front hub

[Hugh]

I have a Giant Talon mountain bike that i would like to install a small 250 to 350 watt geared hub motor in the front. Only problem is that the bike has 27.5 wheels and 32 spokes and so far all the hub motors I,ve seen have 36 spokes. So far my search for an aftermarket rim has been unsuccessful. Maybe someone here might know if such a rim exists. The Talon has 2.25" wide tires. The reason I'm considering the front hub is to use as a winter commuter. The front hub would make the bike 2wd-electric up front and human powered at the back wheel. I live about 10 miles from my work and the winters here can be harsh, temp's of 30 below or less are common. I would not ride all the way to work, rather the bike would be in the back of my truck so I could park for free in a residential area about 1 or 1 1/2 miles from work. I did consider the 8fun motor and may have to go that route.

 

[Hugh]

Well after checking this site darned if I didn't find a 27.5 rim at $54' meant for a hub motor, what a great resource this site is

 

[Tom on 101]

Not sure what your budget is but I like clean republic's kits, the 36v makes for a nice awd that works well through sand traps, river beds etc. their sales staff are reachable by phone.

 

[TheHunt]

Are you running a two wheel drive? Have you driven a bike with power to both wheels? I would think it could make steering a challenge, but I could be wrong.

 

[Tom on 101]

My set up is a front hub and when I peddle both wheels are under power so does nice job of tracking through sand. if your really riding aggressively then the front wheel may slip a little but seems really controllable to me.

 

[Hugh]

the Talon is a pedal only bike for now and i was hoping to hear what type of handling a front hub drive would provide. I won,t be doing anything quick with this idea though, just still in planning stages. The prices are daunting though, once you factor in a battery you are up to $1200 approx and for that kind of money I could almost get a fatbike with electric power

 

[ebiker89]

I have a Giant Talon mountain bike that i would like to install a small 250 to 350 watt geared hub motor in the front. Only problem is that the bike has 27.5 wheels and 32 spokes and so far all the hub motors I,ve seen have 36 spokes. So far my search for an aftermarket rim has been unsuccessful. Maybe someone here might know if such a rim exists. The Talon has 2.25" wide tires. The reason I'm considering the front hub is to use as a winter commuter. The front hub would make the bike 2wd-electric up front and human powered at the back wheel. I live about 10 miles from my work and the winters here can be harsh, temp's of 30 below or less are common. I would not ride all the way to work, rather the bike would be in the back of my truck so I could park for free in a residential area about 1 or 1 1/2 miles from work. I did consider the 8fun motor and may have to go that route.

Three weeks ago I bought a Powerful 36/48V 500W 8Fun BaFang Front Wheel Electric Bike Conversion Kit Ebike for less than $350.00 and a 36V 14Ah battery for $248.00 on aliexpress.com Both of them were delivery by Fedex in a couple days. You can request to the seller what size of the wheel you want. And I bought two winter (studded) wheels for less than $100.00 on ebay. I finished conversing my regular bike to an electric bike with winter wheels. I rode it for more than 50 km (as the seller who sold me these winter wheels on ebay saying you need to do this before riding on the snow for the studs to settle down in the rubber knobs, so they would not fall out of the wheels easily). The total is less than $700.00. I am very happy with it. I'm ready for the winter.

 

[MLB]

Are you running a two wheel drive? Have you driven a bike with power to both wheels? I would think it could make steering a challenge, but I could be wrong.

Not a problem. The steering stiffens some, but not to a problem degree.