Is it feasible to add a front hub motor to a Giant Lafree? (For use with throttle only and isolated from the mid drive.)

[UsernameNotFound]

As for everyone else, thank you for the insightful replies! You've given me a lot to think about.

 

[ElHegpah]

Oh, sonny, I know a LOT about you,

I know you are too lazy to post a picture or a link to YOUR bike, about which YOU have a problem.

I know you have made ZERO EFFORT to become aware of the risks of a front fork motor install.

I know you believe that OTHER PEOPLE are somehow obligated to do the work FOR YOU that you are too lazy to do for yourself.

I know you believe that HOW YOU FEEL should be important to others, It is not.

I know you are so self-centered that it has never occurred to you that your failures can be used as an object lesson to better educate others.

When the next one pops up, I will notify you. Then YOU will take action to inform them of the risks that you have now learned, or, more likely, you will do absolutely nothing and allow that poor dumb SOB to be seriously injured or even killed, which is of course a better outcome than if they get their precious feelings hurt.

 

[jimthecanoeist]

I have a 2018 Giant Lafree. It's great, but there are times where I'm feeling really lazy and don't want to pedal at all. I've read there's no way to add a throttle to it, so I'm thinking I could add a front hub motor with its own battery, throttle, and controller rather than buy an entirely new bike.

It has 26" wheels and disc brakes.
Max speed I'd really need is 20 mph, but if it could do 25, that'd be cool.

I mostly bike on relatively flat trails, and I'd always have the mid drive for hill climbing.

Would it be difficult to get an off-the-shelf hub motor like the Bafang one to fit the bike?

Is this a terrible idea?

Intriguing and, if you engineer it, please tell us how it went.