...and jus' a "heads up" for the other new owners of the 'Pie hub...
There's been some mention, even warnings about the 'Pie's axle and "torque rotation" - that the constant engagement/disengagement of the motor can "turn" the axle in the dropouts, damaging them and loosening the mounting - they even mention making a torque arm assembly to prevent this...
This doesn't seem an issue with mine, perhaps due to the really snug fit... maybe because of the additional thickness of the aluminum dropouts... w/e the case may be I'm experiencing a somewhat different issue, a minor one - but defo something that must be watched for as if left unattended the consequences could be disastrous, like loosing your rear wheel entirely at speed >.<
I very much recommend using a fine point sharpie to mark the original location/edge of the outer washer (or scribing with a pick) when the axle is seated fully in the dropouts, to help monitor any potential movement over time as the axle seems prone to slowly work it's way out of the dropouts.
There's been no rotational scoring or galling of the aluminum whatsoever, yet over time the axle is moving, descending out of my vertical dropouts. When I first noticed this I removed the washers and used a Dremel w/a fine cut-off wheel to make light horizontal cuts in the tabbed washers to aid their grip on the aluminum, reseated the axle and tightened the axle nuts securely then marked it's location to see what would happen. This slowed the effect noticeably - the movement pictured below is after over 100 miles, whereas w/o the cuts it would have only taken a lil more than 50.
However, as it is still moving I just took it apart again and added vertical cuts to the inside of the washer, resulting in a checkerboard pattern & a much rougher surface & I'm hoping that will do the trick...
...if not there's other things I'll try, like cutting the same pattern into the inner "spacer" washers to aid the grip or just using the tabbed washers on the inside of the dropouts instead of the spacer washers & not using washers on the outside at all, just the axle nuts which already have "lock cuts" and a larger surface area.
If all else fails, I'll have to make custom "torque arms" of a sort to lock the axle in place, even though I suspect it's not torque, or at least not torque alone that's causing this issue - after somewhat extensive testing on various terrain types I've found this effect seems to be most pronounced on rough ground, trails and/or potholes or whatever, when the wheel often bounces & leaves the ground momentarily... & thus, may be less an issue w/horizontal dropouts... maybe.
It's not a huge problem at all unless left unattended, even w/o modification it's a simple matter of just keeping an eye on the bike, including it in the "preflight checklist" and the regular maintenance... however as ebikes need little to no additional maintenance other than routine bicycle care (chain lube, cables, brakes etc) - it's something that could be easily overlooked, particularly as it's a deviously slow "creeping" effect & w/o a mark to illustrate the original location, it can be hard to spot.
But on a Large Marge model Extra wide like 3 inch rims at about 40 psi these things have grown on me for plushness and handling. With the wider rims I can run the tire pressure lower and get away with it too. This is coming from a guy who used to passionately hate slicks lol. I have to admit the rims being wider changed a lot of the dynamic. Made things interesting.
