New Ebike full suspension or hardtail?

[mrhat24]

Hi, I was thinking about putting together a new ebike. I have a golden motor kit on my beach cruiser with my 48v battery in the middle of the frame. I'm thinking about putting my kit on a new bike. I've been looking at a giant hard tail for about $400 or I can get a schwinn full suspension 405 for about $650.

For anybody that uses full suspension with their electric kit is it worth it to go for full suspension? I have a rear hub motor and I figure if I have rear suspension then it would ease some of that heavy weight on the motor. Every time I go over a curb and the rear wheel drops it feels kinda heavy and bumpy.

Also is a $1000 full suspension bike really worth it since efficiency of the bike is not absolute necessary with a electric motor assistance. I have going to my local bike shop and telling what my plans are with these snooty sales people. But then again it would be nice to go with a good looking bike thats put together right this time. I'm kinding tired of riding around looking with my grandpa style hobo bike fromt the pawn shop. but then again i can suprise people when I past up road bikers.
thanks for any replies

 

[dogman dan]

At my age, I love suspension, but so far I can only afford the cheap kind. It still beats nothing for street riding, taking the sting out of speed bumps, and heat cracks in the road. I think it's a must for long rides, like 20 -60 miles. I find it helps the hands more than the butt, on a 60 miler. With a smoother ride, you don't have to hold on with a death grip that fatigues the hands.

For reasons of cost, I still have hardtail on my dirtbike, but with a decent low end front fork with 80mm travel. It can ride some pretty rough stuff with the help of the springiest seat I could find. The big bumps I can stand up for. I'd say a good steel hardtail frame with a decent fork up front is a pretty good compromise, but still not good for riding right off a curb or something like that. As soon as I find a good suspension frame at the flea I'll be on it immediately, but my price range is about $20 for fleabikes.

The other day while out on an insanely technical trail, I ran into a couple guys on real DH bikes. Bareley able to follow them at all on the hardtail, I was allowed a great look at how real MTB suspension functions in the wild. Boy I was impressed! The real McCoy is worth every penny I could see. Riding up a staircase would be possible on one of those bikes. Too bad I don't have $3,000 in the budget for it. But clearly, even under $1000, you can get a pretty decent suspension bike. The thing to look for is 1 1/8 steer tube since no good suspension forks come in 1". So a 1" steer tube frame is bound to have a low quality fork.

Your decision needs to be made with an eye towards the use it will be put to. If you will be dropping off curbs much, you will like the full suspension.

 

[Drunkskunk]

That looks like a good middle of the road full suspension bike. the geometry looks limilar to some of the better bikes, although much lighter weight. At least it has a real shock.


A good full suspension makes all the diffrence in the world

 

[www.evlogix.com]

A full suspension becomes more important as your speed increases. I was suggested to get a "hard tail" from the experienced folks at the bike forums, but I realized taking a hard-tail down a bumpy road at 30 mph is quite a bit different than going down the same road at the typical bike's speed of 15 mph. If I had a choice, I'd definitely would choose a full suspension in a heart-beat. I originally had a full suspension so I know their ride quality is much greater on not-so smooth terrain.

If you like going 20 mph or less, hard-tails would be suitable. Above that, and it starts to become a bumpy road ahead.

 

[johnrobholmes]

navigating a bumpy road at 30mph on a hard tail is a very hair raising endeavor. I like it to some degree, but sometimes I would rather sit back and let the suspension do the work for me.

 

[dogman dan]

Yeah, my hard tail dirtbike is going too fast at 10 mph on rocky trails. I can only stand the hardtail on those bumpy trails because I take em very slow. On smoother sections or the street though, I am suprised how much the springy seat does well enough. With one of those rock hard, skinny racing seats, I'd be in agony. It's sure no substitute for a good rear suspension, but the springy seat helps.

If your GM motor is a front hub and you put it on the schwinn, you will be taking a big risk with the alloy forks. Either way, that's a bike with disk brakes so you won't have brakes on the motor wheel anymore. In the cheaper price range, you might find a bike with 1 1/8" steer tube forks with caliper brakes, and assuming its rear, put the motor there. Then you could get a better fork for it if the ones on the bike are cheeze. A used schwinn S-5 is an example of such a bike.

Lotsa stuff to think through choosing a bike for an ebike. Newer motors are starting to come out disk compatible more and more.

 

[spinningmagnets]

The expensive moutain bikes that use a hardtail are because when pedalling UP a hill, the springiness absorbs some of the leg effort. Like trying to bust something loose with a rubber mallet instead of a hammer. There is even an upscale MTB that has a lockable rear shock so it has full-suspension on the downhill, and a hardtail to pedal uphill.

Up to 20-MPH on smooth roads, I would suggest that a good suspended seat-post is good enough, though I am still a fan of front suspension and front disc brakes for E-bikes under all conditions and speeds. My current dream bike is a $450 Raleigh Mojave 4.0 hardtail with double disc brakes. If you want full-sus/double-disc, Wal-Mart has the Mongoose Snare for $240, and a full-sus front-disc/rear-V-brake for $180. For a quality full-sus MTB at an affordable price, check Craigslist for a 5-year old bike.

If you'll ride just once in a while for exercise and entertainment, thats one thing. If you want to get to a place in your life where you can ride to work every day instead of driving the car, get fat tires, a front disc, and front suspension. As for the rear, my vote is for suspended seat-post under 20-MPH, and rear suspension above that.

I am not a fan of the front hub-motor, unless its a low-speed street-bike with an all-steel front fork, though they are popular in snow country (+feet=2WD)...just my opinion.

 

[EVnewbie]

I am in that quandry myself,
Have a Iron Horse Maverick Elite full suspension, dual disc brake MTB and a Norco One25 hard tail with dual disc brakes. My plan is to run a 48V--25 amp brushless to the cranks and it will fit either bike. My top speed will be 25 to 28 MPH depending on the gear I use at the time. I've ridden both bikes mountain biking and street riding and prefer full suspension off-road. On the street, the hard tail with GT spring seat and 2.35 wide rear DH tire works great. No issues even at speeds of 25 MPH. Since it will be my first ebike build, I'll go for the Norco hard tail so I can screw something up and not trash the frame.
If I had, or wanted a cruising speed in the low 30's...I would go with either the Norco w/spring seat and Thudbuster suspension post. The Thud works well because it uses rocker arms so not to cause friction. The thing will move 75mm (3 inches) which is enough for street riding and mild off-road. Those sliding shock posts wear and the seat starts to pivot sideways which drove me nuts. At least I won't have to worry about the stress on the rear suspension. My initial idea of a 5305 on the suspension bike was canned because I don't trust the swing arm dealing with a spinning 12 KG(25 pound) rear wheel. The Norco can handle that beast hub motor with ease as long as I use torque arms. For now, I am going with a Powerpack Motors brushless with a Stanton gear reduction unit. The fun part is I can use either bike so I'll at least test it on the Iron Horse.
One day I'll find a used downhill bike for a good price but for now, I vote Norco hardtail so I know the frame won't break. The stuff I build might though.
Are there any steel downhill mountain bikes made?

 

[docnjoj]

Yes that unsprung weight with those big DD motors is a problem. My Bafang is only a few more pounds compared to the original rear wheel, so the ride difference is not really noticible. On a recumbent a rear ssuspension is really absolutely necessary to save your back. Now I have the luxury of full suspension on the new trike and it is like riding a Mercedes! The bumps make noise but the arent felt very much! It is great.
otherDoc

 

[mrhat24]

I think I will get the Schwinn Full Suspension. My golden motor on my beach cruiser can go up to 30 miles/hr. For a long stretch of my commute to school thats the relative speed that I'm aiming for. So any small bumps on the road is magnified 2x when going at 30m/hr. Plus I'll be using the mountain bike seat vs the spring seat on my beach cruiser. Now the only tricky part is the very limited space triangle space of a full suspension. Its impossible to fit my current 48v 10A battery in there. So I guess I could use a seat beam rack for now. However when I do get new batteries I'm hoping to put 24v (possibly 36v) in the frame and 24v on the seat rack because I don't want all that weight concentriated in the back with the already heavy hub motor.

Is it bossible to charge 2 diffrent batteries of diffrent volts connected together in series with just 1 bms?

 

[dogman dan]

We'll need more specifics to answer the battery question, but possibly yes, if the two batteries are similar enough in ah.

The space in the frame triangle is one good reason to go hardtail, though some, like the Schwinn S-5 still has some space in the frame with rear suspension. My mongoose has none. See the strongest post rack thread for ideas on how to strengthen seatpost racks. The weight issue on the rear is real, when I built my dirtbike, using a 24" frame but a 26" front fork and wheel, I ended up with a wheelie machine till I moved 8 pounds of the batteries into the frame triangle. Have you even considered putting a suspension fork on the cruiser? It won't cost much to try it, and it may be all you need.