Custom ebike build: Mid-Drive or Hub?

[kevinmccune]

Thank you for the consideration but honestly biking has changed my life so much, i can't imagine ever giving up biking for a motorcycle. Before i got into electric biking, i was in so much pain (most likely ankylosing spondylitis or arthritis related) i could not work for more than 6 hours, couldn't sit for more than 2 or 3 without severe pain and couldn't stand for more than 30 minutes or 10 minutes or so at a time. Now after a year of biking, all of my sitting and standing pain has gone away if i exercise every day. Because of my messed up knee and hips, regular biking without electric help is almost impossible. The bike i am trying to convert is a regular bike and i tried using it for fitness after biking for 1 year with electric assist and the pain in the knee returned like it does in most sports i do. So that is why i am trying to do this. I need to bike for about 1 to 2 hours a day in order to not have pain.

It must be more the coincidence a lot of our stories are similar except maybe for having to shoot up a long hill on throttle, could always pull good seated( more so than speed) I would sit down and pedal by Guys that were pushing their bikes, my ebikes are now pretty well locked in High gear with lower PAs( maybe I am missing something) on fairly long pulls I just zone out and think about other things, it can be a chore if you make it so, honestly consider a Sur ron or something similar because you could split up your travels and the need for speed would be met, no shame in it ,keeps an automobile off the road.I am sorry my location does not make for a logical bike commute OTH not a whole lot of traffic in the morning either. Find your path if getting up the boring grades is your thing so be it, my little 500 watt rear hub gets warm sometimes, so what if it conks out I will just replace( or convert this frame to my forward trike I want to build more than likely a 750 watt 36 volt build) as I said high speed is not that important to me. Slamming into a 'Whitetail at 30 mph" would surely ruin my day.
As you can see different Folks have different needs and wants, the thing is all of them bring something to the table( CheesyMac or Pepper steak its all food, enjoy and dine- the journey is fun too)

 

[hoboin]

I had to put this project on hold because my landlord increased my rent by 25% in march 2023 so i decided to look for a new place. Found a new place literally off the W&OD trail (unbelievable place, i hit the jackpot. It's basically a horse ranch and i am an animal lover) and the new land lord is very accommodating to me and my biking, he will give me a shed that i can store and work on my bikes and it will have electricity so i can keep and charge all my bikes there and work on them.

Now at my new location, hills are not as important. To get to one grocery store, that is about 2 miles away, i do have to travel up one giant hill but my 750 wott hub motor took it like a champ. I am thinking that i will have my current bike be my cargo bike, i would use that to get groceries and run errands and my new bike will be my daily commuter. My new commute will be 18 miles total everyday, almost all on paved trail with some hills but not as hilly as before.

I have been thinking about this since i made the post, and the most important thing now is reliability. I will be riding 20 miles a day, often times leaving before sunrise so i do not want problems on my ride into work. Luckily in 1.5 years of riding to work i never have had a problem going to work, only on the way home and thats how i like it.

It seems like a hub motor might be more reliable. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also i will have to ride my bike about 1000 feet or so on grass and forest floor, does anyone know if a hub or mid-drive would be better suited for this?

 

[retiredNH]

I suspect hub vs mid matters less than the quality of the components, maintenance etc. You carry a repair kit for chain breakage and flats? You've done each at your base? On the road is no time to learn!
Be interesting to see what others think.

 

[tomjasz]

I had to put this project on hold because my landlord increased my rent by 25% in march 2023 so i decided to look for a new place. Found a new place literally off the W&OD trail (unbelievable place, i hit the jackpot. It's basically a horse ranch and i am an animal lover) and the new land lord is very accommodating to me and my biking, he will give me a shed that i can store and work on my bikes and it will have electricity so i can keep and charge all my bikes there and work on them.

Now at my new location, hills are not as important. To get to one grocery store, that is about 2 miles away, i do have to travel up one giant hill but my 750 wott hub motor took it like a champ. I am thinking that i will have my current bike be my cargo bike, i would use that to get groceries and run errands and my new bike will be my daily commuter. My new commute will be 18 miles total everyday, almost all on paved trail with some hills but not as hilly as before.

I have been thinking about this since i made the post, and the most important thing now is reliability. I will be riding 20 miles a day, often times leaving before sunrise so i do not want problems on my ride into work. Luckily in 1.5 years of riding to work i never have had a problem going to work, only on the way home and thats how i like it.

It seems like a hub motor might be more reliable. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Also i will have to ride my bike about 1000 feet or so on grass and forest floor, does anyone know if a hub or mid-drive would be better suited for this?

Don't fix what's not broken. I recently purchased a 9C direct drive hub from Grin, ebikes.ca. It's the DD everyone copied but still more advanced than the budget drives. I added cooling fluid and it's a fantastic build motor. Very little if any potential issues and no issues with the hills you report riding. With a Grin controller, it can run 24V-60V batteries. 25MPH all day long, 20MPH up a 4%grade