What is ebike hub motor?

The two most common electric motor styles used in today’s electric bicycles are hub motors and mid-drive motors. Today let's take a look at in-wheel motors.

Hub motors，which place the electric motor in the center of a bicycle wheel, are certainly the most common form of electric bicycle motors.One of the biggest advantages of hub motors is that they require little or no maintenance. They are an entirely independent drive system that retain all of their components inside the motor casing, leaving nothing for you to mess with or maintain.Gearless hub motors, on the other hand, have zero moving parts aside from their bearings, so there is basically nothing to wear out. As long as they don’t rust out or wear down their bearings, they can pretty much last forever.

Hub motors also help reduce other bike maintenance tasks compared to mid-drive motors. Since they don’t connect to the main pedal drive system, hub motors don’t add any extra stress to your chain or shifters, and don’t cause any of those parts to wear out more quickly. If anything, your chain will probably last longer than a non-electric bike because the hub motor will be doing more work, allowing your chain to often sit idle.As an independent drive system, hub motors also add redundancy. Since the hub motor and the pedal drive system are completely independent, you can lose one and still get home on the other.

The weight of a hub motor can both positively and negatively affect the balance of a bike, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, it can be nice to have the weight of a motor farther forward or backward in one of the wheels. This is especially true of e-bikes with rear mounted batteries. In such cases, a front hub motor can redistribute the weight so the center of gravity is still in the center of the bike.

Front vs rear hub motors

Hub motors can of course be installed in either wheel, and the difference also creates a few other unique advantages.Because more weight is usually focused on the rear wheel, front hub motors can help balance out the weight better.Front wheels also usually receive fewer flats than rear wheels, as they often kick up road debris and prepare it for the rear. A front hub motor leaves the rear wheel unadulterated for easier tube and tire changes.

Rear hub motors have the advantages of better traction and stronger frame mounting.They also don’t create a slightly odd gyroscopic effect when steering at higher speeds.Perhaps my favorite thing about rear hub motors is that they give you more of that motorcycle pushing feeling instead of the pulling feeling of a front motor.

Once you reach steady speed and are traveling in a straight line though, the differences between a front and rear hub motor are almost unnoticeable.