Front axle weight capacity?

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BiggKidd

100 W
Joined
Oct 15, 2024
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101
Location
South Central Virginia
Hi all new member here and new to modern E-biking. Until last friday I hadn't been on a bike in roughly 40 years. Last week I took delivery of my new Ridstar E26 pro dual motor fat bike. Since then I've put about 150 miles on it running errands and getting groceries and such. I bought it for that as well as making some long bike trips. Which brings me to the point of this post I would like to mount a 105AH LifePO4 battery on the front forks. That would be 8 cells per side adding around 75 to 90 pounds to the front of the bike. It seems to me all bikes carry about 75-90% of the bike, rider and cargo weight on the rear tire. It would seem to me spreading the weight out more would help. Does anyone have any opinions or factual knowledge of putting heavy loads on the front wheel.

The reasons I would rather use LifePO4 over Li-ion are many starting with I have one in hand. Two they last much longer IE: about 6,000 to 8,000 charge cycles versus to 1,000 or so for Li-ion. They also have a much lower fire risk. Downside they are a little heavier and bulkier!

Thanks for any help / information in advance.

BTW I've been living on an off grid homestead way out in the sticks raising two now grown daughters for the last 17 years. It's a ways to anything from here! My long term goal for this bike is to see this country over the next ten years...

I should probably also add the fact that I have several health issues including M.S. and I am no spring chicken.
 
Maximum cargo weight, including rider, is 330 lbs. It would best to be that or less. As a $1,200 ebike one can surmise that this bike is constructed from the cheapest components possible. The more wieght you carry the quicker the bike will disinegrate.
 
gromike said:
Maximum cargo weight, including rider, is 330 lbs. It would best to be that or less. As a $1,200 ebike one can surmise that this bike is constructed from the cheapest components possible. The more wieght you carry the quicker the bike will disinegrate.
Click to expand...
I understand it isn't the best bike It is what I could afford. Myself I am under 200 so well with in the carry capacity totals with the weight more evenly distributed across both tires.
 
It’ll make for heavy steering, and if the setup has much wheel flop it’ll pull progressively harder into corners and be difficult to straighten up from them.

I think you should test first with equivalent weight strapped to the forks to see if you can live with how it handles. And don’t even think about riding no-handed, or even one-handed, until you’re confident in how it behaves.
 
glennb said:
It’ll make for heavy steering, and if the setup has much wheel flop it’ll pull progressively harder into corners and be difficult to straighten up from them.

I think you should test first with equivalent weight strapped to the forks to see if you can live with how it handles. And don’t even think about riding no-handed, or even one-handed, until you’re confident in how it behaves.
Click to expand...
I agree I have some lead bars (bricks) that I plan to use for a first test. They will actually be a little heavier than the battery will be as they are 50lbs each. Of course I could always cut them down to the same weight, but I don't really see the need.

No worries on riding with no hands. I'm not much for riding with no hands at this point, my balance isn't very good thanks to my MS.

Thanks for your reply!
 
All good, you’re on top of things. The other aspects are that you’re adding a lot of unsprung weight. And that the two batteries need to behave as one I.e. no independent movement is permissible. A very rigid additional bridging piece to brace the two batteries might be required, because the fork lowers’ bridge will not suffice.
 
I'm a bit confused. A 100 ah LiFePO4 battery is less than 25 lbs. How did you get to 75-90 lbs?
 
Diggs said:
Pffft! I get my ebike life (52v) confused with my vanlife (12v) sometimes. I was in vanlife mode this morning..... Sorry about that.
Click to expand...
Hey no sweat, I'd love to hear about van life sometime. I've been doing the off grid homestead life for the last 17 years myself along with being a single father of two daughters. My youngest is just 19 and the oldest 24 has given me two grandsons.
 
Some pedicabs will have a strut between the axle and handlebar to strengthen the front fork.
Other examples the strut will fasten to a bracket held in place by the top nut above the steering bearing.
Touring panniers mounted on the front fork is common way to pack for travel so you may be within a safety margin anyway.

new-padyak.jpg
 
Remember bike campers have been putting serious weight on solid front forks of bikes for years with loaded up front panniers. It does slow down steering and needs to be really respected when descending at speed but when properly implemented (solidly attached, weight down as low as practical, some riding experience, etc.) the weight itself is not a big deal.

70lbs is indeed a lot but there are plenty of examples of adventure/tourers with an ebike battery mounted on one side of the front fork and a full pannier on the other side. But loading up a suspension fork is another story. The setup on the E26 pro does appear to be nice and robust but I would only really carefully and progressively add weight to your front end and check it out at various speeds. I would not jump to the full weight setup right away, and even then keep a close eye on any binding/stiction of the suspension movement, especially when cornering ... you don't want any surprises.

With the kind of use case you intend for the bike I'd build up not only your expertise in riding a loaded setup but also in regularly giving the bike a thorough going over - looking for anything cracking or loosening up or the bearings wearing prematurely (especially those in the headset).
 
Thanks for the info guys, instead of working on this I went for a ride again today. I was able to pick up my new handlebar on the way back to the house, gotta love Amazon.
 
If you can, I'd recommend adding an extension to the frame over the front wheel to put the battery on, rather than on the fork itself. It doesn't change the loading but it will greatly improve the handling / steering, not having that much inertia trying to turn the wheel.

There's a number of cargo bikes built this way from the factory where you can see what I mean, if you poke around on google. This is a DIY version

Cargo Bike Project

<p>Basement projects at Perennial Cycle cover a pretty wide array of bike related interests. Marlin is a mechanic at the shop that recently learned how to use the torch and was […]</p>
www.perennialcycle.com www.perennialcycle.com
1729550982811.png

I think this is a factory one, just the image (no site link)
1729551044905.png

This one is from another recent thread here
endless-sphere.com

Front wheel cargo hub advice

Hello I have a Pashley Mailstar which I am planning to electrify, like this one: It is heavy and strong. Not that good a bike honestly, but excellent for carrying bulky items. I was thinking of electrifying it for use as a shopping/allotment bike. The front Sturmey drum brake is actually...
endless-sphere.com endless-sphere.com
1729551355091.png


I don't know for sure, but based on my own heavy-cargo-hauling experience, I don't think the existing suspension fork is going to operate as-desired with that much additional weight on there.
 
amberwolf said:
If you can, I'd recommend adding an extension to the frame over the front wheel to put the battery on, rather than on the fork itself. It doesn't change the loading but it will greatly improve the handling / steering, not having that much inertia trying to turn the wheel.

There's a number of cargo bikes built this way from the factory where you can see what I mean, if you poke around on google. This is a DIY version

Cargo Bike Project

<p>Basement projects at Perennial Cycle cover a pretty wide array of bike related interests. Marlin is a mechanic at the shop that recently learned how to use the torch and was […]</p>
www.perennialcycle.com www.perennialcycle.com
View attachment 360988

I think this is a factory one, just the image (no site link)
View attachment 360989

This one is from another recent thread here
endless-sphere.com

Front wheel cargo hub advice

Hello I have a Pashley Mailstar which I am planning to electrify, like this one: It is heavy and strong. Not that good a bike honestly, but excellent for carrying bulky items. I was thinking of electrifying it for use as a shopping/allotment bike. The front Sturmey drum brake is actually...
endless-sphere.com endless-sphere.com
View attachment 360990


I don't know for sure, but based on my own heavy-cargo-hauling experience, I don't think the existing suspension fork is going to operate as-desired with that much additional weight on there.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the ideas and especially the pictures!
I'd be really sad to loose the suspension fork. Which is why I'm leaning toward down as low as possible on the forks, maybe even 3-4 inches below the bottom of the forks. Still researching and thinking... My current thoughts are maybe four cells on each side of each wheel centered on the axles.
 
gromike said:
What voltage are each of those 105ah batteries, and what does one of them weigh? I assume you're talking amps, not watts for the BMS.
Click to expand...
IIRC they are 3.2 volts each, the optimum voltage range for a 16s battery is between 51.5 and 53.3 volts in my opinion. Should make for the longest battery life. That's using about 70% of the batteries capacity.
 
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