Alan B - I'll definitely report in on how it rides.
Stoney - I totally agree about the Stokemonkey. I've discussed it with Todd (of Clever Cycles in PDX, its inventor) several times. When it came time to pull the trigger on my project, the SM had just become unavailable due to production issues. I thought long and hard about buying the very last Stokemonkey they had for sale, which was on an Electra Amsterdam in their shop. Todd said to decide soon because they were fixing to cannibalize that SM for parts. Yikes.... I'm glad I let it go because the Yuba Mundo is far and away a better choice for my project.....and then the Mdrive popped up on my radar (here on ES) and it's been go mode ever since....
On the subject of patenting, I'm not a fan. But I'm sure glad that there's a mid-drive on the market. At $1050. I consider it a real bargain. Is there another mid-drive out there, at any price? I hope so, but I haven't seen it.