1.5k leafmotor on ... folding bike?

hello... curious about pros/cons having a rear leaf motor on a 20" downtube (brand) full suspension folding bike may be?

i'm daydreaming about builds for when i'm back in the states and not somewhere that is difficult to source li-ion batteries at (qatar -_-)...

other day dream components/capabilities... phaserunner... em3ev battery... maybe a ca v3... throttle only/push button cruise... regen...

the folding bike is at home however i have plenty of cheap 26'er bikes in my area... is it safe to operate lipo batteries in a place as hot as qatar? (120*F ambient not uncommon)..

-r

it's that bad of an idea, eh?..

goosenoose said:

hello... curious about pros/cons having a rear leaf motor on a 20" downtube (brand) full suspension folding bike may be?


the folding bike is at home however i have plenty of cheap 26'er bikes in my area... is it safe to operate lipo batteries in a place as hot as qatar? (120*F ambient not uncommon)..

-r

Click to expand...

Not so much a safety issue, but will shorten the life of the batteries quite a bit. I imagine a Tesla car would work there. Just keep the batteries indoors as much as possible.

Not sure about the bike question. One issue is the spokes will need to be pretty short to fit a motor in the small wheel. I have a A2B metro that uses 20" bike wheels. The spokes are laced radially and I have had no problems with them (and I ride off road a lot).

I had a BH Easymotion Volt folder which I used to ride around in Dubai and Doha. https://electricbikereview.com/easy-motion/neo-volt/
Used to run it on a 48v battery, not the 36v - it was a great little bike. Batteries were not lipo, though.
(edit) - I just remembered - I had a problem shipping the batteries OUT of Doha (by air). No one would touch them. I ended up just pulling the battery apart and keeping the cover.

I've got a Downtube FS8. Nice full suspension folder, but it's a little heavy. I'm not the right guy to talk to, I have a 350W Q100H on it, and usually a 36V battery. Sometimes I put a 52V Luna mini on it. Also have a lighter Downtube Nova with same powertrain. My motors weigh 4.8 lb, and I guess a Leaf is 16 lb?

A 1.5KW Leaf will also want a pretty big battery, won't it, to maintain any kind of range? Where will you put it?

The other con, if you like to pedal, is that you won't be able to pedal fast enough to keep up. I use the DNP 34-11 freewheel and still don't have a low enough gear when the bike is only going 18 mph.

Sounds like fun though, if you want to speed around. Probably should be a wheelie machine too.

thanks for replies. hm... 20 lbs would definitely amount to a lot. might not be pleasant to ride for sure.

new plan... maybe just get copenhagen wheel when i get back home, install it on wabi single speed and call it a day. my commute here is only 2-3 miles tops one way anyway.