Lightweight rear hub motor without any noise?

Bert Kremer

New Member
Region
Europe
Hello,
The old E-bike which I own has a completely silent rear hub motor.
I am looking for a new E-bike, but not as heavy as the old one (26kg).
Is there a lightweight E-bike in the market which is also complete silent?
Thanks, Bert
 
If you are not going to climb steep hills consistently I'd recommend the Ride1up Roadster. I love how silent the belt drive and motor is, you don't hear a thing out of it while riding, its pretty awesome + it is super light weight and a stealthy road ebike, hidden battery in the downtube and all.
 
Hello,
The old E-bike which I own has a completely silent rear hub motor.
I am looking for a new E-bike, but not as heavy as the old one (26kg).
Is there a lightweight E-bike in the market which is also complete silent?
Thanks, Bert
If you want lightweight, the kinds of bikes @ki11a described are likely where you are going to wind up. I owned a Luna Fixed, which costs more money, but it gave me the opportunity and platform to test out the merits of a belt drive, an internally geared hub and torque sensing, none of which I had experienced before (belt drive and IGH were great... torque sensing is not something I will ever use again if I can help it).

This class of ebike is wonderfully lightweight and actually feels like a real bicycle in terms of its weight and handling. There is also the unfortunately-named Babymaker from FLX. That one is probably the top spec on paper at least.


But the Luna, priced in between the two, has the benefit of a mid drive motor hiding in it. Its a better climber as a result. I found it to be of very high quality, especially for the price. Here's mine although to be fair I had put custom wheels on it, and changed the saddle and put on narrow bars with ends. It has rack bosses in the frame.

IMG_20200604_155933.jpg



With 36v batteries and small motors (500w for the Luna, 350w for the other two), none of the bikes in this class will provide a lot of assist, or a lot of range. Thats the penalty you pay for light weight. For that equation to change technology is going to have to advance in terms of battery design to make them smaller and more powerful. I sold my Luna as little bikes like this are pretty much only suited for relatively short recreational rides and thats not my thing.
 
The E-bike from Koga, which I ride, is equipped with Deore 3x10 gear, and I like it very much. Only the weight!! I am looking for a Gravel E-bike; lightweight and without any nois from the motor. So far, I can only find some bike's with some noise.
 
The E-bike from Koga, which I ride, is equipped with Deore 3x10 gear, and I like it very much. Only the weight!! I am looking for a Gravel E-bike; lightweight and without any nois from the motor. So far, I can only find some bike's with some noise.
I don't believe you will find a complete quiet ebike motor unless it's so low power it doesn't produce any energy at the stator - magnet gap. I suggesting that if you want decent performance you priority may need to shift a bit.
 
Hello,
The old E-bike which I own has a completely silent rear hub motor.
I am looking for a new E-bike, but not as heavy as the old one (26kg).
Is there a lightweight E-bike in the market which is also complete silent?
Thanks, Bert

why a rear hub motor rather than a mid-drive? because it's quieter?

if you really want lightweight, the lemond prolog is 26lb (2.2x lighter than your old one ;) ) with a very quiet rear hub (mahle x35+) motor. there are several other bikes with this system - it's very lightweight, relatively low power, but combined with a good drivetrain and the low weight of the bike, it's an intriguing niche.

my city/commuter/utility bike is a vanmoof s3, which is a FRONT hub motor, more powerful than the lemond and much cheaper, but more like 20kg. lighter than your bike but not immensely so. the motor is faintly audible, but never more than a pleasant whir even when the boost button is pressed for instant max power. there are some similar bikes with rear hub motors, like the wing freedom 2, around 18kg.
 
It is the bike on my Avatar which I like to replace and thats why I am looking for a gravel E-bike. It has to be suitable for carriers and bags.
And I don't need much power because I didn't use much power in the last six years.
 
It is the bike on my Avatar which I like to replace and thats why I am looking for a gravel E-bike. It has to be suitable for carriers and bags.
And I don't need much power because I didn't use much power in the last six years.
Maybe the smart move, then, is to buy the bike you want that has no electrification. Then add a simple wheel kit. small hub motor kits are commonplace, and you will be able to buy whatever battery suits your needs without the limitations (largely dictated by aesthetics) that come with the lightweight ebikes we're describing above.

I bought a kit from this company. It was very well done and shipped very quickly. The Bafang motor is nearly silent and relatively powerful @ 60Nm (re-grease it with Mobil28 and it will be totally silent).

I suggest buying more motor than you need simply because a motor running at a fraction of its capacity is going to be more reliable long-term. Bafang hubs tend to be bulletproof to start with so that puts you in a good place.

 
Specialized Creo SL Evo and Cannondale Topstone Neo are examples of lightweight gravel e-bikes. These are equipped with mid-drive motors and are not cheap.
 
So far, I was thinking of the Cannondale Topstone Neo SL2, the Merida eSilex 400 and the Ribble Gravel AL e Sport 400 GRX.
All these bikes are equiped with the Simano GRX 400 and I think that will suit me. Maybe there will be some orhter bike's next year.
And all not to expensive!
 
If you are not going to climb steep hills consistently I'd recommend the Ride1up Roadster. I love how silent the belt drive and motor is, you don't hear a thing out of it while riding, its pretty awesome + it is super light weight and a stealthy road ebike, hidden battery in the downtube and all.
This is a light single speed , but with 5 modes, easier to maintain. It´s a regular bike with boost;
hill climbing depends on your age, weight, & physical condition. Good bike on the flat. I like this
bike, but I´m just too big & old for it.
 
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I was thinking of this Cannondale e-bike. It is available at my LBS behind the corner.
The bike which I am looking for has to be a lightweight (15-16 kg max) , at least 20 gear, drop bar and enough points to fix racks.
And the motor had to be as quiet as possible. Absolute silent???
 
The bike which I am looking for has to be a lightweight (15-16 kg max) , at least 20 gear, drop bar and enough points to fix racks.
And the motor had to be as quiet as possible. Absolute silent???
if those were my criteria …. i’d probably go with an orbea gain d20. it has a 2x11 drivetrain, quiet rear hub motor, takes racks, only around 13kg, drop bar, and will clear 40mm tires for gravel.

very nice bike, provided you don’t expect it’s going to do all the work for you. the motor is not “absolute silent” but the situations where you’ll hear it over normal road noise are few. i rode alongside a guy with the 1x version a while back and i couldn’t hear it at all. significantly quieter than my mid-drive creo.
 
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