Direct drive front hub below €100?

Hi everyone,
I tried to look around a bit, but couldn't find what I'm looking for. It has been a year since my successful DIY eBike build, which features geared front hub motor, rated for nominal 250W.
However since I tested the advantages of recuperative braking, which are quite significant, I want to upgrade to direct drive 250W front hub.
The issue is, I'm having hard times finding the right motor, I don't need more than 250W nominal (700W peak). All direct drives are either 1kW and more and costing over €300, which is far departure from the €60 I paid for the current geared one.
260rpm @ 36VDC would be nice, I have 13s, but I don't want to hit backemf limit. It's 26", so 40km/h max would be nice. Don't really need more than 40.
Could someone point me toward a source for affordable DDs shipped to EU?

Thanks in advance

What type of regen does your controller support? If it’s non-variable (brake lever activated) I’d be careful not to set it too high. I have regen on the rear, and although having the rear slide out if I need to brake on a wet curve may provide a shot of adrenaline, it’s not usually a disaster when it comes on abruptly. I might be less thrilled at having the front end slide out. On the other hand, if you’re used to tire sliding around (dirt bike riding, etc.) it might not be an issue.


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Just lock the clutch in a geared hub motor for regen braking.

Posting an update to this on E-HP request, after a delay caused by accident and personal reasons.

Gluing clutch in geared motor would seriously worsen no-load drag, so I'd have preferred better option.

Turns out many chinese controllers do not support regen at all, with a few exceptions, and those exceptions are all non-variable, so I decided towards possibly better alternative, which I am now struggling to get to work.

Long story short, there is no 250W DD made for bicycles, that'd be readily available. Only 500W+ ones, rear, with cassette or freewheel, starting at 6.5kg a pop. With slightly larger body, and extra $3 spent, it's better to go for 1kW.