My Thoughts on Mid Drive..Hub Drive and Throttle

[steve mercier]

I installed my ebike.kit this past January.
My geared 36 volt 500 watt motor does everything I want. It seems to be a perfect match for my speed and hill assist with my recumbent bike. I have had my Lightning P38 for 20 years and 17,500 miles of fun.

When I climb a long hill, I keep the pas setting at 3 or less, so I am drawing less current and not draining the battery or overheating the motor. Without the motor I would be walking up the hill, due to a heart health issue.

But, one thing I have noticed is that the shorter spokes in the wheel makes the wheel stiffer, more like a 20” wheel feels on my trike. That plus the extra weight of the wheel and the rack mounted battery, seems to give a more jarring ride over bumps, road cracks, and road patches. I now have 90 miles on the kit. My recumbent does not have suspension.

I just bought a used full suspension recumbent bike to move the ekit over to at the end of this riding season. It has a 26” rear wheel, but my electric wheel is a 700c wheel, so I will have the motor re-laced to a 26” rim. Plus the suspension bike will fit a bit wider tires to.

Show us a pic or two when you have it rolling.

 

[Lightning P38]

Show us a pic or two when you have it rolling.

I will have to take a few more pics....

 

[steve mercier]

I will have to take a few more pics....View attachment 50899View attachment 50900

that is one long chain my friend !

 

[steve mercier]

that is one long chain my friend !

I wonder about a front hub motor on a recumbant...have you ever seen one?

 

[Lightning P38]

I wonder about a front hub motor on a recumbant...have you ever seen one?

The front fork on my bent is not heavy duty enough to handle the torque. But, no, I have not seen a bent with a front hub motor.

 

[Lightning P38]

that is one long chain my friend !

Two and a half chains....but it lasts twice as long!

 

[Lightning P38]

Two and a half chains....but it lasts twice as long!

This is my girl fully dressed. I can also ride her with just the front fairing on.

 

[Cyklefanatic]

I wonder about a front hub motor on a recumbant...have you ever seen one?

Front wheel drive leads to wheel spinning when going up hills or loose surface situations. Depending on your skill level you could fall or be forced to recover the skid. My Pedago has a front hub drive and I thought it wouldn’t be a problem but now I have to watch for loose gravel on hills because the bike will spin out.