fat bike fork on non fat bike

i was wondering if the fork for a fat bike would fit a non fat bike.

is the head bar on the fork the same diameter for both fat and non fat bikes?

i am thinking that a non fat rear hub then would fit the front on a fat bike.

you may ask why would anyone want to put a rear wheel on a front fork?

simple it seems as there are not any disc brake front hub motor wheels out there other than at $600 so i was thinking of a rear motor on front fork so it is both disc brake compatible and high power enough to get decent regen on the motor as a regen only.

my case the frame work to hold the battery and attachment point for an appliance dolly for towing scrap metal makes the maintenance of the rear disc brakes impossible so i disabled them and only use the front brakes.

the road leading down to the scrap yard is a rather long hill so regen could recharge the battery.

ejonesss said:

simple it seems as there are not any disc brake front hub motor wheels out there other than at $600

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Not sure where you're looking, but there's a number of them out there. You could check with http://ebikes.ca to start with; I know they've got some under $200.


Regarding the fork thing, as long as the steerer tube and type on the fork is the same as the one the frame is made for, it would fit. You'd have to check that for each fork and frame yourself. If no specs are available for them, then don't get those--just get the ones that do have specs that match.

Whether the motor would fit the fork or not, again you'd have to check the specs, and also make sure the torque arms would fit the fork too.

You're towing a trailer full of junk downhill, and using only a front brake? You have bigger problems than fork spacing. If you can't stick a brake on the rear wheel, put one on the trailer.

Ran across this looking for something else, thought I'd post a pic of a nonfatbike and wheel with a fatbike fork.





But...make sure you use a *good one*, cuz this one couldn't take braking forces from slowing gradually from 20MPH or less, over a week or two. (and no, the motor isn't connected to anything, hadn't even got that far yet!).
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=67833&start=850#p1466385

...of course you can put a fat fork on a regular bike, just make sure its the same style, like 1-1/8 straight tube, or the new fangled fancy dancy tapered 1 1/8 inch at the top and 1 1/2 inch at the bottom. There are reducers you can buy, and also an adapter to use 1.5-1.125" on a 1.125" headset bike.


Sunlite makes a rigid fork.

Places to look for rigid or suspension:
ebay
Amazon
Alibaba
Aliexpress
Luna Cycle - Be aware I read that his forks are bad, I cant remember exactly. I am sure I mentioned it, perhaps his are proprietary internals. A search would find out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZYWUoyeJt0

Truth Hurts
Truth Hurts
How has it held up?
7 months ago
David Kord
David Kord
Bad, locks up with temps below 34deg F. Sold it. Started getting stiction around 50 miles
4 months ago

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FatTraction
FatTraction
How does it compare to a Bluto?
11 months ago
David Kord
David Kord
Bluto is far better and you CAN get parts to rebuild a Bluto
4 months ago

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Main thing would be the type of head tube/ headset your bike has. You'd need the same type. there are three actually, with older, and or cheaper bikes still using 1" straight headset, higher quality bikes less than 20 years old have 1 1/8 in general, and high dollar bikes now using the tapered headset, for no reason I can think of. ( there must be an engineering reason, but I don't grok it) Bike fashion, like 27.5 wheels.


FWIW, front wheels with disk are not that uncommon. If you want just the motor, or a motor in a wheel, they are not anywhere near 600 bucks. But the old stuff, from 10 years ago, those motors have no disk.

ps://www.ebay.com/itm/Voilamart-48V-Front-Wheel-Electric-Bicycle-Motor-Conversion-Kit-1000W-eBike-Hub/221691273393?epid=10030521227&hash=item339dd460b1:g:moEAAOSw9P9cy5fb

First one on an ebay search, disk brake mount front motor. 160 shipped. That's a long way from 600 bones.

And,,, rebuild that thing so that you can maintenance those rear brakes, even if its a pain and it takes an hour. You can move a cable adjuster easy enough, but you will need to get an allen wrench on the caliper to tighten it from time to time. You might have to remove a wheel to make that adjustment, if a motor is blocking that caliper. But on a regular wheel, you can reach in there blind and tighten that brake pad adjuster.

dogman dan said:

there are three actually,

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I think there's actually four, in that there's a threaded variation of the small steerer, and the more common modern ones are threadless (much simpler to setup and install, to me).

Yup....and in 4 years time there will be even yet another dimen$ion. My guess is 1-3/4"

amberwolf said:

dogman dan said:

there are three actually,

Click to expand...

I think there's actually four, in that there's a threaded variation of the small steerer, and the more common modern ones are threadless (much simpler to setup and install, to me).

Click to expand...

These are the steer tube standards I have dealt with in the real world, fixing other people's bikes:

ISO 1"-24 threaded
JIS 1"-24 threaded
American 1"-24 threaded
French M25x1 threaded
Raleigh 1"-26 threaded
1-1/8"-26 threaded
1-1/4"-26 threaded
1" threadless
1-1/8" threadless
1-1/4" threadless
1-1/8" to 1.5" tapered
Klein 1.5625"
Cannondale Headshok 1.5625"

Note that there are varying different headset/head tube standards for some of these sizes, principally 1-1/8" threadless. E.g. press fit external cup, press fit internal cup, integrated, and mixed top/bottom.

There are other regional standards, and there are other tapered standards (1" to 1-1/4") that I haven't come across in the wild.