Torque your rear axle nuts

[Sailing Vessel Rub-A-Dub]

I'm used to plug-and-play, set-and-forget wheels with no need for adjustment. Well, my cargo bike doesn't have those. And I'm looking for any suggestions. You have to carefully set the position of the rear axle (motor is up front) manually and torque it down. Only reason I know this less than two months in is because on the very first day of ownership, I tried to be nice to a bus driver and clear out of a bus stop as fast as I could, and sprinted... which I'd never done in a cargo bike. Apparently the previous owners hadn't tightened the nuts down well, and I managed to displace the wheel, which was exacerbated when I had to jam the brake hard to avoid being killed by (surprise) a BMW driver right hooking me fifteen seconds later.

Anyone got pointers on how to handle adjustable axles?

 

[Benjamin in WPG]

I’m not completely clear on what you mean by “adjustable axles”. Does your bike have nutted axles or “quick release” skewer type axles?
If it’s a hub motor, the axle will have two flat portions that should be installed so they line up with your drop-outs. Usually if the motor cable doesn’t come out of the end of the axle, the axle has to be installed so the motor cable points, downward or outward (in the direction you would remove the motor from the dropout)
Also, at the very least, there will be an anti-torque washer installed to assist in preventing the axle from rotating when under power. (more powerful motors will usually use an additional torque arm, which is much more effective than a simple anti-torque washer.)

 

[Shaun Moulds]

I'm not sure how to set them but I have heard people struggling with them. I'm very curious which cargo brand uses adjustable axels though.

 

[Nitot]

I'm not sure how to set them but I have heard people struggling with them. I'm very curious which cargo brand uses adjustable axels though.

I own a Muli Muskel and it has a belt drive. It does have adjustable axles because of this. Belts tend to get longer with time and need to be in tension to work properly, if I understand things correctly (I'm new to belt drives). So this approach enable to adjust the tension. At least that's what I suspect.

 

[Shaun Moulds]

Ahh I see what you mean now. I thought you were talking about the adjustable length through axels, I think these are just standard dropouts but I'm the same, only really delt with set and forget kind of stuff and I've never owned a belt drive.

 

[Benjamin in WPG]

I see it’s a mid-drive, there won’t be an anti-torque washer or torque arm.

 

[Bike Shop Girl]

I see it’s a mid-drive, there won’t be an anti-torque washer or torque arm.

There should be an anti-torque washer, on this drive side it’s black.

Typically bikes like this have a built in wheel tensioner like a set screw from the back of the frame

 

[Benjamin in WPG]

There should be an anti-torque washer, on this drive side it’s black.

Typically bikes like this have a built in wheel tensioner like a set screw from the back of the frame

My apologies, I didn’t look at the photo closely enough.
My mind fixed on the mid drive, but the hub appears to be an IGH. (Enviolo? NuVinci offshoot).
Any IGH would indeed have an anti-torque device