Originally Posted by
vronp
Thanks for your reply.
As I am a novice, I was leaning toward the ebikeling front tire kit for a fat bike. I have been assuming this would result in the least amount of "stock" parts removal. I assume this would still allow me to pedal manually?
Also, there is a youtube video of a guy installing a mid-drive on a Fatboy and if I understood him correctly, he was not able to use all of the gears on the back wheel.
Read up on Front Hub Drives, they are easy to install but you will find them problematic for traction. There's not a lot of weight on the front of your bike compared to the middle or the rear. And, the tire is trying to conduct steering and powering all at the same time. Loose surfaces can be big problems.
All you change on a mid-drive is the "middle" of the bike. The motor is between the pedals, mounted through the bottom bracket. You do lose the front derailleur but that will not be an issue. The rest is stock - front wheel, rear wheel, gears, derailleur are all stock. You really should be able to use ALL of the gears on the back wheel. With any conversion there can be a need to make some alterations. My bike started as a 2 by 9-speed. After installing the rear hub drive I had some problems using the 9th gear. It was a spacing issue and that one gear would skip under pressure. I did change the rear gearing to 8-speed instead of the OEM 9-speed and everything has worked perfectly since.
Theoretically, you'll have less problems like that with a mid-drive conversion - but there can always be small issues to work out on any conversion. The kits are made for a wide range of bikes. They are not custom made for "your" bike.