Where to buy hubmotors?

I never thought I'd consider a hub motor, but from reading about on here it seems you can get a lot more power out them than their nominal ratings (which always seemed a bit weak). They're also shockingly simple...

I've looked on ebay (UK) and the only listings are for wheel assemblies direct from china.

Can anyone recommend a supplier with a decent website that I can browse through? I've seen 9C and MXUS mentioned. The magic pie looks like more than what I need. Something that's inexpensive and can be overdriven would be ideal

I assume the motor/wheel assembly drops into an average bike frame and takes the standard fit sprockets and disc brake? Mine is a dual suspension.

A source of controllers would be also be very helpful

Sorry for being a noob...

Thanks,
Ant

A LOT depends on the address you want stuff sent to. Personally, I mostly just know the north american vendors well. Then you need to decide if you want the best kit, or the cheapest, or the most powerful currently sold.

Start with a good read over at the Grin Cyclery website. Best faq's on hubmotors you can read anywhere, and their simulator. If you want to order from the vendor with the best kits and CS, then it's grin for the win.

Re the gears, rear hubmotors usually have at most a 7 speed screw on freewheel. So they don't drop in quite so easy into a 9 speed bike where chain is skinny and the shifter index is not going to match.

You also have to controll torque which has been a diy thing for rear hubs for some time. But Grin now has a universal rear torque arm that should fit most bikes now. Grin is the place that goes out and invents what we need, over and over. China is not going to invent stuff for the way we yanks overvolt our motors.

Hi Dogman,

Thanks for the link, I shall go and check it out now.

I should have mentioned before that I'm after a direct-drive motor. My bike is 6 or 7 speed on the back, so no worries there. I have reasonable fabrication skills, so brackets/braces are no problem if I've got an idea of what I need to achieve.

I'm a cheapskate and tinkerer by nature, so I don't mind messing with cheap-and-cheerful parts if they can be pushed. Regarding performance I'd like 30mph unassisted. I guess performance will ultimately limited by what I can afford to spend, hence the desire to window shop

Thanks again for the link - it was a good read. Am I right in thinking that the nine-continent and crystalite motors on the site represent the quality end of the market?

I've just seen a motor for sale close to home. No details apart from that the motor is 36V 250W

The motor seems physically big compared to other low-rated motors. Is this motor likely to be a waste of time?

Looks a lot like a crystalyte 400 series, or a motor of similar design. It's value, if that's the pic of it, is about 20 bucks. It's had the wires ripped out, and needs repair. Fixed and running, it could be worth at most $100. Looks like a rear hub by the screw threads on the cover near the axle.

Should be able to stand up to 1000w easy, but likely would need thicker wiring to handle more than 400-500w.

Easy enough to get it running, three new wires and a sensorless controller would be the easy way.

Ok assuming your based in the UK as it seems.

The best place to get a direct drive hub is from this italian guy at wheelkits its where i got my 9c Kit i have had it since December and its been great.

http://www.wheelkits.it//index.php

He has sold out of the rear motors but he does have some 9x7 front kits on his website and on the stock controller at 48v you would get about 26mph which is pretty quick and if you want to go faster you can always get a controller from lyen or someone like that and run it on 72v and 30mph would be easily achieved just keep an eye on motor temps.

Bum just noticed the front kits he has are 28" wheels i don't suppose there any good for you?

alternatively although i don't have any experience with them they are meant to be goldenmotors main Europe dealer

http://www.devi-motion.com/webshop/e-bike-kit/p-1/D1000080--prokit-901-48v-1000w-16-%22-front.html

That kit would be the best alternative available in Europe and you can always get a much better controller at a later date to unleash the motors potential somewhat.

Forget about crystalyte Europe they are jokers with there prices on there stuff it would cost you about 315 euros just for a HS 3540 wheel without anything else.

Another alternative is cellman sells direct drive kits as well as hit Mac motors which are very well received on here you would probably be looking at about 300 dollars for a direct drive kit delivered from him more if you want faster shipping than SAL.

http://www.emissions-free.com/

I bought most of my kits from BMSBattery.com because they're cheap and reliable. They take 2 to 5 weeks to arrive. Occasionally you have to pay about £30 import duty. The Bafang BPM motor is pretty good. I have three of them and after several thousand miles can say that they are quiet and powerful, and very free running without power. If you get the 36v one, you can decide on the speed by choosing the appropriate battery:36v gives about 18mph; 44v about 22mph, 48v about 25mph. You don't want to go much faster than that in the UK unless you want your collar felt. If you decide on 48v for speed, get the 36v kit. but ask them to swap the controller for a 48v one There's one of the BPM motors on Ebay right now if you don't want to import, but by the time you've bought a controller, throttle and pedal sensor, you might as well get the whole kit from China.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Electric-bike-hub-motor-/290712570531?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item43afd1caa3
http://www.bmsbattery.com/ebike-kits/347-bafang-350watts500watts-bpm-motor-e-bike-kit.html

Another more expensive option is an Ezee kit, which will do about 20mph. Everything is plug-and-play, so easy installation. Tell the guy that you want optimum power and speed, and he'll advise you the best options. He also supplies the 11T free-wheel set that you'll need for whatever motor you choose, as most others only offer 14T top gear, for which you can't pedal fast enough, so you'll need to contact him probably anyway.
http://www.cyclezee.com/shop.html

That wheelkits link isn't working for me.

Emissions Free is the place to buy from china, if you want what he carries. He's got a good range of motors, and you can trust your money with him.

BMS battery is sometimes great, sometimes not. Still an option to consider for sure, but go with Emissions Free if the thing is the same both places.

dogman said:

That wheelkits link isn't working for me.

Emissions Free is the place to buy from china, if you want what he carries. He's got a good range of motors, and you can trust your money with him.

BMS battery is sometimes great, sometimes not. Still an option to consider for sure, but go with Emissions Free if the thing is the same both places.

Click to expand...

His website is really strange and intermittent if you keep reloading it then it might eventually load i don't know why his site is like that but anyways lol.

Oh the original BPM's looked like good motors but these new degraded V2 motors just look a lot cheaper and add to that the fact you need a special tool to open the hub and the freewheel thread is casted on the case and can be broken off as someone else has done makes the BPM's now not something i would recommend to anyone.

I don't know if anyone knows how good the golden motor 901 kit is but you can get it for 207 euros plus shipping which seems like a good deal to me yes the controller might be crap but you can always get a better one and over-volt that Gm motor somewhat.

Thanks for the info guys - this is exactly the sort of stuff I couldn't turn up with searches.

I think I'll forget the motor in the photo above... I did see the bare BPM on ebay, but it didn't seem compelling at £180.

I've spent some time checking out all the recommended suppliers and I like the look of devi-motion the most. Their prices seem cheap and postage is also cheap (18 euros for a kit).

Unfortunately their website is a bit sparse on technical detail for their kits...

So there's the prokit 901 48v/1000W kit Chilledout linked to: http://www.devi-motion.com/webshop/e-bike-kit/p-1/D1000080--prokit-901-48v-1000w-26-%22-front.html

Or, be more ambitious and try the magic pie kit?: http://www.devi-motion.com/webshop/e-bike-kit/p-1/D1000221--magic-pie-kit-20-%22-rear.html

What is the silver box in the photo? It looks like a battery! If it's the controller it's huge...

Or, just buy the bare magic pie motor assembly: http://www.devi-motion.com/webshop/D1000202--magic-pie-kit-hub-front.html

And buy this controller: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/brushless-motor-controller-1500-2000w-72-volts-electric-moped-SCOOTER-/330731337086?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item4d011fb57e

Assuming the above controller isn't junk

I've not laced a wheel before. I'm confident I could do it, it's just a question of cost of the spokes (guessing the short length makes them special?) and any tools/equipment.

Ant

From my experience devi-motion is not that great, I ordered something 2,5 years ago from them and had to wait 6 weeks for a magic pie, it was just out on the market back then and was not in stock so that is ok but received a damaged unit due to poor packaging ( paint chips, dings etc etc.) probably right from China by the looks of it with no QC from devi-motion itself.

Communication was difficult, and I called and emailed ( in Dutch ) a lot before there was a solution, finally I was so fed up with it, I didn't want a new motor from them again ( and waiting 6 weeks again, hahaha sure.... ) and got my money back after a few weeks instead of 1-2 days.

From what I read, the magic pie is quite good for the price, but only the hubmotor itself.... standard internal controller is lame, only 48 volt / 20 amp and 60 volts HOC max capable.
This is a low kV motor so that's about 22 - 24 mph top speed and the GM batteries suck big time, totally not worth the money, get for instance a lyen controller ( for sale section ) shipping is only 15 dollar, programmable, reliable and good value.
But I bet when you put 60 volts or more in this from a decent battery combined with a good controller this will be a very nice, fast and strong enough set-up I think and hopefully devi-motion is now a better company to buy from than a few years back, check for stock before you buy, otherwise this summer will be over before you can ride......... ( did this summer begin even.... guess not this year.... )

KMXtruus

there is a couple of new hubs on the bay at the moment for 69 quid , just thought I would linky http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/24-ELECTRIC-BIKE-MONTANA-E-GLIDE-REAR-WHEEL-AND-MOTOR-250W-BRUSHLESS-MOTOR?item=251055521313&cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p5197.m7&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D3%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8522379332693367137#ht_1670wt_861 I dont know if it has a disk mount.

Thanks, but I need more power than 250W

Truusje, thanks for the warning. I will check stock and delivery time before ordering anything. I'll also pay through paypal using a credit card for maximum protection.

You have surprised me with this talk of a controller inside the hub motor?! Is this the case just with the kits, or even if I buy the magicpie motor on its own? I don't want a controller in the motor!

I've just noticed the silver box in the photo is a battery and the page says "battery not included". So there's a mystery solved.

Punx0r said:

Thanks, but I need more power than 250W

Click to expand...

although Its not this particular hub, but I have a 250w hub that I push 1.5kw through at bursts

I wasn't aware of how good devi motion was i guess if your not in a rush and pay with paypal you will be ok.

this motor looks not too bad but delivery is a bit slow as its by sea.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/48V-1000W-Electric-Bicycle-Kit-Brushless-Hub-Motor-Scooters-Sea-7-8-Week-Outdoor-/140671396366?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c0ab2a0e#ht_3760wt_1110

I'm afraid I'm far to impatient to wait that long for delivery

The cheaper kits are tempting, but I'm trying to avoid the situation of "buy cheap, buy twice". If the magic pie is regarded as a good quality motor then I'm happy to pay the extra for it (and get a lyen controller by the sounds of it).

It's just a question of what it will take to get the motor laced into a wheel...

Pah, too many variables (and potential cost) with lacing my own wheel. That can be a project for the future.

I've decided on the prokit 901 as it seems there's a few people using these motors and it should be plug and play.

I've emailed devi-motion about stock and delivery time and they say they're currently waiting for a delivery from the far east, which will arrive mid-june. From there it's 3 days to me.

Thanks again for the advice guys

You'll probably see me asking questions about lipo charging soon

Ant

whilst waiting on the stock at devi motion keep an eye on wheelkits.it as they might get there rear 9c kits back in stock and i think there motors are better than the gm one your looking at.
If your really in a rush the wheelkits guy is selling a 9c 9x7 with 27amp controller for 248 euros plus delivery.
The controller is a pretty nice infineon controller its the one i use now doesn't even get warm with my 6x10.

I can't see any kits showing as in stock on the wheelkits site?

BTW, what does 9x7, 6x10 designate?

Motor windings. 9x7 9c motor will go about 23 mph on 36v. A 6x10 will only go 15 mph on 36v, but it will climb hills with less overheating.

6x10 on 72v makes a nice bike.

Dang it. Now I'm wondering if I should just order the magic pie kit. Is the internal controller really that useless?

the kits for front wheel are all in stock still there on a different page to the rear kits.

yes the internal controller is a pain tbh an magic pie with an external controller or rewired for an external controller would be a really nice torqy motor but the wimpy internal controller limits its capability too much.

I suppose what I'm really asking is: is the internal pie controller so much worse than the controller that comes with the 901 kit?

I'll end up upgrading controllers anyway at some point, but I just want to get a kit fitted and working for a while on the standard controller. If the pie controller isn't going to give me 1Kw cont. or be unreliable due to heat or design then it makes the pie kit less desirable, as I'd be paying a kit price effectively just for the motor.

I just want to order something so I have a new toy to play with soon :lol:

put it simply the internal controller on the magic pie is built in which means if you want to use another controller you will have to dismantle and rewire your motor. Not something I would recommend to a newbie.

I bought the 901 GM kit. The external controller is ok if you don't push it past 1200W burst. It ran my recumbent trike down the road at 28 mph with no trouble using around 600W at high cruise. controller lasted about 6 months, then it was time to replace it with a Lyens. Smoked two of the FETs so hard it melted solder. It is now a deceased controller. Go with Lipo batteries a Lyens controller with that motor and you should do OK.