Which rolls better without power? Geared hub or direct drive?

Nashville Kat

Nashville Kat

Well-Known Member
Given the same voltage and wattage, does one hub generally roll better while NOT UNDER POWER?

Thanks in advance for any info.
 
Re: Which rolls better without power? Geared hub or direct drive?

Nashville Kat said:
Given the same voltage and wattage, does one hub generally roll better while NOT UNDER POWER?

Thanks in advance for any info.
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Geared hub motors roll nice with no perceptable drag.

Direct drive can do regen braking but I hear they have drag, only
ridden one briefly.

PS: it's annoying putting part of your question as the post subject. ;)
 
Thanks for the answer- that concept seemed to be most implied, but you know advertisers: vague and unconcerned with details we worry over

and sorry about the title- I try to be specific and pertinent so you can decide if you want to read it.....

Th
 
geared hub motors are lighter and freewheel so its the most like a regular bike. Some direct drive motors freewheel better than others. That was one of the big selling features of brushless hub motors over brushed. You tend to not notice any drag unless your going pretty fast so mainly its just the extra weight your pushing that you notice. I'm sure it probably depends on the controller and bearings too.
 
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I don't care much for hub drives, if the bike has gears, let a mid mount motor use them.

2_OrangeCrushDoneR-1280.jpg


The back 3-speed hub free-wheels, the pedal crank arms freewheel, and the motors drive sprocket free-wheels.

You can pedal with the motor off with no drag using gears, and pedal with no drag with motor power and gears, or not pedal at all and cruise ~34mph with the 24" tires and gears.

I love the SBP system, http://sickbikeparts.com/electric-shift-kits-e-products/
Used it a lot.
If you want to see the 13 other of my center mount E-shifting builds go here http://kcsbikes.com/KCsBuilds.asp?motor=Electric&shifter=Yes

Sure it's more difficult to do, but the reward in the end is worth it :-}
 
Would that geared system work on a modern 8 or 9 speed cassete? What about a 10 or 11 speed? Think of what you could do with one of those on a real bike!
 
kevyleven007 said:
Would that geared system work on a modern 8 or 9 speed cassete?
What about a 10 or 11 speed?
Think of what you could do with one of those on a real bike!
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More gears doesn't make you faster.
The bikes you are talking about for the tour de france have only human power going up hill.
They need a lot close gear breaks.

With a motor you have superman legs.
an internal 3 or 5 work best.

Sure you can put a motor on a bike with a lot of gears, but gas or electric, the first thing to go is the front derailleur.

2_SpecializedEpicDoneR-1280.jpg


After that it is pretty much rear shifting to the even numbered gears skipping every other gear.

There is an art to shifting with a carousal, it's mindless with an internal hub.
 
kevyleven007 said:
geared hub motors are lighter and freewheel so its the most like a regular bike. Some direct drive motors freewheel better than others. That was one of the big selling features of brushless hub motors over brushed. You tend to not notice any drag unless your going pretty fast so mainly its just the extra weight your pushing that you notice. I'm sure it probably depends on the controller and bearings too.
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I've got one of each and there's no difference I can tell but a fella wants to remember, a geared HubMotor still has a clutch in it which should
add a tidbit of drag whereas, the Direct Drive HubMotor just freewheels unless it has regenerative braking.
 
EZL said:
I've got one of each and there's no difference I can tell but a fella wants to remember, a geared HubMotor still has a clutch in it which should
add a tidbit of drag whereas, the Direct Drive HubMotor just freewheels unless it has regenerative braking.
Click to expand...

Look at the dates on the thread. Also the member you replied to @kevyleven007 hasn't been on the forum since August of 2019
 
EZL said:
Ok, I haven't responded to many of the fellas on the Forum for awhile.
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You're one of the rare exceptions whose been gone a while and come back. Still the chances are if the person hasn't figured something out after 5 years they've long gone given up on it.
 
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