S40 E-wheel options????

[Boreen bimbler]

I've just started looking into electric wheel options for an S40 with thru axles. There dosn't seem many. Grin is about all I can find quickly. Does anyone have any experience in this area? I'm fine with bike mechanics but havn't a clue about anything electrical so may not be up to the job myself anyway. Any advice on this or the complications of electric much appreciated. Cheers, Tim.

 

[Henri]

Grin All Axle Motor might just be the only available hub motor for through axles. Their Cycle Analyst is also said to be very good, so maybe it's not a bad idea, to just contact them and get a whole kit from them. Of course you'll need to live with a direct drive, then. (More weight, less efficiency, rollung resistance when bot powered. But also very powerfull and reliable and able to brake regeneratively.)

Other options I see:
- T50 or older S40 for quick release axles.
- Crank motor (not sure if there are compatible ones), lots of weight in a bad place.
- Something like an Add-E. Not sure if that product can be taken seriously.
- Build your own system. (Or have someone build it ) For example with a Motor under the seat and a chain that leads to a sprocket that is bolted to the brake disk attachment on the rear hub. Those sprockets exist. The motor could probably be something out of the RC world or a normal hub motor, that also has a sprocket instead of the brake disk. Probably both can be build with a freewheel. RC motor might even be possible with a clutch. And even a direct drive hub motor could get an underdrive ratio from the chain sprockets to increase its RPM and efficiency (and even the torgue at the wheel).

 

[Boreen bimbler]

Thanks. Just the sort of answer I was after and pretty much sums up the impression I had. I'm certainly not up to building it myself. The Grin front wheel motors looked interesting but very expensive (for good reason I'd hope). I think one of theirs would be my only option though so will look into it in more detail.

I'm in Ireland so taxes can add up and you don't get s/h cruzbikes here sadly.

 

[Henri]

Ah yeah, same in Germany. And Grin is in Canada. In this forum I assume USA and that would have been closer. But Grin may be easier to get ones hands on here.

 

[marshall2389]

I highly recommend Grin products. They're high quality in a market area filled with low quality garbage. I have bought batteries, a charger, a geared hub motor, motor controller, and computer from them. All have worked flawlessly. Plus their customer support is good, a rare feature.