2006 Lafree Lite, vs. 350 Watt Hub Motor vs. Bafang Mid Dri

[kingsinger]

Rode a used Lafree Lite today. I know it's old, but it still seems to be well-regarded by a lot of folks and the price wasn't bad.

If you have ridden one of these back in the day, I'm curious how the performance of the LaFree compares to a 350 watt Bafang Mid Drive or a 350 watt 8 Fun front Hub motor (e.g., the set up on the Faraday). Which one is the best at climbing hills? What about other stuff?

I'd appreciate any thoughts folks might have.

 

[d8veh]

The Lafree was good in its day when it was competing with underpowered 24v hub-motors, but its 24v won't hold a light to a Bafang BBS01 at 36v and 18 amps or a BPM at 36v and 22 amps. You should only consider the Lafree if you're light, say less than 80kg. The Lafree has another problem when it comes to replacing its Nimh battery.

 

[kingsinger]

Rode an ERad Bafang 350w mid drive conversion today (it was on an old mountain bike). Definitely see what you mean. While I think I preferred the torque sensing of the LaFree, in terms of how the assist was engaged (banfang use cadence on the pedal assist), the mid-drive was faster and also better on the hills I climbed. Of course, it's also significantly more expensive than the used LaFree, even if I needed to get the battery recelled.

Did like the way the bafang mid felt riding unassisted. Seemed natural.

Didn't get a chance to try climbing hills with a 36v BPM. I guess I'll need to look into that.

 

[d8veh]

The 500w BPM is the same size and weight as the 350w one, so not much point in getting the 350w one. It can handle 30 amps, which will blitz that Bafang BBS01. At 48v and 25 amps, it will climb just about anything without much effort from you. You can get a 260 rpm one from BMSBattery and they sell a 48v battery with an included 20A controller kit that together makes a very simple and clean installation. 48v and 20A will still blitz that BBS01, but of course you could go up to the 750w BBS02. Personally, I think the hub-motors give a much more relaxing ride.

 

[kingsinger]

I'm a little dim on this stuff. If you could perhaps share some links with me to the BMS battery site pointing out specifically what hardware you are referencing above, it would be very appreciated. Want to make sure I'm looking at the right pieces. Have you ordered anything from this site? If so, what was your experience like?