Just completed first commute on DIY eMTB, thoughts…

[Grizzlymanjay]

Hi all,
So first day back at work today after the summer holidays and I did the commute on my DIY eMTB for the first time (8 miles, hills, paths, roads and lanes).
It’s a fully rigid 26” steel MTB with a front hub motor and did my commute in only 5-10 mins more than my car, and was massive fun.
Reflections:
I have some hand and wrist pain. I’m 45 years old and 83kg, 5’9”, so no spring chicken but no pensioner either (yet).
I invested in some gloves with a bit of padding, but to be honest it’s quite thin now they’ve turned up. I’ve got a skinny Road tyre on the back at the moment and the standard tyre that came with the Chinese hub motor on the front. I’ve just ordered some new 26”x2.35 tyres and inner tubes for it in the hope that will ease the ride a little.
The road and pavement and path surfaces around here are all pretty bad, do you think I need a front fork with suspension? I would want an all steel one if such a thing exists.
Also, given that my bike I think dates from early 2000s (It’s an Optima Storm, I think part of the Falcon cycles company), will it be hard to source forks that would fit the frame?
I don’t know if tube sizes have changed on MTB frames. If so, anyone have recommendations what kind of fork I need (specs, sizes etc) to run my hub motor in there, any examples of brands or models? Happy to look for used from the same era as long as I know what I’m looking for.
Or will my tyres make enough of a difference to not worry about forks?
Just at the pondering stage at the moment, but I’d like to commute on it as much as possible!
Sorry for the long-winded question, I’ve not ridden bikes for 20+ years!
Really appreciate anyones input!
Cheers,
Grizz

 

[LewTwo]

The road and pavement and path surfaces around here are all pretty bad, do you think I need a front fork with suspension?

You have hit on one of my pet peeves. The piss-poor maintenance of pavements these days makes a full suspension bike just as important (if not more so) for commuter bikes as trail riders. One does not need the full super long travel of 'down hill' racers but something front and rear certainly helps. Given the current political priorities (climate change, Russian aggression, pandemics, jihadist terrorists, overpopulation) and limited budgets, I do not expect that to improve in the near future. The days of the light weight, high pressure narrow tire, rigid frame road bikes are history.

I think most MTBs manufactured in this century will have standard 1-1/8 inch threadless steerer forks. You may find some big-box store BSO (bike shaped objects) with inch threaded steerer forks.

I would want an all steel one if such a thing exists.

No you do not not. If you do manage to find such a creature then it is going to be a POS Chinese junk fork that is the lowest order of quality that our friends in SEA can produce. The exception to that is a "springer" fork in the style of the old Schwinn spring based bicycle forks. I can not speak as to how well those work with the higher speed of ebikes or the added weight of a front hub.

If you replace your existing rigid fork with ANY suspension fork of the same wheel size then it is going the mess with the geometry of the bicycle (it is going to raise the front end of the bike). Also any front hub motor is going to double or triple the 'unsprung' weight the suspension fork has to deal with, reducing its effectiveness somewhat. One advantage mid-drive motors have over hub motors is NOT increasing the 'unsprung' weight (either front or rear).

Also there is a question of mechanical spring or pneumatic spring based shocks used for the suspension. A lot of the spring based forks tend to be designed (sized) for either small children or full on world class sumo wrestlers. The so-called mechanical 'pre-load' adjustments are a very bad joke (more useless than ice skates in the Empty Quarter). Some folks refer to the mechanical spring based forks as 'pogo sticks' ... they are not far off. The air spring shocks allow for adjustment of the air pressure to suit a short skinny rider or a tall, large boned, Goliath sized operator.

In the meantime there are some alternative that can reduce the fatigue from a rigid frame:
1) Thick, soft, shock absorbing handlebar grips.
2) Nice, big, soft, gell padded seat (check out 'Cloud Nine').
3) Good suspension seat post like a Thudbuster.

 

[Grizzlymanjay]

Hey LewTwo,
Really appreciate your thoughts on this, thanks for illuminating the issues around all steel suspension forks, I guess im gonna focus on improving the ride with the fatter tyres inflated to a lower pressure.
Also I was thinking, currently I have standard MTB handlebars and even with my seat all the way down, my body weight is definitely more over my arms than my seat, so maybe some handlebars that rise up and force me into a more upright riding position would be a good choice. Although I think I’ll miss the more aggressive and precise feel of my current riding position…
Plenty to think about here…

 

[Grizzlymanjay]

Wow, thanks ebuilder! So much to unpack there! I better go educate myself and watch those videos
Thanks again man!

 

[LewTwo]

Road Bike Riders tend to ride seated with their ass in the clouds.
(and hopefully on very smooth pavements)
BMX and Trail Riders tend to ride their bikes standing in the pedals.
(even seen some BMX trick riders discard the seats because they sometimes get in the way).
Commuters, casual and comfort riders tend to ride their bikes seated in a upright position.

There is no single, correct way.
It depends on what is most appropriate for the individual and their style of riding.

 

[4πr^2]

Truthfully, if this was your very first ride, I would say stick with it for a few weeks or months, then see what still hurts/gives you pains and work to change that.

I go through this every spring with my wife. I am almost always out riding but in the spring, she suddenly gets an itch to come along. Her first ride in 10-11 months and the seat hurts her butt... she wants a new seat. She goes out and plonks down $$$ for some 'new' geometry seat which is supposed to be better, rides the bike 2-3 times over the next month and 'maybe' the seat helps, but still sore. Then she sort of abandons riding for the next 11 months until we get back to the next spring and the cycle repeats. So I literally have half a dozen seats stuffed in drawers in the garage.

But overall my thought is - if this is your first ride - yes most everything will hurt, be stiff / sore, etc. Give it some time to see what is 'really' sore and what will work out in a few days once you get used to the ride.

 

[E-HP]

In the meantime there are some alternative that can reduce the fatigue from a rigid frame:
1) Thick, soft, shock absorbing handlebar grips.
2) Nice, big, soft, gell padded seat (check out 'Cloud Nine').
3) Good suspension seat post like a Thudbuster.

This is a good combo, but I'd change it to seat that is comfortable and suits your riding style.

I'm not up to the super wide Barcalounger seats yet, but might be someday. I was using a WTB Pure in wide on my ebike, up until one of the rails broke (I think from lifting the bike off of the center stand, using the seat). It was an OK seat, not the most comfortable, I've done 50 miles, but the last few were uncomfortable. I moved my WTB Rocket seat (medium) from my mountain bike over temporarily. It's a nice seat, titanium rails, and fit perfectly a decade ago. My mind convinced itself that it felt better, but I soon realized that 30miles was my limit on that seat, so I got the same seat in wide, and this one feels great, and better than the Pure for comfort. I think the medium seat was the right fit, for the kind of riding I was doing, with lots of pedaling. The wider seat is more comfortable, if you're not pedaling as much, and the super wide probably feels pretty good if you only do minimal pedaling.

The Thudbuster long travel works pretty well, and way better that a normal post with a hard tail. It takes a lot of height, so you have to make sure the frame/seatpost combo height works. Mine extends about 1/4" from the seat tube for my height, so it just works. I think maybe I'll get the Cloud 9 ten years from now...

 

[LewTwo]

... but I'd change it to seat that is comfortable and suits your riding style.

Point taken :thumb:

 

[spinningmagnets]

I have weak wrists, like an arthritic bird. For years I have been adopting a more upright picture, similar to Dutch bikes.

Higher handlebars helped, so I'm not leaning forward.

Of course, that just transfers more of your resting body-weight to your spine. I bought a suspension seat-post to soften the jolts of an unexpected pothole. Its working well enough so far.

 

[calab]

I find myself looking at riding postion myself, I think I require my handlebars to come inward a bit, I do cruiser position but more upright these days. I like the big seats with springs, I like seat post suspension, ride casual speeds with lots of air 26x2.60 would be ideal for me, if not 27.5x 2.60. I average 40 miles a day, the last month. Lots and lots of time to think.

 

[2old]

Take a look at revgrips.com; they sell "suspension" grips (there are inserts that cushion the hands). My friend, who basically almost lost one hand in an industrial accident, said they improved his off road experience 100%. Expensive, but can be rebuilt so don't need to be replaced. Also, redshift makes a ShockStop stem which may help, but I'm not familiar with the product.

 

[Grizzlymanjay]

Thanks to everyone who has replied to the thread, so many useful ideas here!
Currently I’m looking into:
Stem with suspension
Revgrips
Flexible handlebars
Different shaped handlebars to change riding position

However, as I got a puncture on my commute home this eve (got very sweaty because of it) I now have the opportunity to change the narrow 1.75” tyres for my new 2.35” ones have arrived this evening.

Also, I feel like my body is adjusting to the ride as it as I’ve noticed hardly any wrist/hand pain after a few 16mile commutes!

 

[LewTwo]

Also, I feel like my body is adjusting to the ride as it as I’ve noticed hardly any wrist/hand pain after a few 16mile commutes!

Working some of the muscles and joints that may not have had much exertion for a while ... most of us have been there.

Whenever my left foot cause me pain (most of the time) I just try to remember that I am fortunate to have a left foot.
There are those who are not so fortunate.

 

[ColinB]

Hi, Congrats on your first ride.

How long were you riding for? I have the same issue on my fully suspended mountain bike. So my advice is to focus on the riding position, not the equipment.

Try some of the easy things. Seat angle. Raise the stem. Experiment with tire pressure. (Enough so your weight on the bike causes the tire to squish just a bit is my starting point.) Get some more rides. Perhaps test ride a "comfort" style bike or different styles to compare some different riding positions.

Colin

Hi all,
So first day back at work today after the summer holidays and I did the commute on my DIY eMTB for the first time (8 miles, hills, paths, roads and lanes).
It’s a fully rigid 26” steel MTB with a front hub motor and did my commute in only 5-10 mins more than my car, and was massive fun.
Reflections:
I have some hand and wrist pain. I’m 45 years old and 83kg, 5’9”, so no spring chicken but no pensioner either (yet).
I invested in some gloves with a bit of padding, but to be honest it’s quite thin now they’ve turned up. I’ve got a skinny Road tyre on the back at the moment and the standard tyre that came with the Chinese hub motor on the front. I’ve just ordered some new 26”x2.35 tyres and inner tubes for it in the hope that will ease the ride a little.
The road and pavement and path surfaces around here are all pretty bad, do you think I need a front fork with suspension? I would want an all steel one if such a thing exists.
Also, given that my bike I think dates from early 2000s (It’s an Optima Storm, I think part of the Falcon cycles company), will it be hard to source forks that would fit the frame?
I don’t know if tube sizes have changed on MTB frames. If so, anyone have recommendations what kind of fork I need (specs, sizes etc) to run my hub motor in there, any examples of brands or models? Happy to look for used from the same era as long as I know what I’m looking for.
Or will my tyres make enough of a difference to not worry about forks?
Just at the pondering stage at the moment, but I’d like to commute on it as much as possible!
Sorry for the long-winded question, I’ve not ridden bikes for 20+ years!
Really appreciate anyones input!
Cheers,
Grizz