys setup ( sorry no pics , i didn,t have my camera )

he used a freewheeling 3speed hub (sram , i think ) on the FRONT wheel .
his motor is mounted to the front fork on a sturdy aluminum plate , just about the hieght of the top of the tire , running on number 25 chain .

now his motor has 3 gears , runs on the front wheel , and it doesn,t affect the original drive train at all .

just thought i would share that with yaz , really wish i had some pics to show you .
he did a real nice job putting everything together .

 

[grouchyolfart]

Hmmm. Food for thought.

 

[zabac70]

If it is well balanced - it' OK , otherwise it can be a nuisance with handling..

 

[jdcburg]

I did that with my first ebike. I took an old 3-speed internal hub and put it on the front of another bike. I left the bike sprocket on it and used bicycle chain. You can read about it at http://motorbicycling.com/f9/controller-relay-9929.html or Endless-sphere.com • View topic - 3 speed front wheel drive e-bike It worked great except for 2 things – it had rim brakes on old steel wheels and they didn’t work when they got wet. Also, any kind of front wheel drive can be dangerous to outright deadly if there is a major chain malfunction that causes the front wheel to lock up. But it sold me on the concept of different ratios for hills or speed. My current build drives through the 8-speed derailleur (rear). It’s really nice but of course it’s not perfect. So now I’m toying with the idea of a 3-speed internal hub as a jackshaft to drive a left-sided rear freewheel sprocket with a standard derailleur on the right. Then I could pedal in a different gear than the motor is driving. Never finished… jd

 

[diceman2004]

jdcburg - i like your idea , infact i discussed the very same thing with the guy .
His reason against doing that ( he thought about it also ) was that it would require a multiple chain setup , more parts , more weight .

I asked him how the balance and handling was , hes says its very good .
if you think about it ( just think of a loaded basket on the handle bars ( it doesn,t affect handling at all ) , only thing it affects is how the bike stands up on the kickstand . wants to tip over when someone sneazes too hard.

this guy might actually be on endless sphere . i sure wish i had a pic to show you

 

[corgi1]

Sounds like it will work good and the extra weight would be only the aditional hub beacause the rest of it would be used pushing the back wheel anyway,and wheels need to be balanced enough to do the speed

 

[diceman2004]

ok .. i did a little searching ... the guys screen name is RAYY .. on endless sphere .
i,m not a member there so its hard for me to find a post of his with a pic in it .
If you are a member there check his bike out

 

[diceman2004]

damn i'm good .... found a pic on the internet

 

[BossCat]

Rayy doesn't have many posts on ES but heres a short one about his bike....

Endless-sphere.com • View topic - Show me your 700c! (Or, Project "electro weight weenie")

Regards
Tom

 

[diceman2004]

obviously the pic i found doesn,t have all the hardware on it . but i like what he did .
as soon as i can afford to buy some parts i am going to start building one .
i have an old shimano hub i can experiment with .

batteries just keep getting better and better ( lighter and more output )
motors keep getting better ( more efficient )
solar power technology keeps improving
I really think the electric bike is the way of the future

and all you guys are the true pioneers

i think the biggest hurtle at this time is the COST for quality parts, other than that .
if someone can dream it ... someone will build it .

 

[jdcburg]

OK here are a couple of pix of my original fwd build. Simple to build and it worked pretty well. But as I said, I got nervous that the chain might break or otherwise get tangled in the front wheel. If that happens you are up the creek, so try to find a way to enclose the chain. Maybe some plastic pipe or conduit? - jd

 

[jdcburg]

Below are pix of my new ride. Originally a 24 speed mtb, I replaced the 3 front chainrings with a 44T freewheeling chainring for pedaling and a 36T for the motor to power. Both drive through the rear 8-speed cassette. I put another freewheel on the motor chainring so I can pedal w/o turning the motor. You can see the early prototype video at YouTube - Dual Freewheel Front Sprocket System Prototype. I have a few hundred miles on it now and it's going strong so far - jd