You have two options when it comes installing a hubmotor: a front motor or a back motor. Although there are some electric bicycles that come with hub motors as mid-drive motors (which isn’t the purpose of this article), it’s not common for them to be mounted on a front or rear wheel. Look around and you will see that the same hubmotors can be found in both rear and front hub motor kits. It raises the question: “What is the difference?” Hub motors weigh.
There are many things to take into consideration when choosing between a rear or front hub motor. Let’s start by weighing it.
It is best to balance the weight of your electric bikes from front to rear. You don’t want all your weight to be in one spot. Most batteries are placed in the middle or back of an electric bike. This means that a front hub motor spreads the weight forward and can improve the weight distribution.
Bicycles that have heavy rear hub motors or batteries mounted far back on the bike, such as on an rear rack, are more likely to “popping wheelies,” during acceleration. This is particularly true if the motor produces a lot of torque or the wheels are smaller.
This wheelie behavior is not only fun but can also be annoying if it occurs repeatedly after a stop or red light. This can also make it dangerous, especially if it occurs on an uphill. Not letting someone test drive your ebike or having them flip it on the first go isn’t a good idea.
Placement of hub motors can impact traction
A second important consideration is traction. Moving a hub motor to the front wheels solves the problem with weight distribution but can create a problem with traction control. The front hub motor is less effective at traction because of the fact that there is very little weight on the ebike’s front wheel, as compared to its rear.
The smaller your wheel is, the more likely it is to “peel off” while you accelerate with a front motor. Although a 26-inch wheel can usually still get decent traction with 36V hub motors, a 20 inch front hub motor wheel will almost certainly experience a spinning tire. A 48V hub engine on any size wheel will also produce good traction.
A rear hub motor is more stable than a front motor, and will support most of your body weight. With any motor that is less than 48V, it would be difficult for a rear hub wheel to spin on a dry surface. If you’re one the guys pushing the limits with high voltage and powerful ebikes, then you can spin almost any wheel.
Hub motors and flat tires
Flat tires are another important consideration. Flat tires are more susceptible to being punctured by road debris than your front tire.
Why? Your front tire is prone to kicking up flat objects, such as staples, nails, and glass shards. Since they have a flat surface, they don’t cause too much damage to your front tire. You’ll occasionally be unlucky enough for them to land exactly in the right place to spear your rear tires as they are passed over the second time.
Flat tires are more difficult to fix in a hub-motor wheel than in a regular wheel. This means that if your rear wheel hub motor is equipped with a rear wheel hub motor you could find yourself facing an unpleasant flat tire repair. My article on how to avoid flat tires, regardless of whether you use a rear or front-mounted hub motor can help you make this an easy task.
Consider your hub motor installation
The advantage of a 26 inch front wheel ebike kit over rear hub kit is their ease-of-use. You don’t need to worry about shifting the freewheel, or setting your derailleur to make that weird chain noise.
You can swap out the tire with a front hub motor and put the motor back in the dropouts. No matter what your goal may be, front hub motor installation is easy.
Rear hub motors have their benefits
You shouldn’t rule out rear hub motors yet. Many people prefer their electric bicycles to look similar to a standard bicycle. There are no obvious indications that they provide “assistance”, so to say. Many small hub motors are almost invisible behind the gears on a rear wheel and are often covered by the disk. This gives the bike a stealthy appearance and hides the naked front hub motor.
A rear installation with powerful hub motors is also possible because of the greater power that can be handled by stronger dropouts.
While front hub motors can be easier to install, have fewer flats and spread the weight, rear hub motors offer better traction, smoother acceleration, and can look stealthier.
To take advantage the weight distribution, the smaller hub motors on the front are often used. This allows for better tire spin and prevents any issues with tire spin. The larger hub motors at the rear, which are more powerful, are used to increase traction. It’s up to you what works best.
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