puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Electrically assisted bikes, trikes, etc. that are legal in the UK
Post Reply
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by UpWrong »

I've fitted a dual legged stand to my kit converted eBike. I've just realised how helpful this could be in the event of a puncture. I won't need to invert the bike in order to use a puncture sealant spray. I'll be able to rotate the wheel by hand after using the spray in order to distribute the sealant. The stand alllows for easy removal of the front wheel if required. This is up in the air when the bike is on its stand. For the rear wheel, I'd have to remove the old tube and insert the Gaadi one with the wheel in-place. My plan would be to lie the bike down carefully on the drive side and unseat the tyre on the non-drive side (which has better access) in order to cut out the old inner tube and insert the new one.

Inverting the bike is a pain, not just because of the weight but also the need to rotate the display to stop it making contact with the ground. With my bike this also requires rotating a brake lever to accommodate the display.
axel_knutt
Posts: 2869
Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 12:20pm

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by axel_knutt »

UpWrong wrote: 9 Jul 2022, 6:58pmI'd have to remove the old tube
Not necessarily, I used to repair my punctures in situ. Lift a short length of bead off the rim, pull the tube out, patch it, then stuff it all back.
“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
saudidave
Posts: 583
Joined: 16 Jan 2009, 12:22am

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by saudidave »

UpWrong wrote: 9 Jul 2022, 6:58pm I've fitted a dual legged stand to my kit converted eBike. I've just realised how helpful this could be in the event of a puncture. I won't need to invert the bike in order to use a puncture sealant spray. I'll be able to rotate the wheel by hand after using the spray in order to distribute the sealant. The stand alllows for easy removal of the front wheel if required. This is up in the air when the bike is on its stand. For the rear wheel, I'd have to remove the old tube and insert the Gaadi one with the wheel in-place. My plan would be to lie the bike down carefully on the drive side and unseat the tyre on the non-drive side (which has better access) in order to cut out the old inner tube and insert the new one.

Inverting the bike is a pain, not just because of the weight but also the need to rotate the display to stop it making contact with the ground. With my bike this also requires rotating a brake lever to accommodate the display.
My strategy is:

1 Scwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, correctly inflated.

2 Several pucture repair aerosols in the luggage

3 A spare inner tube, a puncture repair kit should that fail, something to protect the inverted bike from damaging displays, brake levers, ergo grips etc, and a usb rechagreable digital tyre inglator

4 Enough cash / credit cards / Apple pay to sort an estate car taxi to get the bike home should all of the above fail or you can't be bothered starting with point 3


Sorted!
Bonzo Banana
Posts: 413
Joined: 5 Feb 2017, 11:58am

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by Bonzo Banana »

I must admit I much prefer front hub motors because I'm heavy and get most of my punctures at the rear where more of my weight is but from what I've read for lighter riders they may get more punctures at the front as its the first tyre to encounter sharp debris on the road. From my perspective a front hub motor is much easier to remove and deal with because their are no gears to complicate the issue. Also if its steel forks then you may only need one torque arm/bracket or sometimes none at all where as aluminium frames have weaker dropouts and often have to be secured by two torque arms. A lot of bicycles have aluminium frames with steel forks.

I tend to use Maxxis downhill inner tubes on the hub motor wheel, these are very strong thick inner tubes and you could also combine them with tyre liners and use puncture proof tyres and lastly of course install sealant. It's all extra weight of course but even on the front it's still time consuming to remove a hub motor wheel because of the torque arm but a damn site easier than the rear.

I've thought about looking into tyre patches and tyre glue too in order to repair any small holes in the tyres themselves.
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by UpWrong »

axel_knutt wrote: 9 Jul 2022, 7:05pm
UpWrong wrote: 9 Jul 2022, 6:58pmI'd have to remove the old tube
Not necessarily, I used to repair my punctures in situ. Lift a short length of bead off the rim, pull the tube out, patch it, then stuff it all back.
Well, I do carry a full tyre repair kit. On a normal bike it's usually easier to swap a tube than to repair one, but perhaps on an eBike a repair as you suggest is worth a try. It doesn't fit into my stretegy though of trying a repair spray first, since that will mess up the tube I expect.
So replacing the tube if the sealant hasn't work is probably the next attempt rather than a patch. And of course the option to repair the tube after cutting to remove it has gone.
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by UpWrong »

saudidave wrote: 9 Jul 2022, 7:23pm
My strategy is:

1 Scwalbe Marathon Plus tyres, correctly inflated.

2 Several pucture repair aerosols in the luggage

3 A spare inner tube, a puncture repair kit should that fail, something to protect the inverted bike from damaging displays, brake levers, ergo grips etc, and a usb rechagreable digital tyre inglator

4 Enough cash / credit cards / Apple pay to sort an estate car taxi to get the bike home should all of the above fail or you can't be bothered starting with point 3


Sorted!
My final option is to lock the bike and use other means to get home and fetch the car!!
PH
Posts: 13099
Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
Location: Derby
Contact:

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by PH »

Rather than turn a bike upside down, you can just lay it on it's side.
I'm Ok turning my crank motor E-bike over, bags off, battery off, bar bag on the floor to keep the display safe... and it isn't significantly harder than my touring bike. Good tyres make it a rare occurrence, Schwalbe Pick-Up on the back of mine, which make Marathon Plus look like a racing tyre.
I've been carrying a seal and inflate aerosol instead of any repair kit since last November, though this bike is never far from home, not had need to try it yet.
DiggyGun
Posts: 17
Joined: 21 Mar 2021, 9:00am

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by DiggyGun »

Why not consider puncture prevention:
- Schwalbe Air Plus inner tubes (70% thicker)
- Good puncture resistant tyre
- Kevlar tyre liners
-Tube sealant

I have had some punctures with these, but not needed to repair it. Tyre goes down a bit, but stays inflated. Use a CO2 tube to inflate it it back up to the correct PSI. Carry on riding.
bainbridge
Posts: 225
Joined: 26 Oct 2014, 7:19pm

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by bainbridge »

My better half has an ebike conversion via a Swytch kit which has front wheel drive. In case of a P word, I've popped a 10mm spanner in the tool kit to enable removal of the torque arm and instead of using cable ties to secure the motor wire to the fork, I've used velcro ties.

The bike has its tubes slimed anyway, but you never know!
UpWrong
Posts: 2401
Joined: 31 May 2009, 12:16pm
Location: Portsmouth, Hampshire

Re: puncture repair strategy for a rear hub motor eBike

Post by UpWrong »

I've been looking at crank drive eBikes with hub gears, belt drives or chain cases. Nice low maintenance machines, until you get a puncture I think. Puncture resistance methods and Gaadi tubes are probably best to avoid rear wheel removal.
Post Reply