This is an interesting take. I am a "real" bicyclist so the appeal of mid drives for me is that they drive the bike the same way that I do when I pedal... and you don't have to have a special wheel or adapt one to carry a big ugly hub motor. And for technical off road riding that huge unsprung weight would simply be a non-starter.
But I hear you. I need to spend some time looking into hubs... not sure how the direct drives would climb our steep hills?? And geared hubs sound like a noisy and less reliable proposition. I just don't understand their capabilities and how the DD's might handle high load, low speed climbs. Mid drives you just shift gears to get in the pedaling sweet spot which should also be a good operating place for the motor. But hubs look pretty flexible and you can "roll your own" system with a torque sensing BB and a Cycle Analyst. I was getting ready to convert the GF's bike with a TSDZ2 but maybe a hub is a better way to go, if only for the added reliability and to not create extra work for moi. Hmmm....
qwerkus said:
In my experience, mid drives shine in countries where ultra restrictive legislations forces manufacturers to adopt high power to weight motors up to 500W. At higher power levels like the 750w you see in many US states, hubs are just way more robust, and in many cases also more efficient. So why would someone want to sell high power mid drives ? Seems to me like an open door to many problems. Just check the M600 thread to see the amount of customer service it requires...
