Rear Wheel Drive vs Front Wheel Drive

[The Mighty Volt]

As some of you will know by now, I am moving towards a dual setup.

I have experienced on FWD, and found it to lack traction going up hills but offer good handling coming out of corners

What are your experiences/preferences?

Thanks.

 

[dogman dan]

I like fronties. But I pedal a lot so it's actually 2 wheel drive. Rear for dirt riding though. In soft sand or mud the lack of traction on hills is a problem for front drive. But dual bmc 600 watts would be interesting in dirt. I just have no idea how to carry enough battery for that.

 

[The Mighty Volt]

I like fronties. But I pedal a lot so it's actually 2 wheel drive. Rear for dirt riding though. In soft sand or mud the lack of traction on hills is a problem for front drive. But dual bmc 600 watts would be interesting in dirt. I just have no idea how to carry enough battery for that.

Cheers Dogman! Front wheel drive is brilliant in the snow.....until you fishtail. The great thing about having the power up front for me is that you can see exactly what surface you are trying to apply power to. With the rear, you could be on a bit of slime and not know it until its too late.

Front loses power badly on steep inclines, which is a double whammy, with the motor being double taxed, finding grip, losing grip, all the while.

As I say, I have no experience of rear.

The reason I asked was that ALL motorcycles are RearWheelDrive, and that must be for a reason.

Cheers!

 

[recumbent]

This has been discussed often in the past and people have strong opinions for both.

I've had front and rear drive bikes for many years, and chose to go with front wheel drive, mostly for the weight balance, and avoiding the dish problems associated with rear drives.

Rear dished wheels have tight spokes on one side and looser spokes on the other. For people that carry lots of weight in panniers such as I, front wheel drive is the easy choice. But i also have internal gearing to eliminate dishing completly, needless to say i never break spokes on my rear wheels. I also wiegh 200lbs.

If trail riding, or steep hills are your main riding style, then rear drive is the way to go.

 

[The Mighty Volt]

This has been discussed often in the past and people have strong opinions for both.

I've had front and rear drive bikes for many years, and chose to go with front wheel drive, mostly for the weight balance, and avoiding the dish problems associated with rear drives.

Rear dished wheels have tight spokes on one side and looser spokes on the other. For people that carry lots of weight in panniers such as I, front wheel drive is the easy choice. But i also have internal gearing to eliminate dishing completly, needless to say i never break spokes on my rear wheels. I also wiegh 200lbs.

If trail riding, or steep hills are your main riding style, then rear drive is the way to go.

Yeah, I had a feeling that speed kings would prefer the front wheel drive.....this might sound odd, but being able to hear and see the hub can have a lot to do with how well the biker rides. Its no different to being able to listen to an engine and knowing when to change gears, I suppose. Also, it helps avoid putting your hub through any pot-holes. If the hub is on the rear, that can be harder.

Rear is king for hills, it seems.

 

[Lock]

I expect uphill performance affects front hubs where rider weight is up high/back and battery pack is well back as well... With other configurations, four out of four motorized delivery guys prefer front wheel drive:



...and if hills are still a problem, just throw more weight on the front:


tks
Lock

 

[The Mighty Volt]

He he....nice pics LOK. I'll bet those little things made hella noise and had a fraction the performance value of Lifepo hubs.

 

[DerekG]

Cool, welcome (soon) to the club of dual drives

Right now I have only a rear, however, until a few days ago was riding with only a front with a day of dual drive in the middle Here are my thoughts on the matter:

-I like front a lot better for powering into turn and also for slippery weather. I guess this is only because with a front and me pedaling I have effective 2wd even with only one motor. The front will slide around and spin out but usually its is still pulling forward which keeps you upright. I noticed this both on trails and on slippy roads.

-With a rear hub it just feels more natural... I like the push feeling of the motor vs the pull of a front hub

-As you already stated when going up a hill the rear hub does much better... a front hub will start to spin if you don't help it along and it gets steep enough / loose enough

-Front hub feels more stable at higher speeds... when I had an extra 15 pounds in the front that low to the ground the bike handled better at higher speeds.

 

[The Mighty Volt]

Cool, welcome (soon) to the club of dual drives

Right now I have only a rear, however, until a few days ago was riding with only a front with a day of dual drive in the middle Here are my thoughts on the matter:

-I like front a lot better for powering into turn and also for slippery weather. I guess this is only because with a front and me pedaling I have effective 2wd even with only one motor. The front will slide around and spin out but usually its is still pulling forward which keeps you upright. I noticed this both on trails and on slippy roads.

-With a rear hub it just feels more natural... I like the push feeling of the motor vs the pull of a front hub

-As you already stated when going up a hill the rear hub does much better... a front hub will start to spin if you don't help it along and it gets steep enough / loose enough

-Front hub feels more stable at higher speeds... when I had an extra 15 pounds in the front that low to the ground the bike handled better at higher speeds.

Thanks for that. I think this is pretty much a general blueprint for R and F wheels.

 

[spinningmagnets]

I don't have much to add to whats already been said in the above posts, but...

This isn't important, but one additional thing I like about rear hubs is that I have a quick-release front axle and a front disc brake. This means the front wheel pops off very easily with no wrenches. Turn the handlebars sideways, and the rest of the bike fits easily through the narrow doorway of my RV (or any other door).

 

[SilverSurfer]

For me my first e-bike was an easy choice at RWD. I have owned 18 motorcycles, all RWD, of course. I normally drive high performance RWD cars. I have driven high perf. FWD and found that changing up can leave you in an unfamilar enviroment of handling characteristics. Since Im familiar with the feeling of driving RWD, thats what I went with. So far its been a good choice for me, I feel comfortable. NEED MORE POWER! SPEEEEEEED! JUICE!!!! ARGGHHHHH! LOL

 

[Lock]

He he....nice pics LOK. I'll bet those little things made hella noise and had a fraction the performance value of Lifepo hubs.

Sure. Probably. Yah, but old tech... Having said this, one woman I lived with admitted to me once that she was positively excited by a rental ICE scooter and the way it vibrated between her legs (hope that's OK to say here...)

Others here tap about what they are familiar with... what they are "comfortable" with... the way two wheel designers working with ICE have always ended up with RWD... and I will say that's fine but experience is just an "artificial construct"... electric hubs (maybe RC/chain drive too) should free-up designers to look beyond 20th-century ICE-based perspective.

tks
L0Ck

 

[Rifle]

I have a front hub motor, but I'm looking to go to a rear hub motor due to not having to worry about the strength of the drop-outs as much. Taking the front wheel off for me would involve cutting the still zip ties holding the torque arm on. And then I have to be very careful making sure everything is installed perfect when I re-attach it. Only really care because I'd like to take my ebike on an international trip someday. Would only actually buy a new motor though in order to also get a geared motor instead of my direct drive.

 

[John in CR]

The reason I asked was that ALL motorcycles are RearWheelDrive, and that must be for a reason.

That's because gas hubmotors don't exist. You can't go hanging a chain driven motor on the front. What happens if the chain comes off and wraps around the wheel, which is bound to happen with all that bouncing around? No way, too much liability risk.

There was a 2wd motorcycle though, but I don't think it was ever very popular though I heard it handled great. I forget the name. Reliability was probably its downfall.

John

 

[Lock]

You can't go hanging a chain driven motor on the front. What happens if the chain comes off and wraps around the wheel, which is bound to happen with all that bouncing around?

...Errrrrm... John... Did ya check out the pics in this thread about motorized messengers w/front-wheeled ICE? I'da thought concerns about chains coming off could be engineered out of any equation...
tks
lOcK

 

[John in CR]

Eerrrrmmm. They don't make them any more, do they? Hell, they're still having issue with aluminum frames up at the front that they haven't been able to engineer away. Front hub electrics are a much better situation, though I still don't like them for upright bikes due to the high CG, short wheelbase, and some risk of plug type braking on certain controller failures. I'm going to give it a go, but on a bike incapable of a front flip without the front wheel going in something like an open manhole cover, common here but hub motor or not is irrelevant.