Advice on first time buying and fitting a front hub kits

Deadeye

Pedelecer
Mar 30, 2020
56
11
I recently fitted a Woosh XF07 to my front wheel. Dead easy conversion, wheel and tyre swap, new bottom bracket with torque sensor and chainset on right side, drill holes in downtube to mount battery (bottle holder lugs in the wrong place, clamp LCD to handlebars, wire up. The bike speed is set by adjusting wheel size so no magnets on the wheel to worry about either and no brake cutouts to fit. At least that's all that the bikeshop said they did....oh and Woosh were extremely helpful before and during the conversion.

Regarding the torque sensor kit, more common with crank driven bikes but feels much more "natural" to me than cadence assist and saves on battery juice. On the flat I actually find my cruising speed tends to be around 17mph so the motor cuts out just before I reach peak speed but it assists me effortlessly and rapidly to get to that speed which may explain the good battery life. Hills up to 1 in 10 feel like flat and flat roads feel like they are gentle downwards slope. I really like it - it's an old steel framed bike and compared to a new ebike it's probably a bit rough around the edges but it does what I need it to for a fraction of the cost of a new ebike.

Potential negatives seem few at this stage. I've not felt any loss of traction though cycle on road or decent towpaths with gravel. Front wheel feels much heavier to lift at rest but I haven't noticed anything uncomfortable about having a spinning mass at the centre of the wheel. Fit thick tyres if you don't want to curse every time you hit a small pothole though. And I've had to fit a bottle dynamo for lighting as I can't tap off the Woosh battery and didn't want to have to recharge my lights separately (I don't particularly mind bottle dynamos but most people seem to hate them).

The only negative I can think of with a torque sensor over a cadence sensor is that if my chain broke I wouldn't be able to get home whereas with a PAS I'd turn the pedals and the bike would still move.

Hi, Thanks for writing. I just had a look at the Woosh AF07 you mentioned , probably something I would be interested in. Thanks for the letting me know you're experiences with it.
 

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
3,814
2,745
Winchester
Hi, Thanks for writing. I just had a look at the Woosh AF07 you mentioned , probably something I would be interested in. Thanks for the letting me know you're experiences with it.
Also good experience with the XF07 (and with Woosh support). Not the most powerful of motors, but that means it can be installed without torque arms (still need reasonably sturdy forks, check with Woosh before buying if in any doubt). It has been giving us lots of help on the tandem (but still leaving us with work to do, especially on the hills). Just coming up to 2 years, 2000 miles without any issues (touch wood).
 
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Deadeye

Pedelecer
Mar 30, 2020
56
11
Also good experience with the XF07 (and with Woosh support). Not the most powerful of motors, but that means it can be installed without torque arms (still need reasonably sturdy forks, check with Woosh before buying if in any doubt). It has been giving us lots of help on the tandem (but still leaving us with work to do, especially on the hills). Just coming up to 2 years, 2000 miles without any issues (touch wood).
Thanks for the adding your experience with the XF07.