Which motor kit for a Fat Tire eBike build?

[tom86]

I'm thinking of buying an XL economical fat bike from BD and putting an electric ebike kit of some sort on it.

I will be riding 100% on dirt roads and I need about 15mph as a top speed.

So I have the following question:

Should I get a Mid drive or Rear hub kit? Luna cycles has a rear fat tyre kit built into the wheel, this seems nice but I'm not really sure... I would like to have pedal assist too if possible.

My price range is around $1000, but I'm just not sure what to get. Any help would be great

 

[George]

I've done a fat tyre ebike. I started with a Walmart fat tyre bike for only $99. I then fitted a 500W Bafang geared motor with a 175mm axle. The controller is a Luna Cycles 25A and it is powered by 36 -52Volt batteries.

This fat-ebike (ha ha sounds funny I know) hits a top speed of 25mph. So you should be fine with a 500W rear drive kit if you want a cruise speed of around 15mp. You don't get pedal assist with this particular kit though.

The bike weighs about 50lbs since I'm only using 6AH batteries as I only need about 10 miles of range.

Here's a photo of the bike.

 

[paul]

I had an old fat tyre bike that I converted to an E-Bike using a electric hub motor kit. It cost me $400 for the conversion kit, comes with motor, throttle, controller, battery and rack (rack is a little flimsy). Every thing you need.

 

[tom86]

I had an old fat tyre bike that I converted to an E-Bike using a electric hub motor kit. It cost me $400 for the conversion kit, comes with motor, throttle, controller, battery and rack (rack is a little flimsy). Every thing you need.

While I'm sure a lot can be done for less, I want something strong and reliable -- not something I have to be tinkering with all the time and nursing along. While the best cost more in the short term, they can prove more economical over the longer haul