Just curious how many of you guys are doing hub motors or pulley systems! I myself am doing hub because, though in a decently hilly terrain, I weigh 100 lbs, so I don’t need lot of torque, but there are certainly some benefits to pulley! Also, if you can, explain why!
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I chose pulleys because of my weight 95kg 210lb ish. They just made more sense to me too. Also it seemed earlier this year that the bugs were still being worked out of the hub motors. I think carvon v2’s were around then and Hummie and Jacob were designing still. 2017 should bring some serious leaps and bounds for hub motors. There is tons of innovation going on and I can’t wait to see it all come out.
because belt drives handle hills best and i belive they are currently the most efficient system
I think the main upside of hubs are their sleek design and less maintenance. I guess it’s just a matter of preference.
I can’t help but think that the motor being inside the wheel exposes it to crazy amounts of abuse. The pulley system keeps the motor away from the most intense vibration and if anything happens catastrophically, the belt can fail and not the whole damn system. Plus, with a belt system you can adjust the gearing ratios a bit too.
Check out Carvons v3
I have and I love that design! The motor is on the hanger!!! You are still limited by what motor and trucks that you can use. Not a biggie. I really dig, Jerry’s design.
Belt, because I weight 95kg and ride a lot on cobblestone and I bet hubs can’t handle that very long. Plus I live in very hilly terrain and belt drive is cheaper.
Despite that I love clean look of hubs, so I think I have to give a try for new Carvons.
Belts, because more motor choices, gear ratio choices and wheel choices. I don’t like the thin PU tire around the hub motors, its never going to ride quite as nice as a regular wheel. Then your front and rear wheels will be different in terms of effective hardness. If your hub motor dies you have to replace the wheel also. I feel your are sort of locked in.
Sure you have to replace belts now and then but for hubs I would be worried the whole assembly will just go and that will be expensive maintenance.
I’m not against hubs they are just not for me, I like the simplicity and the look though.
I like the design of Carvon V3, being able to change the wheels is a game changer, but I still waiting to see real world performance and unbiased reviews. Until then I’ll use a belt system all the way, I love them because of such a huge amount of torque you get and the acceleration
I’m not sure why I would ever use hub motors. I wear down my wheels so crazy fast, and is it even possible to change the “wheel-part” of hub motors??
If it’s designed correctly, yes. Hummies hubs have 6 screws and a plate, and you can slide it ride off, and pop on a new one… I can switch all 4 of mine in under 2 minutes.
Belt for rough riding… 
Hubs are nice too though… 
boardwalk riding
Was thinking about this over the weekend, while I still prefer belts I think there is a few situations where hubs are definitely better.
People who don’t want to or have time for DIY or maintenance.
4WD, the substantial reduction in number of parts would out way the other negatives. And you have 4 identical wheels which is nicer than 1WD or 2WD hubs. Not many people have the budget for 4WD though.
The negatives that a hub motor creates are a deal breaker for me. Even with the best urethane available the wheels chatter since they are so thin and mounted on a rigid core. If you have buttery smooth roads and are not an aggressive rider this may not mean much and you may not even notice the difference but this is a very big compromise in actual performance.
The next compromise in performance is motor kv. Reducing KV without increasing voltage results in more torque at lower rpm but you lose power overall due to the higher resistance. You need to increase voltage to get the same power when the resistance of the stator winding is higher. You can increase motor size but this will also increase watthour consumption per mile resulting in a less efficient machine. This is assuming your pack can even handle the increase draw from the motors.
We really need an official racing circuit to weed out all the misinformation regarding performance vs novelty.
I thought of another scenario where hub motors might be better, if you have very limited space to mount a motor, for example in a penny board the trucks are just too narrow to fit a belt system. Though I dont actually know from experience if it would be a pain to fit hub motors to one of these small trucks. And you would need 3 extra matching wheels as I dont think there are any hub motors that are similar size to these wheels.
Anyone ready to do a hub motor pennyboard build? 
Also some smaller advantages, a bit quieter and a less drag.
Why aren’t there any comparisons on youtube, ESB or Endless Sphere from a hub motor system vs a belt driven one?
An EMF vs Hummie vs Raptor 1 vs Evolve GT would be great
I would love to ride hub motors but unfortunately today… I have not had the opportunity to make this happen having a blast. I mean, I tried but it was not as good as pulley. I also jump with my deck… not sure how long the motor will last in the wheel 
good idea. i have single carvon v2 hub and single belt drive. i’ll do a review video when the rain stops…