Front Hub Conversion

Audio2

Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2015
98
42
81
What is the best legal front hub kit to get? My wife & I are both in our 70's, but reasonably fit. Can still do 35 miles in Oxfordshire, but some assistance on hills would be nice. I was thinking of getting the Woosh kit, but see that it now states it is 350w & not legal. Would Xiongda YTW-06 be suitable? I weigh 12.5 stone my wife is 10 stone, bikes are Thorn Raven with Rohloff Hub Gears. Information on battery size, controllers etc would be very useful.
 

Woosh

Trade Member
May 19, 2012
19,407
16,387
Southend on Sea
wooshbikes.co.uk

sjpt

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 8, 2018
3,642
2,652
Winchester
We have the Woosh XF07 kit on a tandem and it works really well for us (we are similar age but somewhat heavier than you). We would have chosen a bit more powerful (and Woosh advised us to) but were limited by what was legal and available in 700c wheels at the time. We still need plenty of our own effort on bigger hills (Winchester, so nothing too big, probably comparable to Oxfordshire) and our low gears. One trouble with a hub motor is that it loses some power when you need it most as you slow down on hills.

We are getting around 30 somewhat hilly miles on a full charge of the 13ah downtube battery, mostly on level 2 of 5 assist and level 3 on hills. Easy to fit as a first electric kit experience. The controller that came with the kit seems fine. Main quibble there is that the charge indicator is a bit erratic; presumably it depends on voltage, and voltage drops a lot as load increases. It only shows 5 discrete levels of charge, and often drops 2 levels on a hill; occasionally even 3.
 

Roberticus

Pedelecer
Mar 4, 2018
47
17
65
Rotherham
Hi,I've recently fitted a Xiongda YTW 06 36v 250w to the front of my mtb. It has a KT 3 controller and lcd display and Pedelec sensor. This I ordered direct from Xiongda for about $190 (can't remember what the exchange rate to sterling was !), but had to lace the motor into the front wheel myself.
Bought a bottle battery separately , 7.5 amp.
All good so far but haven't been out much , but hills haven't been a problem so far, but I don't honk up them any more as I have to keep heart rate below 120 !
Ps I'm 60 and weigh 14 st, pretty fit but now limited by heart prob.
Pps I have gleaned all my info from this wonderful forum !
 

Jonah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2010
882
246
EX38
I have a ytw06 fitted to my Thorn Tourer. It’s ok but I’m wishing I had perhaps gone for a mid drive. It’s super light weight but would be ample enough power for you both. Needed a bit of dropout filing to fit.
 

Audio2

Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2015
98
42
81
Thanks for your responses. I cannot fit a mid drive because of the encyclical bottom bracket used with the Rohloff Hub Gears. Jonah can you tell me what size battery you use & is it 36 or 48 volt.
 

Jonah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2010
882
246
EX38
36v as at the time Xiongda didn’t have a 48v motor. They may do now. I got a soft pack battery made by Jimmy at Insat. There is a thread about it on the site, I’m not sure how to link to it. I see if I can work that out.
 

Nealh

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 7, 2014
19,991
8,173
60
West Sx RH
d8veh introduced the forum to ytw06 as he did with many other items (d8evh was hardcore when it came to kit bits), I think he tried his at 48v with no issues but being a small hub only went to about 12 amps using a KT reducing the amps via the C parameters.
 

Thecopterdoctor

Finding my (electric) wheels
Dec 30, 2018
9
1
Hi, I recently fitted a DIY 250 watt front hub kit supplied by Cyclotricity and apart from having to install some slightly thicker washers to shim it out in the front forks of my Trek 720 hybrid (700c wheels) all went well and I have been very pleased with it.
Also a thing to note is the basic kit comes with Front hub/wheel (no tyre!) thumb throttle, sensor Brake levers, ESC, all good quality harnesses ( no instructions!) and mounting box and no led or LCD display and no peddle assist sensors! Also excellent next day Free delivery!!

After an email to them with regard to the legalities to which they informed me it should be fitted with peddle assist to confirm with the UK EU regulations! Thought this was a bit misleading as not clear when ordering and this was only an option to add to your basic kit. However as an ex motorcyclist I prefer a throttle and have left it at that.
Also incidentally I am running mine successfully on Bosch 36v 4ah power tool battery packs on my own designed 3d printer HotShoe bottle mount with great sucess.
Hope this helps. JJB
 
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KirstinS

Esteemed Pedelecer
Apr 5, 2011
3,224
899
Brighton
Thanks for your responses. I cannot fit a mid drive because of the encyclical bottom bracket used with the Rohloff Hub Gears. Jonah can you tell me what size battery you use & is it 36 or 48 volt.
I always thought this too, eccentric bb was a no no

But it's been done as I was corrected on another three using some sort of adaptor. I'll try and find the thread