Full suspension E-Bike for touring? Do such animal exist?

[ScooterMan101]

The Answer to your wants/needs are ...

1) Full Suspension All Mountain or Trail Bike , XC is Ok but
since you are going to have motors and batteries which will put more than usual stress on the Frame, it is better to get a stronger All Mountain Frame or Trail Frame F.S. Bike

Then

2 ) Get the B.O.B. Ibex Trailer , I have towed a B.O.B. , trailer you can go most anywhere a bike goes with a Ibex trailer. http://www.bobgear.com/bike-trailers/ibex

 

[tomjasz]

From Klever mobility:

Maybe not the "coolest" full suspension e-bike in the world, but people say they drive well

24" wheels though.

you can even get a street legal 45km/h version over here:

I'm liking it, very cool. As usual i like bikes i cant have.

Oops, can't afford either...

 

[boytitan]

Alot of vintage suspension bike frames have the suspension shock outside the triangle. So get a seatpost rack and you can put a battery on the rack and in the triange.

 

[BBassett]

And then ride around on a full overloaded bike with a lightweight rack that can't support the gear necessary to be comfortable. That is a pic of a rack made to carry gear securely.

 

[Chalo]

Please take my advice, and don't use a seatpost rack for anything heavier than a windbreaker or a sack lunch.

 

[BBassett]

Two of the things we want to stop from becoming normal in ebiking... Hub motors and the requirement of a license.

 

[grindz145]

Two of the things we want to stop from becoming normal in ebiking... Hub motors and the requirement of a license.

Because you don't like reliability and performance?

 

[BBassett]

I love when someone thinks they have reliability when they can ride around the block without needing a bike mechanic. MTB's are made for a reason and it's not Touring. Try living off the bike and see how reliable it is when you demand performance that it's not designed to provide. If performance to you means top speed then stop discussing Touring like you understand it. Tout Terrain Panamericana, enough said.

 

[grindz145]

I deleted this comment because it was mean.

I'm interested to learn how DD hubs are unreliable :wink:

 

[markz]

Re some of your ideas. I'd do a big rear DD, then front geared. My bike just had one motor, a 2000w DD, the old crystalyte 5305. I was going to add a front motor, but the 5305 was all I needed really.

Would you run both motors at the same time for the extra power, or is it more for efficiency range, say your rear dd motor is the power hungry beast for hills lets say, or for speed, or headwind, what have you. Then the front geared for the more delicate slower speeds where the rear is not eff at all.

 

[boytitan]

Please take my advice, and don't use a seatpost rack for anything heavier than a windbreaker or a sack lunch.

Whats wrong with seatpost racks. Someone use a shwinn seatpost rack as a seat on their ebike ?

 

[Chalo]

Whats wrong with seatpost racks.

Well, for starters:
They slip and rotate around the seatpost.
They cause the seatpost to slip and swivel.
They can slide down and contact the rear tire.
They can smash the seatpost into a non-round shape or crack it.
They add to the bending moment already applied to the post.
They permanently bend, or permanently bend the post, at a load that would not bend a lighter and more stable conventional rack.
They ride higher and therefore carry their load higher than a normal rack. This makes the bike more likely to fall over when being moved, loaded, mounted, or dismounted.
And they do a job poorly that can be done better by a rack that has struts.

Old Man Mountain makes racks in the USA that are designed to fit on bikes without rack eyelets. They don't suck.

 

[BBassett]

Any add-on rack is an Add-on. Just start with it integrated into the frame, especially when the rack will carry over 80 lbs.

 

[boytitan]

Whats wrong with seatpost racks.

Well, for starters:
They slip and rotate around the seatpost.
They cause the seatpost to slip and swivel.
They can slide down and contact the rear tire.
They can smash the seatpost into a non-round shape or crack it.
They add to the bending moment already applied to the post.
They permanently bend, or permanently bend the post, at a load that would not bend a lighter and more stable conventional rack.
They ride higher and therefore carry their load higher than a normal rack. This makes the bike more likely to fall over when being moved, loaded, mounted, or dismounted.
And they do a job poorly that can be done better by a rack that has struts.

Old Man Mountain makes racks in the USA that are designed to fit on bikes without rack eyelets. They don't suck.

But wouldn't if a seatpost rack was welded to the seat post eliminate those problems and create better weight distribution through out the whole frame. I was thinking of doing that and getting rid of my conventional seat post.

 

[MadRhino]

Seatpost racks can't be welded to the seatpost. That would be risking a sudden failure. Yet, they can be mod to add a frame mount 6" in front of the seatpost, making a stiff installation and it will not move anymore. That is still leaving some of the downsides unsolved.

 

[litespeed]

Seat post rack is fine for what most people would put on one as far as weight. I have one and it holds some granola bars, bottle of water, few bux and a couple Allen wrenches, a adjustable wrench and sometimes a hat, gloves and jacket. Whole rack, bag filled up and all is less than 10 lbs loaded. On my bike I couldn't live without it and there isn't anything else that I could find that would work.....also doubles as a rear fender when needed!

Tom

 

[slacker]

Two of the things we want to stop from becoming normal in ebiking... Hub motors and the requirement of a license
WE meaning YOU. strictly YOUR opinion.

 

[BBassett]

Yes, the opinion of someone that has been riding bikes since the early 60s and does more than goes out jumping curbs and pretending like 20 miles is a long way on a bike. If you have or want a hub motor just cut to the chase and get a moped, they have all the things you want... more speed and less cost, oh, and all those pesky regulations you seem to think are a good thing. Just like if you want a Tour bike then stop wasting time, listen to people that have tried every idea you have had in the real world, and save your allowance for something more than an MTB. If you can't understand the problems associated with multiple levels of regulation and even simple definition of what an ebike is then maybe your parents should put you on a different website kiddo. The fact that you think that the "rack" in the picture is of value to carry anything Or as a fender speaks volumes.

 

[slacker]

Good thing bbasset with 7 post's is here to give everyone expert advice, i am so relieved.

 

[grindz145]

How close is a motoped to what you're looking for?

I essentially want something a bit beefier, but I'm curious to know.

 

[BBassett]

Good thing bbasset with 7 post's is here to give everyone expert advice, i am so relieved.

The number of "posts" is what makes you an experienced rider? Go back to sleep.

 

[markz]

This got me thinking....
Statements such as long gravel logging roads, 4x4 rutted trails, hills/hilly terrain and hub motors are NOT suited for that.

I have to agree because mid drive motors would shine on, as stated by a respondant.

Then Chalo chimes in on using a 29" which threw me off for a millisecond, but then realized a 29" wheel on a mid drive would frocking rock for rolling over potholes on the road or when thinking offroad - logs, rocks the size of a slow pitch baseball ball (or larger watermelon sized), gravel roads, and single track riding even if its tight "S" turns (think slalom skiing) whether the trail is there for bicycling, horses or maybe its a goat trail or even a Jeep trail (think stumps that stick up out of the ground).

It gets me thinking about OHV area's around me like Mclean Creek where we have all stated above, plus the usual back country gravel road, and OHV trails that cars can manage.

So yes, a full suspension can be had in a touring bike, you just need to study what you are going to ride. I'd suggest a MTB FS with a good thinking about tire size and tread for the terrain you ride.

 

[slacker]

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[thunderstorm80]

This got me thinking....
Statements such as long gravel logging roads, 4x4 rutted trails, hills/hilly terrain and hub motors are NOT suited for that.

I have to agree because mid drive motors would shine on, as stated by a respondant.

Then Chalo chimes in on using a 29" which threw me off for a millisecond, but then realized a 29" wheel on a mid drive would frocking rock for rolling over potholes on the road or when thinking offroad - logs, rocks the size of a slow pitch baseball ball (or larger watermelon sized), gravel roads, and single track riding even if its tight "S" turns (think slalom skiing) whether the trail is there for bicycling, horses or maybe its a goat trail or even a Jeep trail (think stumps that stick up out of the ground).

It gets me thinking about OHV area's around me like Mclean Creek where we have all stated above, plus the usual back country gravel road, and OHV trails that cars can manage.

So yes, a full suspension can be had in a touring bike, you just need to study what you are going to ride. I'd suggest a MTB FS with a good thinking about tire size and tread for the terrain you ride.

Eventually I bought a hard-tail MTB, and converted it to a touring bike:
I aimed for a frame that:
1. Has V-brakes instead of discs (most of the braking power is done by regen, which is why I can't work with mid-drive. V-brakes are simpler, easier to install with hub motor, and can easily be serviced in every bike shop around the world)
2. Accepts Schwalbe big apple 29x2.35inch tires, which greatly add to your comfort and the occasional grip when you leave the road for light off-roads. I would have wished they made their marathon flatless tires with an option for that width as well. (such tires would be heavy (1.5Kg per tire) but on E-bike you care less about it)
3. Has wide range gearing, and I have exchanged the triple 22-32-42 crankset to 26-38-48 one.
4. I can mount rear panniers, front panniers (using the torque arms as the lower "eyelet"), as well as handlebar 5kg capacity basket.
The original bike is Trek Marlin 4, by the way.

With FS, I found I would be severely limited in my carrying options.
The only closest match to FS with carrying capacity as my hardtail would be a fat-bike. (similar to FS but without any rebound and less "travel", but on the other hand your entire mass including the hub motors is sprung-mass)

 

[thunderstorm80]

I finally came up with an idea how to create a seat-post rack that allows mounting two side panniers and is supported by a second point on the frame.
I did it by fusing a regular rack (for bicycle with eyelets) and a seat-post rack.
I used axiom rack similar to this one:

And the seatpost rack was one of the common ones that has a rectangular mounting plate. (don't have a stand-alone picture of it)

Here are the pictures. First, this is how it looks from behind:
View attachment 4
As you can see the Axiom standard racks lays on the mounting plate of the seat post rack.
Here is a side view:


I used the 2 aluminium rods which connect between the Axiom rack and the seat-tube eyelets as the frame support connection. I used a tail-light's mounting unit and tied it against the frame just below the top tube. I consider upgrading it to a metal cable tie:



This is a closer look of how those aluminium rods connect to the rack via the the built-in hinge on the seat-post rack:


I feels quite sturdy, and I believe I can carry there around 15kg more or less. (including the weight of the 2 Ortlieb classic panniers)
If you try hard there is a little side movement, which is due to the rubber tail-light mounting unit, but I believe that after upgrading this to metal, it would not move at all.
What do you think?