Hub battery or frame battery?

[Luke12]

Hi everyone,

I have decided that I want to buy a pedelec but there are so many different options that I am stuck for choice. This will mainly be for commuting and sometimes for leisure on the weekend. Currently I am thinking of buying a bike with a concealed battery, either in the frame or in the hub.

What are the benefits of a hub battery over having an exposed battery such as a kettle?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Mike63]

Hi Luke and welcome...best bet is Google "electric bikes in (your area)" try to look at/try a few.
...get some idea of what you like.
.....Mike

 

[Deleted member 4366]

When you have a battery in the hub, it's not exactly concealed. The hub will be massive. After a couble of years, batteries can give problems, which on an external battery are easy to fix, or you can replace the battery. That won't be so easy on a hub battery. Many bikes use standard batteries, which can be replaced/upgraded easily from much cheaper suppliers rather than being tied to an expensive OEM replacement. All this also applies to concealed frame batteries, but at least they're normally easy to remove.

These concealed batteries look nice, but I'd rather have the possibility to replace the battery with one of my own choice.

 

[Jonah]

The placement of the battery (and motor) has a number of considerations:

Stealth
Aesthetics
Weight distribution
Use of generic / custom components

The importance of each factor depends on the individual.

Mike is right, the best thing to do is to go and look at some and try them out. If you're anywhere near Bristol, June 23rd would be a great opportunity to see and try a load of different bikes.

Concealed batteries are relatively rare compared to frame / rack mounted batteries.

 

[Luke12]

Edit:

I agree that the hub battery actually looks quite big when you look at it closely and if having a hub battery would mean expensive services for the future then I don't think that will be too beneficial to be honest! The main reason of why I ask about the concealed battery is because I don't really want a big battery fixed to the frame of my bike, so I guess the main reason would be for stealth and aesthetics like Jonah has mentioned.

I think I will look for a bike with a battery concealed in the frame. (It seems these are not very common?) I have found this one online but this is on the pricier side... So obviously I would try to find something quite similar, but in the range of £1000-£1500.
http://www.electricbike.com/stromer/

What are your opinions? Would this cause problems for me in the future?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

BH Emotion Neo
Kudos Tornado has bottle battery

The bottle battery is a standard part. Concealed frame batteries are going to be expensive. You can always hide a rack-battery by installing panniers. Why is this feature important to you?

 

[flecc]

Stromer Electric Bike Review | ELECTRICBIKE.COM

What are your opinions? Would this cause problems for me in the future?

It probably will, indeed I could even bet on it. Only the odd very well known make like BH or Sparta with in-frame batteries could have a reliable future supply of the right ones, but even that isn't certain. The major Izip company has completely let all buyers down on an in-frame model after only two years from introduction.

And as d8veh says, these one option batteries will always be at expensive premium prices since it's a closed market.

 

[Mike63]

...I have a yen for this one but like flecc says....if they go out of production

E-motion Neo Cross Electric Bike

 

[Luke12]

So the in frame batteries are not standardized? I will only be able to find a replacement with the manufacturer of my bike which could definitely cause problems.

How about the bikes with a battery that looks like a water bottle? I have seen the Burisch Synergy GT which looks nice and at a good price. Will I only be able to buy replacement batteries from them? Or would these types be quite widely available?

Thanks for all the input!

 

[flecc]

In-frame-tube batteries are certainly not standardised, every maker's being different from any other.

Bottle batteries aren't standardised in every detail but there is quite a choice of them and they all have the same mountings of course. Therefore you are likely to be able to find a compatible one without any difficulty if your original one is no longer available, though in some cases the connections will have to be adapted.

 

[GaRRy]

In-frame-tube batteries are certainly not standardised, every maker's being different from any other.

Bottle batteries aren't standardised in every detail but there is quite a choice of them and they all have the same mountings of course. Therefore you are likely to be able to find a compatible one without any difficulty if your original one is no longer available, though in some cases the connections will have to be adapted.

Of course here we are talking about the battery. The cells on lots of different batteries may actually be the same ones just mounted in a diffrent "battery" casing. However so far there are few if any companies that recell old batteries but there are now a few around although how good / reliable they are is stlll debatable.

 

[flecc]

BH Emotion NEO Cross for everyday use / BH Emotion NEO Xtrem for getting dirty
Urban Mover 36SX as a old hack / Ducati ST4 for when I get the need for speed

Car for when it's wet?

 

[GaRRy]

Car for when it's wet?

Actually No. Although will concede the car is more likely when Wet.