Astro Flight motor on cargo bike

funbicycle50 · Post by **funbicycle50** » Jul 16 2020 9:06am

Who can make groupset / drive components to work with powerful Astro Flight electric motors?

It is for custom, steel cargo bicycle and I want a lot of power. I'm also trying to find American-made components as much as possible.

funbicycle50 · Post by **funbicycle50** » Jul 16 2020 9:31am

I'm wanting as much American-made components on a yet-to-be-built Ti Cycles Fabrication cargo bike.

Is it possible to install an Astro Flight motor with Gates Carbon belt drive and a Rohloff hub? What outer casing/cover is the one to use to cover the Astro Flight motor? Can one of their motors simply replace one of the 20/28 mph Bosch electric-assist motors? Thanks for your help.

Balmorhea · Post by **Balmorhea** » Jul 16 2020 12:36pm

You won't get enough speed reduction in a single stage to match a model airplane motor to a cargo bike. By the time you've sorted out multiple stages of reduction that actually work, you'll have added back all the weight you saved, decreased efficiency, increased cost, increased maintenance, taken up more space on the bike, and made a lot more noise than if you had used a motor that was better matched to the purpose.

Balmorhea · Post by **Balmorhea** » Jul 16 2020 1:38pm

funbicycle50 wrote: ↑
Jul 16 2020 9:06am
Who can make groupset / drive components to work with powerful Astro Flight electric motors?

It is for custom, steel cargo bicycle and I want a lot of power. I'm also trying to find American-made components as much as possible.

Power is only one part of the equation. For a cargo bike, you need torque. Model airplane motors make very little torque at very high RPM, which is just what you need for a small diameter propeller. To match that characteristic to a cargo bike, you need a complicated, noisy, inefficient, bulky, expensive multi-stage ratio reduction apparatus. Or you can just use a motor that turns slower with higher torque.

I think if you focus on the goal (propel cargo bike) rather than some arbitrary detail about the means (use model airplane motor), you’ll arrive at a better solution.

SRFirefox · Post by **SRFirefox** » Jul 16 2020 1:49pm

If you want an American made motor, check out the Neu 8057 based builds on Endless Sphere. They spin slowly enough to work with a single stage reduction and can put out lots of power. Neu is also offering 120 and 180 size motors as well.

funbicycle50 · Post by **funbicycle50** » Jul 16 2020 11:57pm

SRFirefox wrote: ↑
Jul 16 2020 1:49pm
If you want an American made motor, check out the Neu 8057 based builds on Endless Sphere. They spin slowly enough to work with a single stage reduction and can put out lots of power. Neu is also offering 120 and 180 size motors as well.

Is that from here? Thanks for your help.

https://neumotors.com/

Endless Sphere