E-Bikes Part 1 - Front Hub vs Rear Hub vs Central Motor. What Works Best?

How about getting a mid drive bike with battery in frame and swapping in a dual motor kit with a single controller and battery in the rear rack or in between the frame

Io preferisco di gran lunga la bici con motore anteriore per città e trekking, con il motore centrale per sentieri e montagna con salite molto ripide. Quella col motore posteriore credo sia la meno versatile. Grazie per il tuo contributo.

Front motor makes a lot of sense for lower power/lower torque setup, like 250w - mechanical simplicity and all-wheel-drive. It's also a really good configuration for a bike with regenerative braking since the front wheel gets the best braking traction. A front cargo rack could help add additional weight to the front on the bike.

Can you fit a front wheel hub motor onto alloy forks?

I love ebikes, they are great ride and fun to do, they are expensive and heavy, and batteries can be damaged by the rain very easily. They are not waterproof.

Ive got a front wheel drive kit on my bike (52v, modded controller doing around 2KW/40A) and its great fun to ride. But it definitely has its pros and cons vs rear hub motors:

Cons:
-Takes a some getting used to. If you ride a pedal bike or a motorbike, it feels strange when you first notice the front wheel pulling you instead of the back wheel pusjing you. This doesnt take long before it feels natural.
-Accelerating while steering can be a little tricky or even impossible especially in the wet. This is because of...
-Wheelspin. At 1000W you only have to worry about wheelspin; if its wet weather, if your front tyre is bald and/or you try steering while accelerating at max power. At 2000w its pretty easy to wheelspin unless its dry and you have good tread on your tryre.
This is all mainly because there is very little weight on the front compared to the rear of the bike.
And due to all of the above...
-Tyres wear out very quickly(bs normal front tyres) Partly due to the extra weight from the motor + extra speed + wheelspin. More wheelspin = bald tyre =more wheelspin=... etc
-Wheelies are basically impossible now.

There are a few more cons but nothing major

Pro's:
+Front wheel drive is actually really fun to ride once you get used to it, and at over 1000w or more it feels great having the front wheel pull you down dips and up hills and even out of corners if there is a burm or just enough grip.
+ with a bit of pedalling, front wheel drive (FWD) becomes all wheel drive (AWD).
Having an AWD full suspension mountain bike is amazing when it comes to rock crawling, hill climbing, pulling through mud, sand and pretty much everything you can think of. With a big wide nobbly tyre you van go almost anywhere when you just pedal a little.
I cant think of any more pro's tbh but just with those 2 vs all those cons i would still pick front hub over rear hub every time.

As for the third option of Mid drive, I would choose that over front hub if cost wasnt a concern. Its the best of both worlds except you are trading AWD for Gears, and if im honest I'd rather have the use of gears than AWD no matter how fun it is.
But as my font hub setup cost a quarter of a mid drive (when i built it), im more than happy with it, for now.

cant believe this was 6 years ago.

i watched this a year ago deciding on what bike to get. now i got 800Miles on the Rear Hub motor and i appreciate this review even more. you explained it just purely based on experience

I have got electric bike with rear motor hub which is only 250w. And instead of upgrading the rear wheel to 500w, maybe it would be worth to just install additional front wheel with motor maybe even 1000w and separate battery + controller. The only concern would be how the rear wheel react to the speed limit, which with 1000w motor would reach double

Can anyone please give me a link to that front wheel kit

Get into a bind and this thing is a life saver

Kind of old vid but, do you have a rear hub + battery conversion kit to recommend? I live in Germany. 36v vs 48v a lot of difference or not that much?

Weight distribution is not very important when you are talking about a 3 kilo battery. The rider's weight will more than compensate and if going up a particularly steep grade it's best to scoot one's weigh around.

Best is front hub

If you're spending over $2500 on an ebike, most riders are likely not going to get max value. Ebikes are still in the developmental stage. In the not so distant future, I predict you will be able to get a belt driven 1500W ebike with an auto transmission (no rear deraileur...just like a car) that will go 30 MPH for under $2500 with quality components. My current Ebike goes 28MPH, but I hardly ever go past 20mph. It wasn't long ago when mechancal disc brakes were only found on very expensive peddle bikes. Now you find them on Walmart bikes. Hgher end bikes are more of a novelty item.

The hub motors on those 2 bikes look weak. What is that? 250 watts? Lol. Mine's much better, runs on 48 volts, 1KW, 21 amps! Even if I put a 36 volt battery in it (which I have actually tried) I could still get way more power than either of those 2. I love my e-bike, I built it myself and I don't even need to pedal, I only pedal just when starting off, then I let the motor take over. I'm just rather distressed right now because my battery has died, and waiting for the new one I ordered to arrive is AGONY!

may country is oman

oooh may god please sand it to may country immedaite

Who makes front wheel e-bikes? Who made the one in the video?

Agree with his comments. Central motor is not brushless, has internal gears that requires periodic maintenace, due to the friction of its components. Can be learned at you tube channel.

For someone like myself looking to get into the E-bike community this video was very informative. Thank you.

I have a fat tire, rear hub, with a 720 watt 48 volt battery, front suspension fork and suspension seat. It's been great. I don't have a drivers licence and I don't need to get a transit pass anymore. Max level pedal assist is kinda overkill. I can go 40kph with no effort at all. I haven't tested it on mountain trails yet.

I watch a lot of these comparrison videos and really they never give a 100% accurate description, why? Because they show the 3 different motors to compare the motors but they are all on different bikes. I have had lots of different cycles in my time and I don't think I have ever had 2 the same, so I want to give you a 100% accurate comparison of the front hub with the mid drive, both 36v and 250w and I can do this, why? Because I converted my front hub ebike into a mid drive on the same cycle and I want to enclose my findings and which motor do I prefare and I feel if you do this you will conclude the same. Same bike different drives front hub and mid drive and I think findings would be simular to rear drive but cannot comment that because never had a rear hub motor but read ups are very simular with slight differences to the front hub.

Eleven months ago I purchased the Mayfair Highwayman, E+Plus 250w front hub ebike from Argos and 9 of these months been riding it, to be honest even do I have benefitted from the cycle because it is peddle assist it hasn't been like riding a normal cycle I did when I was younger, when I set off and motor comes in it feels like someones pulling me it doesn't feel natural, if you want to buy an ebike like a motor bike that is fine but for cycling only other cyclists would know what I mean, it had a back rack battery so weight on front and back evened out but once I came to uneven and poor roads it vibrated through the all cycle not confortable at all in fact twice ithe battery connector come loose first time had to cycle bike home without power because controller is at back of battery and didn' have a screw driver to undo it, second time I did , going up slight hills okay but once hills got a little steeper then not much good, avaraging on a 6 mile tound trip 12.6mph and battery lasting about 21 miles.

Mid drive after 9 months decided to convert to mid drive which took a month to get all the parts and fit, this is a Bafang BBS01 250w 36v motor, so for the last few weeks been cycling on the same bike with this motor and what differences have I noticed? It feels more like a cycle you wouldn't know the motor was there unless you turned it off, the battery is still the rack battery replaced the motor wheel to a normal wheel. When goin g over rough road it as cut the vibrating down by 80% which i belived it vibrated a lot because of the heavy motor wheel, I avarage around 15.1mph on the 6 mile same trip because I can use the gears and battery lasts around 31 mile plus depends on many conditions. Negative points is price odviously mids are more expensive then hub motors, they say stress on the chain but I haven't noticed any extra stress, I do have a gear change sensor I brought seperate but use the cycle normal I can't see the chain problems. So overall accept for the price the mid drive wins in every way. Mike

Very good video, easy to understand. I am still undecided on what to get as an older senior with knee problems. What would you suggest that would be the easiest to ride and give me the least problems. Do not like the idea of a chain breaking or coming off. Thanks.

GREAT VIDEO...just a question ...you mention on the mid drive bike it has a 10gear rear cassette...i have a fat bike that has a much bigger rear dropout but it doesnt matter .....can you tell me how many teeth has the mid drive motor ?and in particular what brand..im interested in mostly about the number of teeth on the motor in front with the 10 rear cassette..is it 46?thnx in advance hope for a quick respsonse asap...have a nice day...

This is the theory i understand;
Mid motors help your legs push the pedals at the same speed you pedal. So depending on what gear you are in, depends on how hard the motor works WITH your legs efforts and feels natural at ALL SPEEDS. The mid motor turns slow on low gears and fast at high gears same as your legs...
Hub motors however simply TURN ON to 1 preset speed (on/off only). So if you are on a high speed gear but at slow speed it puts much stress on the motor! And opposite if you are at top speed the hub motor is not turning any faster.

Mid drive wears chain fast, while hub motors preserve it. You can't choose much frames for them too, aluminum sucks. AWD is possible only with front motor, back wheel can be pedaled.

Don't you have to consider the weight balance to include the weight distribution of the rider as well?

I want most the front hub e bike but where to buy this e bike kit sir and how much?

Hi! Do you have a link for the front wheel drive please. Where could I purchase this kit? Thanks

Oh, the best frame to use for a Front Wheel Hub is frames like the NEXT POWER CLIMBER. Frame is designed for LOAD to be pushed up more up front. Many brands carry this type of frame. I can tell when going uphills .

Bought a 1500 watt Front hub. Already have a rear hub but at 350watts gear. One thing I do KNOW OF FRONT WHEELS ( WITH OR W/O MOTOR) when riding in Rain or after rain of wet roads, the front wheel will be the key to avoid slipping as turning while peddling or motor on the wheel will slide and make you fall to slide. So using motor will increase the chances of slippigg of these turns and if you immediately brake the wheel will lock easier of braking of being wet and you will get tossed off bike over the front wheel. With those facts in mind Im aware NEVER to even try to ride in rain of any bike unless Im caught in sudden rain. Its best to make complete stop or slow down to 1 to 2 mph on all turns.
Other factors of using Front hub is the need to twist throttle of a slow rate, even to go faster from current speed and while twisting lean forward or press down Handle Bars to get more pressure from wheel spinning or peeling. Going up hill I take my body and stand on pedals leaning on top of handle bars to have better center gravity going up. These little tricks work out well for me but overall I ALWAYS DO NOT NEED TOP SPEED(Bike can hit 42mph) and only use it to avoid cars from behind. Main purpose of sing a 1500watt Front wheel is to ride heavy CARGO in back. Other than that I have no real use for 1500watt and just ride my 350watt when going to stores, next door, ect. SPEED IS NO JOKE AND USING BIKE OF THAT SPEED IS A MUST TO BE SAFER THAN SORRY( A CRASH AWAY FROM BEING DISABLED OR DIE)

C'est bien mais en français c'est mieux

OK ok, I am going to start looking for a MTB with suspension to build a Ebike. Thinking Mid Motor, I basiclly just want to fly down the road and paths, trails and such. More like a dirt bike. I have a pedal bike. SO i was thinking make it one gear, and more like a eMoped. ????Suggestions

Great video, thanks a lot, very informative.

front motor easier to install but looses traction in some instances is prone to wheel slipage on take off
rear motor harder to install if you need to change the gearing but has better traction and can also come in handy if you need to get the bike onto its rear wheel to go through tight gaps or if you store your bike vertically

hub motor not too hard to install but not something your average joe might be comfortable with unlike front and rear benefits from being able to make use of the gearing of your rear derrailer so you can get the torque to climb hills when needed and the speed when you want to go fast

I just recently purchased a fat tire e-bike by Magicycle. It has a rear hub 750 watt motor, and a 52V 15ah battery. So far, I've really enjoyed it. I will say that it is a heavy bike, and without the battery assist, it is a hard pedal. It has 7 levels of pedal assist, I've only used the first 4, typically use #2 in the neighborhood to get a workout, and when I'm on the faster bike trails, I use 3 or 4, and still get a good workout at higher speeds. With the fat tires and front forks, it is a fairly smooth ride on bumpy roads, although I think I'll get a suspension tube for the seat, or a seat with springs to smooth out the rear. Any suggestions for the best setup there?

I’m starting to like the front hub motors to you can get your home when you run out of petrol

I have had a mid drive bike for 4 years now. I like the idea that it uses the gears as well. This means I can get higher speeds. I don't like that you have to turn off the throttle when changing gears. When my friends use the bike they change the gears with the motor on and you can hear the strain it puts on the chain and gears. Yes he is right that the chain come off easier. Recently my chain snapped while 10km away from home. This is because a LOT of stress and strain is applied to the chain. Mind you this happened after 2 years of use. The down side is I had to walk the bike home. If it was a front or rear drive I could have at least rode home on electricity. I have never ridded a front or rear motorized bike, but the front one worries me that the forts are not designed to pull the whole weight of the bike and rider. Keeping in mind that forks can snap. My next bike is going to be rear hub drive. I'm not sure if it will be better, but I think it will be less maintenance and less stress on the bike. I think I will use a fatter wheel to cope with the increased weight.

Stroke the battery one more time. Nearly finished

I like the front wheel motor idea.

You should cover two hub drives.

about the weight distribution, you need to calculate your weight as well, cause e bike only weights around 20-30 kgs, while the rider's weight can range anywhere from 45-90. And most of that weight is distributed to the rear wheel due to the geometry

What about a front AND back hub drive?
How would you do that?
2 battery?

Front hub seems most reasonable place for lighter motor. Are there graphene winding motors and new type batteries for ebikes?

Hi SickBiker. First your post about bikes are awesome.
This year, I upgraded my Cube Attention SL with the Bafang BBSHD
central engine. With battery 48V 24 Ah works great. With assistance, the
bike has a range of about 75 kilometers with about 1500 m of altitude. I
was also working on a chain line that I saved with a 2 cm offset sprocket.
The gear ratio with the tape 11 - 36 teeth is great.

Thank you so much for an excellent vidio and explanation of the different merits of each bike. I have ordered a front hub kit for my bike and am pleased to hear that your wife likes it. I was uncertain about which kit to order but now I feel more confident in my choice