hub motor is not fitting in my frame!

[Ebikebert]

hey guys i need some suggestions from you on what is the best way to mount my hub motor onto my bike. i bought an aeotoma rear hub motor about a month ago and it has a width of 150mm. and when i try to put it on my bike the freewheel hits the dropout not letting it go in. i need some suggestions from you guys asap because i have had my li-ion battery pack fully charged for over a month now. i have a motobecane fantom ds by the way any help would be much appreciated.

 

[bachmaninoff]

150mm is pretty big... 135mm seems fairly standard when it comes to rear dropouts. What is the width of your rear dropouts? How many gears on your freewheel?

 

[Ebikebert]

the width of my dropouts is 136mm. and it came with a seven speed freewheel on it

 

[Ypedal]

135mm is standard bicycle rear wheel with NO disk brake.

150mm is with disk.

adding shims and streching the frame is usually how it gets done !.. :wink:

 

[Ebikebert]

how should i stretch my dropouts correctly is there a correct way . my frame is quite thick however it is made of aluminium so it should be pliable .thanks for the help

 

[Ebikebert]

@ ypedal what do you mean by adding shims thanks


so much for your help

 

[dh-paule]

135mm is standard bicycle rear wheel with NO disk brake.
150mm is with disk.
..

There are a lot of frames on the market with 135mm and disk !

 

[el_walto]

When did they start making 150mm frames? 2005+? Looks like new freeride frames with huge suspension.

 

[Chalo]

Do not spread your frame yourself. At best, you'll probably wind up with a frame that's offset to one side (crooked, basically), and at worst you crack it and set it up to break quickly.

It may be difficult to find a bike service shop willing to "cold set" (bend and align) your aluminum frame to a wider size. See if you can find a qualified shop willing to do it, though.

Wider-than-normal rear hubs have more drawbacks than just having to bend your frame to fit, though. They also cause poor chainline (misalignment between front and rear sprockets) which promotes wear, friction, lousy shifting, and tendency to drop the chain. Normal width hubs are normal for a reason.

 

[Chalo]

135mm is standard bicycle rear wheel with NO disk brake.

150mm is with disk.

Nope. The only frames with standard 150mm rear spacing, disc braked or not, are downhill bikes with 12mm through axles. Obviously a 12mm through axle dropout will not be compatible with a rear hub motor.

 

[MD.]

I suspect you got the same setup I got off of eBay.

Here's my setup.
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=44474

If you did get it off of ebay, I would advise you to request a refund. That motor is a pain to get mounted and the 150mm drop out width doesn't gain you any additional power or torque over a normal 135mm hub motor. I suspect these were produced to either give the appearance that they are more powerful than they are, or they were built for some production bike that went out of business. Don't get me wrong, the motor does work. It's just that for about the same money, the yescomusa motor will fit easily and probably out perform this one. If you look in my thread you'll see a link to icecube57's thread where he took one apart. All that extra width is just for show. I feel like I wasted quite a bit of time making this one work. I think it sucks that they're being sold to noobs on eBay and we get them and waste our time figuring it out instead of just riding our new ebikes. The seller should state in the add that these won't fit american bikes.

By the way, spreading aluminum is not recommended. I "might" do Steele if absolutley necessary, but not for this motor. Anyone I talked to ended up bending and throwing away their frame.

 

[Grug]

Another alternative is to go for a narrower freewheel.

I went a different rear hub to you but had a similar problem with its large size and a 7 speed 38mm freewheel that was definitely not going to fit within my 135mm frame. As it had a fair bit of grunt, I was willing to sacrifice my gearing capability on the rear and go with a single speed 16t freewheel that was 18mm - a net saving of 20mm (google 'Shimano SF-MX30' to see the one I went with). It would have been nicer to go with the 7 speed that went down to 11 teeth, but for minimal cost it got me up and running without having to risk the structural integrity of my bike.

Then simply remove the cable from your gear shifter to your rear derailleur and tweak the tension adjuster on it to keep it locked in a suitable place. All done and dusted for under $25.

Oh, if you don't have a freewheel remover - remember to get one of those at the same time... =)

 

[dogman dan]

Whatever you decide on, don't try to bend an alloy frame yourself. 15 mm more is pushing it even for the more malleable cheap steel frames.

I see a singlespeed freewheel, then making the spacer normaly used with a 7 speed freewheel smaller. If no spacer, then you would have to cut new shoulders on the flats of the axle on the freewheel side. Basicly, you gotta convert the motor to 135mm spacing somehow.

Once all that is done, then your wheel will be offcenter, requiring quite a bit of dishing to get the rim centered again. It might be possible if you aren't using disk brakes to narrow it some on the other side, keeping the thing centered. Just depends on what is how close to what on that side.

Lotta work, perhaps enough to make selling off the motor and getting a 135mm one a best option. Or find a 150 mm bike.

 

[Ypedal]

135mm is standard bicycle rear wheel with NO disk brake.

150mm is with disk.

Nope. The only frames with standard 150mm rear spacing, disc braked or not, are downhill bikes with 12mm through axles. Obviously a 12mm through axle dropout will not be compatible with a rear hub motor.

Strange, there are exceptions, my 2005 , 2006 norco Chaos frame ( call it a light duty dh frame ) is quick release rear axle 10mm , and 150mm spacing, with disk.

 

[Chalo]

The only frames with standard 150mm rear spacing, disc braked or not, are downhill bikes with 12mm through axles.

Strange, there are exceptions, my 2005 , 2006 norco Chaos frame ( call it a light duty dh frame ) is quick release rear axle 10mm , and 150mm spacing, with disk.

Things that don't observe a standard are, uh, nonstandard. Although in the case of a not-too expensive DH bike, 150mm spacing with normal dropouts is a very good idea. If it only has one chainring, or it has a very wide crank spindle, then the poor chainline resulting from an extra-wide hub can be mitigated somewhat.

Here are the standard rear spacings I'm aware of:

110mm BMX/old track bike
115mm old 3-speed
120mm 5-speed/new track bike/urban fixie
126mm 6-speed
130mm new road bike/old MTB
132.5mm Surly split-the-difference size (frames only)
135mm new MTB/old tandem
140mm old tandem
145mm tandem
150mm through axle downhill MTB
160mm Santana tandem
170mm fat tire chopper/snow bike

If 150mm spacing with normal dropouts is becoming widely adopted enough to constitute a standard, then that's news to me. But hey, I get hip to old news all the time.

 

[Ebikebert]

thank you all for your replies @md what do you think about making this hub fit on my frame by removing the freewheel and adding a single speed freewheel do you think this motor is worth keeping

 

[MD.]

That's a tough call. I would say if you can get a refund or sell it, I would. There are numerous other affordable hub motors that will just fit.

As far as the width goes, I'm not sure it's just the freewheel that would need to shrink. You would have to look and see how wide the threads go down on the axle. Like if you measure from the bottom of the threads what's the width there? For example, if it's 140mm, then a 130mm frame would still need 10mm. From what I've seen from these wide hub motors, you would need to turn the axle down on a lathe or something. Again, it's just too much of a PITA.

Here's what the inside of mine looks like. If you've got the same one as me. Why don't you post a picture or a link to where you got it?
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=20398&start=480

If you really want to stretch a frame and make it work, I've heard that Walmart sells a nice Schwinn comfort bike with a steel frame for a reasonable price. You could also get a bike with removable drop outs and fabricate something to work. Your best bet for 150mm is a freeride/downhill bike. Search craigslist for the letters DH in the bike section.

 

[Ebikebert]

@MD can you give me some suggestions or links to some affordable hub motors rated for 1000w 48v looks like i will be selling this on ebay for cheap thanks for all of your help really appreciated.

 

[MD.]

This is the direct drive budget option. A lot of people on here like them.
http://www.yescomusa.com/Brushless_Electric_Bicycle_Engine-_48v_1000w_Rear_Wheel_Hub_Motor_Kit.html

The Mac's at the bottom of this page have good reviews. They're geared.
http://www.lyen.com/

More geared options. An excellent source from an a+ seller.
http://em3ev.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&path=36&product_id=55

Another great seller with lots of options
http://www.ebikes.ca/store/

I'm considering buying this one. Just cause I'm cheap. I'd probably be better off with a MAC.
http://www.greenbikekit.com/index.php/bpm-48v-500w-100.html

Read this site before buying and ask questions in this forum.
http://www.electricbike.com/

I hope that helps. Don't just take my opinion though, there's lots of much more experienced people on this forum. Good luck!

 

[all74]

I've had a similar problem with an older narrower frame not taking any multiple freewheel cassette with a rear hub motor and decided to try single speed. Single speed is quite good to combine with a motor, makes for a very simple relaxing ride. My motor is fairly low power, top speed of 32ks but it can work quite well if you choose the right ratio. Now I'm just waiting for the motor cover to shear off due to the extra torque of single speed riding.

 

[Chalo]

I've had a similar problem with an older narrower frame not taking any multiple freewheel cassette with a rear hub motor and decided to try single speed. Single speed is quite good to combine with a motor, makes for a very simple relaxing ride. My motor is fairly low power, top speed of 32ks but it can work quite well if you choose the right ratio. Now I'm just waiting for the motor cover to shear off due to the extra torque of single speed riding.

Single speed makes you work harder, but it's not generally as hard on drivetrain parts. Look at it this way-- with a 44t ring and a 100 pound push on the pedal, the chain pulls with 200 pounds of force. With a 22t granny ring from a triple crank, that same 100 pound push on the pedal results in 400 pounds of force on the chain. So you'd have to push fully twice as hard before the single speed setup caused the same stress in the side cover.

 

[Ypedal]

A single speed freewheel is better than a cluster, as far as breaking a motor cover is concerned..

Most people are obsessed with using a multi speed cluster and soon realize they never even bother to shift out of the smallest gear ... furthest away from the cover surface.. causing maximum flex and eventual breaking of the motor cover ( heavy riders mostly )

 

[el_walto]

A single speed freewheel is better than a cluster, as far as breaking a motor cover is concerned..

Most people are obsessed with using a multi speed cluster and soon realize they never even bother to shift out of the smallest gear ... furthest away from the cover surface.. causing maximum flex and eventual breaking of the motor cover ( heavy riders mostly )

I have 7 speeds on both my ebikes, but no shifters, so you certainly have a point.