Add E ,Zip Force, and Rubee X
- Thread starter Belch
- Start date
It would depend on the specific design of your actual trike, vs the design of the drive system you want to install. You'd have to look at the manufacturer info on how they mount and operate, and compare those to your trike's design, along with whatever tire you use, and your specific riding conditions, to see if they all match up.
Also, to pick any drive system, you need to define / know what job your trike needs to do for you, under what specific conditions. Then you can use various simulators or calculators (like the ebikes.ca motor and trip simulators) to determine how much power it takes to do that job under those conditions. Then you can be sure to get a drive system and battery that can handle that easily, with power / etc to spare, so that they aren't being pushed to their limits, if you want a reliable long lasting system.
Note that friction drives are going to wear the tire and the roller of the drive, and depending on the mounting system could require periodic readjustments.
They may also not work (well enough or at all) under some adverse weather and road/path conditions.
Also, to pick any drive system, you need to define / know what job your trike needs to do for you, under what specific conditions. Then you can use various simulators or calculators (like the ebikes.ca motor and trip simulators) to determine how much power it takes to do that job under those conditions. Then you can be sure to get a drive system and battery that can handle that easily, with power / etc to spare, so that they aren't being pushed to their limits, if you want a reliable long lasting system.
Note that friction drives are going to wear the tire and the roller of the drive, and depending on the mounting system could require periodic readjustments.
They may also not work (well enough or at all) under some adverse weather and road/path conditions.
Okay I have checked with those three companies
I am hoping they are all in business and they distrubute to the US
If theyr'e not in business, how would you check with them?
To see if you can buy a particular product, a web search for it usually suffices; if you can't easily find a place to buy one, it probably means it's either unavailable or would be likely unserviceable / unwarrantyable if you did buy one, unless the company themselves only sells them direct to end users (rare) and deals with servicing directly (rarer).
To see if you can buy a particular product, a web search for it usually suffices; if you can't easily find a place to buy one, it probably means it's either unavailable or would be likely unserviceable / unwarrantyable if you did buy one, unless the company themselves only sells them direct to end users (rare) and deals with servicing directly (rarer).
One out of business company left there website up and may still respond to inquiries. So far two of the companies I mentioned did respond
ccihon
100 W
Aside from the drawback of tire friction drive, I think mounting any one of these three options to a tadpole frame design will be a challenge and require some modifications. The first one appears to mount to the bottom bracket of a conventional bike a drive the rear wheel - that one seems a stretch as there is no wheel near the bb boom of a tadpole. The others appear to mount either to a rear-drive from the seatpost or from a front mount over the wheel. It may be that some of these could be mounted with some ingenuity to drive the rear wheel, with the mount perched behind the seat. I feel like the adapter or mount needed, along with the cost of these, negates the "easy-install" value of them, and a hub motor in the rear wheel would be a simpler install, and for around the same total cost. I was able to find details and pricing online for all three.
I have used a hub motor as well as mid drive for my trike, both common "permanent" ebike conversions, and both work well. The ingenuity required is to figure out where to mount the battery and controls, display, and throttle, if desired. Trikes are often heavy, and need strong torque and lower gearing especially for hills etc. For that reason, even a well-mounted friction tire drive might be problematic.
I have used a hub motor as well as mid drive for my trike, both common "permanent" ebike conversions, and both work well. The ingenuity required is to figure out where to mount the battery and controls, display, and throttle, if desired. Trikes are often heavy, and need strong torque and lower gearing especially for hills etc. For that reason, even a well-mounted friction tire drive might be problematic.
I found the rear hub drive kind of complicated with the throttle, controller, and all the wires. Finally the hub drive failed. That is why I was thinking of a push trailer or one of these devices like the RubeeX or maybe the coppehagen wheel (if still in business) to avoid all that complexity. If I did go with another rear hub drive what would be considered quality?
I am not a long distance rider just around the neighborhood 5 miles max round trip. But I do need a little assist once in a while Thanks
ccihon
100 W
The solutions you are looking at, including trailers etc, are certainly designed to make install easier - combining the battery, controller, and motor in a single package make that possible. What you give up is certainly available power and range, and possibly some reliability. Mounting to a trike complicates them, as most are designed for conventional bikes. What type of trike do you have?
Some of the better hub kits can be had via Grin - depends on the wheel size and desire for range and power. These are not cheap (you can find cheap units elsewhere) - but a lot of the cost is in the battery, and the solutions you shared were in some cases costly also
Ready-To-Roll Kits - Shop
I have a BBSHD mid drive at the front of my trike, and while there are many wires to consider, the overall install is not much more complex than the hub motor drive. It sounds like you just want a bit of assist rather than a speed demon or touring machine, so this would not be a good fit for you either. My trike uses a 26 (559) rear wheel, and I originally used a cheap direct drive hub motor, a "9C" clone - worked well, but do need to wire it all up and mount a controller box with that one.
Some of the better hub kits can be had via Grin - depends on the wheel size and desire for range and power. These are not cheap (you can find cheap units elsewhere) - but a lot of the cost is in the battery, and the solutions you shared were in some cases costly also
Ready-To-Roll Kits - Shop
I have a BBSHD mid drive at the front of my trike, and while there are many wires to consider, the overall install is not much more complex than the hub motor drive. It sounds like you just want a bit of assist rather than a speed demon or touring machine, so this would not be a good fit for you either. My trike uses a 26 (559) rear wheel, and I originally used a cheap direct drive hub motor, a "9C" clone - worked well, but do need to wire it all up and mount a controller box with that one.
Thanks for the response . The trike I have is The Trident Stowaway 2 2012 model. I like those mount from the seatpost type of assist devices but they are not cheap except for the Picaboost out of China for 339.00 dollars. I am not sure if all chinese products are junk but it seems like they sell junk. Here is the Picaboost
Chalo
100 TW
You give away half of your range and/or performance when you use friction drive rather than a mechanically efficient system like a hub motor or mid drive.
My first ebike was a DIY friction drive. It slipped when wet (from an unexpected puddle), but when dry I could not get it to slip, and I managed to get it up to 1,000W before the components were capped out. I was also restricted to using a smooth treadmill with a flattish cross-section to get the best performance.
What do you mean a smooth treadmill with a flattish crose section? Thanks
ccihon
100 W
I'm guessing "smooth tread" was autocorrected to "treadmill"
I can live with the limited range
Ha! Yes I fat-fingered my phone and it auto filled treadmill. Off-road tread has knobbies, and I need a smooth street tread.
Some tire cross-sections are very round like a motorcycle which must lean to take a high-speed turn. I found a beach cruiser tire which has a flat face, almost as flat as a drag-strip rear tire.
It had the best traction on the roller, like a car tire would. A round profile "works" but not quite as good.
Some tire cross-sections are very round like a motorcycle which must lean to take a high-speed turn. I found a beach cruiser tire which has a flat face, almost as flat as a drag-strip rear tire.
It had the best traction on the roller, like a car tire would. A round profile "works" but not quite as good.
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