Hub motor recommendation?

[n8-r]

Hi, I've been doing a bunch of research looking at different hub motors for my ebike build but there seem to be a lot of variables. Basically, I want a top speed of 15mph, enough torque to climb steep hills with no pedaling, and a something not noisy. I weigh 190 lbs and have a 20lb dog so the load will be 210lbs. The hub will be put inside a 15" diameter wheel with a 8" diameter rim so must be smaller than 7" or so. I figure with such a small wheel I can have a less powerful motor and get enough torque for hills at the expense of top speed.
I'm also open to the idea of running dual hubs for twice the power if needed. I was originally looking at the Luna Mac 6T which would have been perfect and given a higher top speed of around 22 mph with my 15" wheel, but from what I read it's noisy which I don't want and I'm ok with losing top speed down to 15 mph to get more torque.
Looking for something at least 750 watts and not noisy any recommendations? Also, does anyone have a matching controller recommendation? Thanks

 

[Drunkskunk]

If you're looking at the Mac 6T, you're looking at bicycle hubs. A geared bicycle hub might be small enough to fit in an 8 inch rim if you have access to a machine shop. But being a geared hub, they make noise. Some are fairly quiet, like the MAC motor, but none are as silent as a direct drive hub. There are no ebike direct drive hubs small enough to work in this power range. The smallest one I can think of is the Crystalyte 40X series, at 500 watts and around 7.5 inches. And then you'll spend a small fortune in time and materials designing and building a custom rim to fit.

You'll be better off starting with a scooter hub. A quick search on Alibaba and Ebay for 8" Escooter hubs and 15" Emoped wheels returned a huge number of results. Here's just one random example:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/15-...tor-electric-brushelss-motor/32605809453.html

 

[n8-r]

Thanks for the info. I did already look at some of those scooter hubs but didn't see one for an 8" rim, and also they seem underpowered. I'm set on using 8" tires so I can have a wide choice of fat tires. I'm currently running a 4.8x4-8 wheelbarrow tire on an 8x6 atv rim that I drilled spoke holes in and laced to a 190mm fatbike hub but want to now use a hub motor. The wide rim has stretched the tire out to 6" wide and is really cool looking and gives more float on soft surfaces.

The Mac motor looks too large, but the Bafang 750w 190mm fat tire hub motor is only 158mm diameter and looks like it would fit. If I could run it at 54v I think that might hopefully get the top speed around 15 mph with the 15" rim which is perfect as I don't want to go much faster. Just looking for any other hub possibilities that are under 158mm diameter with at least 750w. Alternatively, thinking I might have to go with a mid drive motor and some sort of internally geared hub.

 

[n8-r]

These are the wheelbarrow tires on 8" x 6in wide atv rims laced to 190mm fatbike hubs. I love the look and width and want to lace or bolt a hub motor to these. The cool thing about the wheelbarrow tires is they are only $15 each and give a nice ride at lower pressures. They have plenty of grip for mild off road and a great on road ride.

 

[MadRhino]

...210lbs. The hub will be put inside a 15" diameter wheel with a 8" diameter rim so must be smaller than 7" or so.
...

Your small rim diameter vs wheel size, makes me think it is fat tire and may be 200mm wide rear triangle. If then...
Buy a scooter wheel (rim on the motor). That is your best choice for that size, for both economy and reliability. Adjust to desired top speed with battery voltage, buy a programmable controller so you can adjust Amps to desired climbing power on your hills.

10 inch is the smallest size that is made in high power versions. In 8 inch size it will be very hard to find more than 350w rated motors.

 

[n8-r]

The problem with those 10" scooter hubs is they are too narrow at only 3" and there is no 5" or wider fat tire selection.

 

[markz]

Maybe you gotta do a chain drive to any wheel you like.

 

[dogman dan]

Sounds to me like you are looking for an electric wheelbarrow hub. They do make them. Golden motor is where I have seen them in the past, but try ali express, and other places like that.

It will definitely be some type of a mag wheel, and may be a different size than stock wheelbarrow rims.

I've been toying with a similar idea for a beach bike. Thinking chain driving a rear wheel from a mini bike.

 

[n8-r]

Cool, I looked at those aliexpress wheelbarrow hubs but they appear too low power and also too low speed. I may end up just cutting the outer bead section off some 8" steel ATV rims and bolting them directly to the hub motor through the spoke holes. If you look closely at my above pic, you'll see the rims have a vertical section just inward of the bead seat that is the perfect diameter to bolt to a hub motor with a 170-190mm diameter. Basically just cutting out the center of the rim and then bolting the rim bead edges directly to the hub on either side. With 32 small bolts (16 each side) it should be structurally just as strong if not stronger than a spoke laced wheel. This may get interesting.......

 

[dogman dan]

Lengthen your wheelbase enough, and you could run a 20" fat bike wheel, with a spoked motor.

Some scooter motors on the same search page too. https://www.aliexpress.com/premium/20-inch-fat-bike-wheels.html?SearchText=20+inch+fat+bike+wheels&d=y&initiative_id=AS_20190622050937&origin=y&catId=0&isViewCP=y