Hub Motors or Single Shafts?

[Lord_Loaf]

Hi all,
I had a question about two different types of motors, because I've been hearing people vouch both and against them. In terms of durability and reliability, which motor type is better: the hub motor, or the single shaft motor? Which one can I ride the longest consecutively without any issues?

Thank you.

 

[rich c]

Single shaft? What's that?

 

[dAz63]

Geared hub vs direct drive hub ?

 

[indianajo]

Direct drive could last longer, but the $189 are so cheap probably the bearings are ****. The good news, the bearings in my ly100048v have an industrial part number and can be bought for replacement at a real industrial supply house.
Geared hubs have gears, which will wear out. They will get me up steep hills with about 2/3 the electricity of the DD. So I don't care, I want the range. 20 AH batteries cost 2 or 3 x what a geared hub motor costs, wear em & pitch em. So far I have 1000 miles on my $200 ebikeling geared wondermotor.
I've seen single shaft motors that engage the chain directly from a bracket on the frame, but since there was no tensioning arrangement to keep the chain against the sprocket, I viewed them as a consumer fraud device. Started out with bing finding me those when I typed in "bicycle motor", long before I found hub motors or this website.

 

[Lord_Loaf]

Just as a followup, I probably should've provided links to what I was considering buying. My bad.

60 Volt Electric Scooter and Bicycle Motors - ElectricScooterParts.com

60 Volt Electric Scooter, Bicycle and Pocket Bike Motors

electricscooterparts.com

(60V 2000W 5600RPM model)

59.15US $ 9% OFF|Hub Motor 60V1000W Motor 18 inch 225/55 8 Tire Vacuum Tire Electric Motorcycle Wheel Brushless Non gear Hally Balance Scooter|Electric Bicycle Motor| - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

(This one is direct drive)

I wanted to know which one would take longer to break down & which one I can ride the longest without issue. I'm trying to build an e-bike that's borderline pocket bike size.
Also, I'm on the correct forum for this, right? Is this forum dedicated to anything generally considered an e-bike or specifically electric bicycles?

 

[AHicks]

That "single shaft" would require that you use quite a drive system in order to harness that kind of power. For that reason, I wouldn't even consider it, and would be willing to bet you'll see more trouble with it due to drive related issues.

Direct drive doesn't even have gears, so properly fed with the right amount of voltage and overload protection, it should last as long as the bearings do. Gear driven rear hubs are more heat sensitive than the direct drive, but properly selected and used with that knowledge in mind, they can offer some pretty serious performance at lower speeds (<25mph) with a minimum amount of trouble.

Though I'm fine with your questions here personally, there is a sub forum that might be more appropriate for your subject matter - https://electricbikereview.com/forums/forum/diy/

Also, there is a vast wasteland of bike related electric info to explore (enough where it can be overwhelming at first) located at https://endless-sphere.com/

 

[TimJohn]

No those motors I don't think were designed to be used on a bicycle. More likely for an electric scooter that can go 40 to 50 mph. So way above the legal limits of a street e-bike. You need read more about e-bikes and I would suggest going to this site: ebikes.ca

Lots of information here and lots of products. There are other suppliers that people can recommend but that's a good start but somehow I have the feeling you are not interested in going the e-bike route but more likely the motorcycle route. Remember also to consider the brakes!

 

[indianajo]

Yeah, the electric scooter parts motor is just what I was warning you about. The sprocket is nice, but what keeps the chain on it when the motor pulls? That part is all left up to you. Totally incompatible with a derailleur, which the takeup of which would feed slack to the sprocket to ensure that it popped free of the chain at any torque. That motor could only be used for single speed scooters that don't have a crank and pedals.
Also, brushed motors are totally unreliable; factories got away from them in the eighties. The brush sticks in the housing due to corrosion, loses connection with the commutator and the motor won't start after a weekend (idle period) until the electrician pulls the cover off and pushes the brush down.