Hey Ian,
cheers
I have spent a long time riding with it now and it adds a lot of dimensions that are hard to quantify.
I do not regret buying it. I have had what I suspected hall fail twice both times I was thinking I regret buying it lol because I wouldn't look forward to the despoke and respoke in particular. First time wires were loose, second time stock anderson housing melted.
Running it by itself it really belongs on bitumen, if it's flat terrain off road smooth dirt would be fine but doing all the work alone really would not satisfy me.
The fun part starts as 2wd.
I have mid drive geared to run at 50-60kmh now and that means it bogs down on hills. In the 30-60kmh range the front motor brings it up to speed really fast doubling the traction and well I must be pulling 6kw both wheels combined so yeah she accelerates fast. The phase runner controls the torque perfectly only giving you about 1.5kw which is what is usable at the 0-20kmh so there is hardly and skidding if I distribute my weight on the bike. It quickly increases how much power the closer I get to 60-70kmh so yeah she will cruise at that speed on flat alone even for about 10 minutes and then overheat.
My typical scenario off road like in the video is.
1. Use mid drive for everything. When its a straight and can go fast add front motor power. If bogging add front motor for power.
2, If there are people around or I care about noise only use front motor.
3. If there is a tricky bit I;m scared of too much torque of the rear motor. Only use front motor since its really weak in the torque alone.
I generally don't use it on sharper slower corners.
And here is my favourite thing that I have only recently felt like my technique.
I have a 3 way switch for my mid drive and most the time I use mid drive full twist because anywhere else its jerky as hell with the torque.
I select my speed based on what I am expecting. Hold it full twist. Then as I am riding and I want modulation in speed I use the front motor in little bursts usually full twist too as I said the torque is really well controlled by the phase runner.
My left hand is not that skilled I feel to do more than that. It just holds full twist on the mid and my right hand adds the precision.
HOpe that helps feel like I just rambled
There are so many types of riding it's hard to say it would be great for everyone. I don't do jumps or drops of much more than 30cm in my riding style before and now so the front motor doesnt bother me at all. Some would say why have so much suspension then? My answer is that I hit some quick change humps, valleys, ruts, roots and ditches pretty hard and thats when it probably saves the rest of the bike and my back.
Just trying to say I have ridden with just mid drive guys on single track who love the DH style of riding and this front motor sucks at it. My choice of terrain is very different, I prefer firetrails and cruising at higher speeds on dirt roads with humps and challenging steep terrain.
I got to stop typing lol