Good starter bike for 3000 watt rear hub motor.

gburleigh

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I just got a 48volt 1000 watt rear hub motor for my early 2000s univega Alpina mountain bike. But I think I want to step it up with more power. So im wondering about getting a frame and if I should go with fat tires? I'll be riding to and from work in the country on back roads. Most of them are tarred roads. I don't know where to look for frames or even what to be looking out for. So I plan to read around here and learn as much as I can.
 
FME riding, but not owning fat tire bikes, they help soften the ride and absorb imperfections on or off road, but are unnecessarily cumbersome for relatively smooth terrain. IMO, the steel Alpina is a decent platform unless you're really going to hop up that engine.
 
gburleigh said:
I just got a 48volt 1000 watt rear hub motor for my early 2000s univega Alpina mountain bike. But I think I want to step it up with more power. So im wondering about getting a frame and if I should go with fat tires? I'll be riding to and from work in the country on back roads. Most of them are tarred roads. I don't know where to look for frames or even what to be looking out for. So I plan to read around here and learn as much as I can.

Depends on exactly what you want the bike to do for you, under what conditions. Hills, gravel/dirt roads, etc., take more power than flat, well-paved roads do.

What specifically do you need the "more power" to do for you?

If you just need an infrequent momentary burst of higher torque for quicker accelleration, you can probably just put a bigger controller on the motor you already have. (or even modify the controller you have to provide that, at the risk of damaging or destroying the controller during the mod or because of it's results/usage).



You can use the http://ebikes.ca/tools/simulator.html to determine what power level will be needed to do the specific job you want under worst case conditions, with various bike configurations. If you need more than the preloaded stuff will do, there are custom options on each of them. Instructions at the bottom of the page explain it's usage. Can take a bit to grok but it is very useful for pre-purchase simulations to save time and money. :)



Fat tires are more beneficial for softer conditions skinnier tires may sink into; if you don't have that then their other benefit is that if not aired up "hard" they absorb more road vibrations/etc if you don't have suspension that can do that instead. (if aired up hard they become "basketballs" and just bounce you around under poor conditions, making it hard to control the bike, if your suspension isn't designed to handle this).

If you don't need those, then regular wheels may do just fine for your conditions.

An issue with fatbike frames is that like other "style" choices (fatbikes are more often purchased for "cool factor" than usage), they are often poorly designed and poorly made, based on stuff I've handled and posts here on ES. (skinny tire bikes aren't an exception to that, but it's easier to find good regular bike frames than good fatbike frames). Some fatbike frames also make pedalling pretty hard, by pushing the pedals way out, which can lead to knee or hip problems.


The first thing a good frame has to do is fit *you* and your riding needs. The next thing it has to do is survive having a motor put on it. After that, having room for the battery you'll need, etc., is a plus. ;)


Regarding battery, with a more powerful motor you'll use it up faster, and the system will be harder on it, so you'll need to know what power level you're going to need from the battery, and what range (at what speed, under what conditions) to tell you the capacity it'll need. Once you know those, then you can pick a battery that will do them for you without strain, with capacity and capability to spare so it still does what you want as it ages, and in adverse conditions like heat and cold, if they are a factor where/when you ride.
 
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