26” Front fat tire conversion for Phatmoto All Terrain 2024
Posted by Pale_Candidate7033@reddit | ebikes | View on Reddit | 3 comments
All, i’m looking to add electric power to my Phatmoto All Terrain 2024. So far i’m looking at:
https://thediyoutlet.com/products/26-inch-1500w-fat-tire-ebike-conversion-kit-pedal-assist-front
AW 26"x4" Fat Tire 48V Ebike Electric Front/Rear Wheel Bicycle Kit Electric Bike Conversion Kit LCD Display 1500W Hub Motor Kit Dual Mode Controller https://a.co/d/8VvkbMW
https://www.pexmor.com/products/pexmor-26-electric-bike-conversion-kit-fat-front-wheel-ebike-hub-motor-kit-upgrade-3-mode-controller-wheel-kit
And
https://ebikeling.com/products/waterproof-48v-1200w-26-fat-tire-direct-drive-front-rear-ebike-motor-wheel-only
I’d greatly appreciate any advice or insight.
JG-at-Prime@reddit
I’ve built 2 bikes very similar to this. I call them Tribrids. Gas, electric and pedal power.
They are great bikes but they aren’t without their problems.
You will have all the problems of a gas bike.
You will have all the problems of an electric bike.
You will have all the problems of how the gas and electric drives interact with each other.
You will have all the problems of the very heavy regular bike. Like seriously, it makes for very heavy bicycle. Like heavy, heavy.
I consider them worth building and I might build another, just be aware of what you’re getting into. I think my favorite part about gas bikes is that traffic treats me significantly and inexplicably better when I’m running the engine.
In your case I’m afraid that a front hub motor is not going to work with that particular bike.
The front alloy suspension forks are not nearly strong enough to handle a powerful hub motor. There are two major problems, one the aluminum tends to crack and fracture around the axle. And two, the suspension pistons aren’t designed to take those kinds of lateral forces.
It’ll rip up the seals for the pistons. Even with torque arms there is a good chance that the motor will rip itself out of the forks, one way or another.
There are ways to do this though. You could go with a mid-drive like a Bafang or you could go with a rear hub motor.
The mid drives aren’t without their drawbacks on a mid-engine motorized bicycle though. The Bafang mid-drives will sit directly below the engine and the fuel tank.
In the event of a fuel or oil leak you wouldn’t be able to safely use the electric motor for fear of fire.
You’ll also have to be careful about keeping oil off the electric motor when changing your oil. I think your particular engine needs its oil changed about every ~25 or ~50 hours of operation. (check the engine manual for service intervals) So every 2 weeks to a once a month or so. (depending on how much you ride)
Your only other option to mount a more powerful front hub motor is to change out the front forks for a rigid steel fork. You’ll lose your front suspension but you won’t have to worry about the front wheel getting away from you.
If you are hell bent on putting a front hub motor into these forks I wouldn’t put more then about a 250w or 350 watt motor up the. Also be sure to use torque arms. (Grin makes the best ones)
Also just fyi, for motorcycles, in-frame tanks have historically turned out to be a fairly terrible idea. With today’s fuels (in the USA) containing a lot of ethanol the fuel will attract more water than it used to. This is going to make tank corrosion a much bigger problem in the future.
Your tank isn’t going to be a problem for a lot of years but if you want the bike to last for the long term you might want to consider coating the inside of the tank in gas tank sealant at some point. (remove the fuel tap & it’s little filter and plug the hole first)
Good luck with it!
OnePercentAtaTime@reddit
Is this in general with the aluminum frame or just the All terrain? I imagine it's both.
How would you go about a steel-fork upgrade like you mentioned?
JG-at-Prime@reddit
Tribrids can be built with alloy (aluminum) frames without too much trouble. You just have to keep in mind all of the standard cautions of building a e-bike or gas bike with an alloy frame.
It mostly comes down to using torque arms (Grin makes the best ones that I know of) in the proper orientation. You generally want them on the backside of the front fork or on the rear top(ish) of the axle. This orientation puts the torque arms under tension where they are strongest. They will still work in the front but they will be under compression and could potentially fold up.
As far as replacing the front fork goes, the easiest way I have found to do that is through your local bike shop. They will be able to order exactly the right size for your bike and more importantly you can choose what kind of brake attachments you want.
This means that your new fork will be disc brake ready. I strongly recommend using a hydraulic disc brake in the front. It’s much safer than RIM brakes when you are traveling in excess of ~25mph.
When you change the fork out there is a little bearing race that will need to be moved or replaced. It’s a bear to get it off the old fork without a special tool. (Just order a new one if the bike shop isn’t an option)
If you don’t want to go the bike shop route then you’ll have to take the old fork off and measure it carefully to order the new one.
In all honesty I think a better route to go is to use a rear hub motor instead of the front. You lose the advantage of 2 wheel drive, but the rear wheel has much better traction for acceleration.
The only real advantage of going with a front hub is if you plan on using a direct drive hub with regenerative braking. You won’t gain much charge back (unless you do it while running the gas engine) but you will be able to stop the bike without using up your brake pads in a big hurry.