Hub or Mid

steve mercier said:
Indianjo I dunno about alot of the stuff you posted here.... I respect your points on Hubs more than Mids. I will grant you that hubs are easier on chains but you dont mention they are harder on spokes....etc. Also about pedaling without the power on... I would never want to ride any Ebike with the power off
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Actually the only spoke I've adjusted has been on a $221 power wheel, after about 4000 miles. **** grey metal spoke, but a thick piece of it. The real steel yuba spokes require no adjustment. If I'd installed the motor myself using DTswiss spokes in a real alloy wheel, spokes wouldn't have needed adjusting.
Chains don't break, they round the tips of the sprocket off and start jumping if you don't change them in time. I'm 8500 miles into these sprockets without changing or popping. One chain down.
Enjoy your coffin. My father believed in avoiding exercise in retirement and got two good years before a stroke destroyed his memory. He had 6 years trapped in a mind that couldn't remember anything before death released him. I've known many men that died of heart problems 2 to 4 years after retirement. I work my heart & lungs very hard on my bike unpowered, and have been retired 14 years without heart problems. I've had HBP & diabetes that whole time. No insulin, no pricking of finger 4* daily, no pain in feet. I don't need 6 hours of intense struggle against a headwind, is why I carry electricity. Distance is fixed, assistance is variable with a throttle. Not to mention I survived 157 days of covid19 when vaccines were limited to 80 year olds in nursing homes, with no oxygen therapy & no antiviral drug available yet. There are fit guys that ride powered all the time, but they ride 3 or more hours a day. I have other hobbies; I only ride 3 1/2 hours twice a week in the warm months.
 
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I have ibm which has weaken my glutes to the point where I have no strength to walk up a step. On my unassisted bike when stopping, putting my leg down, it would often collapse and I'd fall to the ground.

I've recently bought the same bike an et cycle f1000. Reason for choosing was the lower to the ground stability and step through which allows me to come to a stop, put both feet on the ground then move one leg through the drop down without falling over.

I'm thrilled with this bike. It's an enabler for people that have disabilities to continue enjoying cycling.

Above comments are worth considering for your cousin.

David
 
steve mercier said:
Indianjo I dunno about alot of the stuff you posted here.... I respect your points on Hubs more than Mids. I will grant you that hubs are easier on chains but you dont mention they are harder on spokes....etc. Also about pedaling without the power on... I would never want to ride any Ebike with the power off ( with the possible exception of the super light bikes like the Specialized Creo and such). When a mid drive breaks a chain you can fix it with a chain breaker on a multi tool and a 10 buck quick link like this. View attachment 117107 I have never broken a chain myself ( my wife and sister in law have though) in over 50,000 km but I have broken spokes on my hub drive.
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Steve, all due respect, but regarding spoke stress hub vs. mid, I can't buy into that. Given the fact a mid drive will climb a wall if asked to, and a hub drive is all out of poop a long time prior to that kind of a steep angle, it would seem to me like the mid drive is capable of delivering WAY more torque to a wheel. Given that, if anything, the mid would stress a spoke more, no?

I think it a safe bet to say that spokes aren't much of an issue on ether system - assuming only that they are set correctly at the start. -Al
 
indianajo said:
Peace out !
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AHicks said:
Steve, all due respect, but regarding spoke stress hub vs. mid, I can't buy into that. Given the fact a mid drive will climb a wall if asked to, and a hub drive is all out of poop a long time prior to that kind of a steep angle, it would seem to me like the mid drive is capable of delivering WAY more torque to a wheel. Given that, if anything, the mid would stress a spoke more, no?

I think it a safe bet to say that spokes aren't much of an issue on ether system - assuming only that they are set correctly at the start. -Al
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Al It had a very strong 750 watt hub motor on that bike and it could fly up steep hills. That is when the spokes started breaking ,under load. I am not an engineer but I believe they broke because of the stress. My wife had a 250 watt hub bike at the time. It never broke any spokes. This was a big enough issue for me to toss the bike as it was out of commision too much for my liking.
 
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steve mercier said:
Yes probably the combo of high power and cheap wheels do not mix well. I just want to ride a lot and not be a frequent repair man.
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steve mercier said:
Al It had a very strong 750 watt hub motor on that bike and it could fly up steep hills. That is when the spokes started breaking ,under load. I am not an engineer but I believe they broke because of the stress. My wife had a 250 watt hub bike at the time. It never broke any spokes. This was a big enough issue for me to toss the bike as it was out of commision too much for my liking.
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Steve, if you had a spoke problem, that does NOT mean ALL purchasers of hub driven bikes will have a problem. IF you have a problem, that doesn't make it generic to hub drives, it's way more likely a lousy set up from the factory that built the wheel that was not caught during the thorough pre delivery every bike should get prior to being ridden. Like it or not, any spoke issue is on you or the shop that delivered it to you.

As the owner of a 1000w MAC geared hub powered bike commonly ridden in a fairly hilly area and generally with a 300lb rider aboard, I feel pretty safe in saying that spoke issues are NOT common with high powered geared hub drives. Sure it CAN happen, but so could a lot of other service related issues. In any case, "tossing it" a pretty extreme way of dealing with it.... -Al
 
AHicks said:
Steve, if you had a spoke problem, that does NOT mean ALL purchasers of hub driven bikes will have a problem. IF you have a problem, that doesn't make it generic to hub drives, it's way more likely a lousy set up from the factory that built the wheel that was not caught during the thorough pre delivery every bike should get prior to being ridden. Like it or not, any spoke issue is on you or the shop that delivered it to you.

As the owner of a 1000w MAC geared hub powered bike commonly ridden in a fairly hilly area and generally with a 300lb rider aboard, I feel pretty safe in saying that spoke issues are NOT common with high powered geared hub drives. Sure it CAN happen, but so could a lot of other service related issues. In any case, "tossing it" a pretty extreme way of dealing with it.... -Al
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but spoke problems are on the low end bikes that are most common. I have seen so many posts here about loose or broken spokes. money has to be saved somewhere and cheap wheels are common it seems. Remember most e bikes are not sold through dealers and most people could never deal with spoke issues. of course not all bikes have these issues bu I have seen so many here. rad used to have a very big problem with spokes.
 
steve mercier said:
I would never want to ride any Ebike with the power off ( with the possible exception of the super light bikes like the Specialized Creo and such).
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Wow. I ride my 62 pound e-bike with no electric power assist a lot of the time. I bought an e-bike to tame the hills and strong headwinds, but a lot of my riding is on fairly flat roads without headwinds, so I am in PAS 0 a lot of the time, and I step it up for hills and headwinds. My main reason for riding is exercise - I'm not commuting or in a hurry to get anywhere. The bike doesn't feel very heavy when riding along on level ground. 2300+ miles on my hub motor e-bike - no broken spokes, yet.
 
GenXrider said:
Wow. I ride my 62 pound e-bike with no electric power assist a lot of the time. I bought an e-bike to tame the hills and strong headwinds, but a lot of my riding is on fairly flat roads without headwinds, so I am in PAS 0 a lot of the time, and I step it up for hills and headwinds. My main reason for riding is exercise - I'm not commuting or in a hurry to get anywhere. The bike doesn't feel very heavy when riding along on level ground. 2300+ miles on my hub motor e-bike - no broken spokes, yet.
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but at what speed? I don't like the sluggish feel of my bikes without power. unless going around 10mph it just feels crappy. the bigger tires the worse it is. on our e tandem when we ride with others and they usually stay under 15 we need no power. between the weight and the fatter tires e bikes for the most part sure don't feel snappy without power.
 
fooferdoggie said:
but spoke problems are on the low end bikes that are most common. I have seen so many posts here about loose or broken spokes. money has to be saved somewhere and cheap wheels are common it seems. Remember most e bikes are not sold through dealers and most people could never deal with spoke issues. of course not all bikes have these issues bu I have seen so many here. rad used to have a very big problem with spokes.
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Yes, I'd have to agree.

Espin is a pretty good example. It's an inexpensive bike and several of us "larger" riders did run into spoke issues this past spring. Probably a short term production issue. Customer service was absolutely great about it, encouraging us to take the bikes in for service, and they paid to make the issue right. RAD had some issue with some of their earlier models - and they were taken care of. I'm pretty sure there were others as well.

It's just not that big a deal. In my mind, certainly nothing to base a buying decision on.....

ALL of the issues I know of could have been headed off with a quality pre-service done before the bike was ridden. We KNOW most bikes sold customer direct don't get that kind of service.
 
AHicks said:
Steve, if you had a spoke problem, that does NOT mean ALL purchasers of hub driven bikes will have a problem. IF you have a problem, that doesn't make it generic to hub drives, it's way more likely a lousy set up from the factory that built the wheel that was not caught during the thorough pre delivery every bike should get prior to being ridden. Like it or not, any spoke issue is on you or the shop that delivered it to you.

As the owner of a 1000w MAC geared hub powered bike commonly ridden in a fairly hilly area and generally with a 300lb rider aboard, I feel pretty safe in saying that spoke issues are NOT common with high powered geared hub drives. Sure it CAN happen, but so could a lot of other service related issues. In any case, "tossing it" a pretty extreme way of dealing with it.... -Al
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Al mine was a crappy overpowered bike with a myriad of other problems too. It was JUNK and good riddance. Anyway we seem to have uncovered the essential problem with these forums. Although we offer our personal experiences to try to help new Ebikers we can never be sure if our experience is mostly representative or a unique situation. I am glad that you have found a good hub driven bike but that does not stop me from believing there are many more crappy hub motor bikes loaded with problems waiting to happen out there in the sub $2000 marketplace. Here is the bike I tossed. https://electricbikereview.com/jetson/electric-mountain-bike/
 
GenXrider said:
Wow. I ride my 62 pound e-bike with no electric power assist a lot of the time. I bought an e-bike to tame the hills and strong headwinds, but a lot of my riding is on fairly flat roads without headwinds, so I am in PAS 0 a lot of the time, and I step it up for hills and headwinds. My main reason for riding is exercise - I'm not commuting or in a hurry to get anywhere. The bike doesn't feel very heavy when riding along on level ground. 2300+ miles on my hub motor e-bike - no broken spokes, yet.
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GenXrider I salute you. II would gladly trade my Ebikes for your leg strength. (-:
 
Cheap and or poorly built wheels. not so much a power issue. your wife’s wheel may be better built. I have seen 250w and 350w failures too.

i believe the failed wheels are primarily the budget bikes or factory direct wheel kits. We do see occasional failure in better brands but not high numbers. s*it happens.
 
Brew61,
How about an electric trike? Guess it depends on the nature of his disability.
On the other hand, if he can safely handle a safely scooter he can handle an ebike. For sure something with a throttle.
 
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