# Wheel question



## Francine (May 26, 2004)

I am thinking of using a set of my wheels from another bike that is not an EMtb. They are carbon rims with I9 hubs. Does an EMtb need to have stronger / different wheels than a regular bike?
Thanks for any information.


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## Gutch (Dec 17, 2010)

No, rip them. I ride carbon rims also and am 200#. Sound like nice wheels. I ride the Carbon for the stiffness and strength. The weight is a bonus!


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## mlx john (Mar 22, 2010)

What Gutch said ^


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## RBoardman (Dec 27, 2014)

No. The weight difference between ebike and normal bike is like 10-30lbs. There are riders out there that ride the same wheels on the same terrain and are 100lbs difference. 

If anything just run a heavier casing tire. The weight and drag is far less important since ebikes generally climb really well. Because, you know, a motor…


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## Francine (May 26, 2004)

RBoardman said:


> No. The weight difference between ebike and normal bike is like 10-30lbs. There are riders out there that ride the same wheels on the same terrain and are 100lbs difference.
> 
> If anything just run a heavier casing tire. The weight and drag is far less important since ebikes generally climb really well. Because, you know, a motor&#8230;


YUP..climbing is the best


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## Jack7782 (Jan 1, 2009)

Francine said:


> I am thinking of using a set of my wheels from another bike that is not an EMtb. They are carbon rims with I9 hubs. Does an EMtb need to have stronger / different wheels than a regular bike?
> Thanks for any information.


Probably smart to get steel free hub body if it available


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## 127.0.0.1 (Nov 19, 2013)

.......


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## gramr (Jun 15, 2021)

Unless you're talking about the insane amounts of power on some of those 50+ kilo jobs that are essentially electric motorcycles with pedals, you don't go downhill any faster on a mainstream mid-drive e-bike than a normal one, so anything strong enough for a regular trail/enduro/DH bike will be fine for boosted riding.

E-bikes have a massive advantage for climbing, but your peak wheel loading comes during on the descent, where the the only difference is that you're carrying a bit more dead weight on the frame.


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## RickBullottaPA (Mar 4, 2015)

Jack7782 said:


> Probably smart to get steel free hub body if it available


...unless it's a SRAM/XD freehub or a Shimano Microspline. You'll be fine with alloy freehub bodies there. The issue is with Shimano HG style freehub bodies. The I9 freehub bodies in particular are very soft. There was a steel freehub body for the older I9 hubs but none are available for the Hydra hubs last time I asked them.


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## Antimatter (Jan 3, 2018)

Francine said:


> I am thinking of using a set of my wheels from another bike that is not an EMtb. They are carbon rims with I9 hubs. Does an EMtb need to have stronger / different wheels than a regular bike?
> Thanks for any information.


From the wheel's perspective, the ebike's increased weight is often within the margin of what the wheel will support. The only real issue is you may need to add a few psi in the tires to compensate.

I am curious about the durability of i9 Hydra hubs specifically when it comes to eMTBs over the long term, with the assumption that the rider actually performs sensible maintenance on the hubs.


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## RickBullottaPA (Mar 4, 2015)

Antimatter said:


> From the wheel's perspective, the ebike's increased weight is often within the margin of what the wheel will support. The only real issue is you may need to add a few psi in the tires to compensate.
> 
> I am curious about the durability of i9 Hydra hubs specifically when it comes to eMTBs over the long term, with the assumption that the rider actually performs sensible maintenance on the hubs.


With Shimano HG cassettes, not very good for the alloy freehub body.


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## Antimatter (Jan 3, 2018)

RickBullottaPA said:


> With Shimano HG cassettes, not very good for the alloy freehub body.


Not surprised, I've damaged Shimano freehub bodies with the cassette grooves which I know you're aware of.

I don't hate Shimano but I've been using SRAM for the last few years simply for the benefits of the XD driver.

I had a strange experience with a customer with deep pockets who asked a lot of questions regarding eMTB's to include wheels and hubs asking for my opinion on what they should buy, but he was very persistent and insisted I tell him what I'd choose for reliability and durability. It was like he was looking to pay for stuff I would buy, but he would own and ride. Very strange.

In any case, I suggested a SRAM Eagle drive system with Onyx Vesper hubs. It's not so much about the Onyx being silent and instant engagement, I was simply looking at how the Onyx cams (instead of pawls) would have more surface area contact when engaged and may be more durable than something like a Hydra hub. He was clear about his intent on using something called a Towee tow strap, which is meant to tow/pull another rider/bike. I didn't know at the time whether he intended on pulling a child, his wife or friends as some sort of trail shuttle. This was about 2 years ago.

He recently came in asking us to do a full service as he was going away for a month for vacation so he left the bike at the shop. We took apart the Onyx Vesper hub and it looked really good on the inside. I found out he was towing friends so they'd have to wait less to get to the good stuff. It seems that things worked out well for him, but I wonder how traditional pawl type hubs would endure using it like he does, I simply don't know.


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## RickBullottaPA (Mar 4, 2015)

Antimatter said:


> Not surprised, I've damaged Shimano freehub bodies with the cassette grooves which I know you're aware of.
> 
> I don't hate Shimano but I've been using SRAM for the last few years simply for the benefits of the XD driver.
> 
> ...


FWIW, there are no such issues with Shimano Microspline FH bodies. That said, I'm swapping all of my bikes over to SRAM over time. One holdout left. Soon will be standardized on SRAM drivetrain + Shimano brakes (maybe Maguras on one) for reliability and ease of service.


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## Antimatter (Jan 3, 2018)

RickBullottaPA said:


> FWIW, there are no such issues with Shimano Microspline FH bodies. That said, I'm swapping all of my bikes over to SRAM over time. One holdout left. Soon will be standardized on SRAM drivetrain + Shimano brakes (maybe Maguras on one) for reliability and ease of service.


That's good to know. We've had bikes that came with the new XTR stuff but it wasn't in the shop for drive-related service so I have no experience with them.

When it comes to brakes, some are outright rubbish IMHO, like the SRAM Guide R/RS. However after using Code RSC's for 2 years, I recently changed to the Hayes Dominion A4 and couldn't be happier. I know components are a preference thing with riders, but thought I'd share this. The D-A4 brakes are IMHO a much better designed Code RSC that's much easier to maintain, better thought out in terms of maintenance, easier to setup and the lever feel... I get asked about them constantly on the trails as they're not common here.


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## RickBullottaPA (Mar 4, 2015)

Antimatter said:


> That's good to know. We've had bikes that came with the new XTR stuff but it wasn't in the shop for drive-related service so I have no experience with them.
> 
> When it comes to brakes, some are outright rubbish IMHO, like the SRAM Guide R/RS. However after using Code RSC's for 2 years, I recently changed to the Hayes Dominion A4 and couldn't be happier. I know components are a preference thing with riders, but thought I'd share this. The D-A4 brakes are IMHO a much better designed Code RSC that's much easier to maintain, better thought out in terms of maintenance, easier to setup and the lever feel... I get asked about them constantly on the trails as they're not common here.


I can bleed Shimanos in my sleep, thus the brand loyalty. Maybe I just need a brand I don't need to bleed so often. ;-)

I signed up as a Magura grassroots rider so I'll be trying out a set of the MT7's soon.


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## RBoardman (Dec 27, 2014)

RickBullottaPA said:


> I can bleed Shimanos in my sleep, thus the brand loyalty. Maybe I just need a brand I don't need to bleed so often. ;-)
> 
> I signed up as a Magura grassroots rider so I'll be trying out a set of the MT7's soon.


The MT7's are my favorite feeling brake, but I have Shimano Saints on my bike because I feel like they are the easiest to work on.


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## dundundata (May 15, 2009)

gramr said:


> Unless you're talking about the insane amounts of power on some of those 50+ kilo jobs that are essentially electric motorcycles with pedals


lol, I've blown a freehub and rear wheel doing this, but they took alot of abuse first. Surprisingly the drivetrains hold up well even on a middrive "moped", just don't shift under power.


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## CRM6 (Apr 7, 2021)

I upgraded my stock wheels to Factor Hubs and DT Swiss 511 rims. Didn't want to spend big money on I9 Hydras and the Factors were very affordable. Hard cased a jump recently and thought I bent the rim,but turned out to be the tire. Plus,the best upgrade has been the Hayes Dominion brakes! Ive had XT,SLX,& Guide R, the Hayes are the best.....


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## matt4x4 (Dec 21, 2013)

Totally depends on the surfaces you are riding and the speeds, I know some who use motorcycle/moped rims, tires and tubes. But generally speaking any good quality rim/wheel will do. Your probably seeing a lot of ebike specific parts like brake pads and tires and such and thats because of the faster speeds ebikes do, along with the bikes being heavier.



Francine said:


> I am thinking of using a set of my wheels from another bike that is not an EMtb. They are carbon rims with I9 hubs. Does an EMtb need to have stronger / different wheels than a regular bike?
> Thanks for any information.


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## Antimatter (Jan 3, 2018)

RickBullottaPA said:


> I can bleed Shimanos in my sleep, thus the brand loyalty. Maybe I just need a brand I don't need to bleed so often. ;-)
> 
> I signed up as a Magura grassroots rider so I'll be trying out a set of the MT7's soon.


Yup, there's no question that Shimano's are perhaps the easiest to bleed.

The MT7's are pretty good... when you get a solid bleed from them as they can be a little tricky to bleed completely.

This isn't a jab at Magura necessarily but to all brake companies. IMHO spec'ing any lever system to be 1-2 finger use is so 90's. I think manufacturers should really focus on offering 1 finger exclusive use first as their default package, then offer 2 finger levers as an option.

We had the shop next door with a very nice CNC machine produce some aftermarket Code RSC and Magura levers to our specifications for exclusive 1 finger use but it seems there isn't much demand for them so we stopped selling them. However the 50 or so that did go out, the riders are really happy with them. They're comfortable, they really fit your index finger where it has the most leverage and it has some texturing to help with finger grip with our without gloves. I think most riders just deal with the lever shape the company offers and just deal with it.


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## gramr (Jun 15, 2021)

Antimatter said:


> The MT7's are pretty good... when you get a solid bleed from them as they can be a little tricky to bleed completely.


They're super-easy to bleed if you pull vacuum at the lever with a syringe a few times to get the bubbles out.


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## Antimatter (Jan 3, 2018)

gramr said:


> They're super-easy to bleed if you pull vacuum at the lever with a syringe a few times to get the bubbles out.


We've tried that when some of us were working on actual pro racers' bikes. We still got inconsistent results. Sometimes you hit the ball out of the park and sometimes you get a check engine light straight out of the shop. That's my experience anyway. If your's don't have this behavior, that's awesome. I wish all Magura's were like that.


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## gramr (Jun 15, 2021)

@Antimatter
Yeah, I've had very good experiences with the MT5e and the MT7 so far. My procedure is attach the tapered plastic tip of the syringe directly to the bleed port without any adapters to pull vacuum, push a bit of air-free oil back in, pump the levers, and then repeat the cycle at least two more times.

I hope not to get a tricky set, because I find that they're the most confidence-inspiring brake I've ever ridden and they handle fast, heavily-loaded descents like nothing else. I definitely understand the frustration of having some stubborn bubbles in the system, though. ?

One other thing for owners to note with MT-series brakes is that the bleed port needs to be fully opened when the pistons are reset for new pads. The rubber membrane can pop if they're forced back on a closed system. This happened to me once when I loosened the port but didn't back the screw out far enough. Fortunately, it just came unseated instead of rupturing, but it's a really delicate operation to rebuild it, as the plastic cover seems extremely easy to damage during removal. Have you ever experienced this too?

By the way - I gotta say that although I hated the original-equipment Tektro Auriga brakes that the MT7s replaced, the TRP C2.3s (repackaged DH-R for cargo bikes) are not far off the quad-piston Magura stuff for power and fade resistance. The feel maybe isn't quite as nice, but it's good enough that I'm in no hurry to put anything else on yet.


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