snowranger
10 kW
I just received the BH Emotion Max 700 as a demonstration unit. I am not yet in a position to cut open the panasonic drive and take power measurements (don't own this), but I can give general impressions of this mid drive ebike. If anyone knows of a non-damaging way, let me know.
Disclaimer: I have decided to carry this bike as a distributors rep so take whatever I write with a grain of salt.
My experience with this bike has been over a few days, and I am growing to really like this bike.
I've been using medium power BMC hub motors for the past 5 years, and this is the second time I've tried a mid drive electric bike. The first one was a stoke monkey mid drive mounted on an xtracycle frame. That setup was pretty nice, but extremely heavy, and I hated the non-freewheeling crank.
I recently received the 2012 Max 700 from BH Emotion of Spain as a demonstration unit. This ebike has some decent components like Shimano hydraulic disk brakes, Deore XT derailleur, and the Panasonic mid drive motor and Panasonic battery pack (36 volt 8 Ah). This bike looks pretty sexy according to the compliments I have received, and total weight comes in at around 43 lbs, which is super light for an ebike.
This bike is a pedelec model like all European models.
I was skeptical about the bike's performance capability due to the puny "250 watt" motor rating. This power rating is usually for compliance with European maximum power limits. My hunch is that the peak power output is a bit above this number. The bike feels much more powerful than 250 watts. One of the primary reasons is that you are forced to use the correct gear to maximize your acceleration from pedaling and motor assist.
I test rode this bike around the Presidio area of San Francisco, a pretty hilly place. In contrast to my powerful BMC hub motor bike, the Max 700 felt more like a normal bike. You definitely get more exercise with this sort of bike. There are three power levels that add proportional assist to your effort. See the simple control panel below. Basic functions are power on/off, assist level, and battery capacity remaining. Helpful information like speed, watts are missing.
The U.S. distributor "disables" the 16 mph European limit that is normally on this bike. The limit that remains is the 85 rpm maximum motor limit, according to the distributor. Once the motor hits this RPM, it cuts power. Therefore to increase the speed of this bike, you must switch to higher gears. With pedaling, I think that the bike can reach over 20 mph in the tallest gear. I may attach a bike speedometer to determine the maximum assisted speed. The standard rear cassette on this bike is 11-34T with mountain Deore XT derailleur. I don't know what the drive spocket size is. I was really impressed with the climbing ability of this bike when using the 34 T ring. It was able to climb steeper hills than my BMC hub system, which consumes up to 1200 watts. While the BMC motor climbs most hills faster, there is a certain steepness where the BMC bogs down. There is little fear of stalling the Panasonic motor and creating damaging heat. My guess also is that the small 8 ah battery has decent range because the mid drive system is pretty efficient. The motor noise is also very low. The distributor indicates that the drive reduction uses helical cut gears in the gear box. Total range is not yet known to me because I have not fully depleted the battery. However, we made a 10-mile round trip over some pretty big hills with some capacity left.
All in all, I like this bike a lot. It rides very naturally. The pedal assist is very smooth and quiet. I actually like it better than another mid-drive model I recently rode called the Jarifa Speed. The Jarifa can reach speeds of 28 mph, but the taller geared rear road cassette detracts from its climbing abilities. The Max 700 has a good balance of speed and climbing ability and is lightweight. It does have eyelets for a rear rack. It would make a good every day commuter if you had a secure place to park. This comes at a pretty penny though. Retail is close to $3K. I was thinking that you could build 2 or 3 diy kits for this cost, but this really is a different animal that needs to be ridden to be appreciated, as numbers on paper don't tell the whole story.
Disclaimer: I have decided to carry this bike as a distributors rep so take whatever I write with a grain of salt.
My experience with this bike has been over a few days, and I am growing to really like this bike.
I've been using medium power BMC hub motors for the past 5 years, and this is the second time I've tried a mid drive electric bike. The first one was a stoke monkey mid drive mounted on an xtracycle frame. That setup was pretty nice, but extremely heavy, and I hated the non-freewheeling crank.
I recently received the 2012 Max 700 from BH Emotion of Spain as a demonstration unit. This ebike has some decent components like Shimano hydraulic disk brakes, Deore XT derailleur, and the Panasonic mid drive motor and Panasonic battery pack (36 volt 8 Ah). This bike looks pretty sexy according to the compliments I have received, and total weight comes in at around 43 lbs, which is super light for an ebike.
This bike is a pedelec model like all European models.
I was skeptical about the bike's performance capability due to the puny "250 watt" motor rating. This power rating is usually for compliance with European maximum power limits. My hunch is that the peak power output is a bit above this number. The bike feels much more powerful than 250 watts. One of the primary reasons is that you are forced to use the correct gear to maximize your acceleration from pedaling and motor assist.
I test rode this bike around the Presidio area of San Francisco, a pretty hilly place. In contrast to my powerful BMC hub motor bike, the Max 700 felt more like a normal bike. You definitely get more exercise with this sort of bike. There are three power levels that add proportional assist to your effort. See the simple control panel below. Basic functions are power on/off, assist level, and battery capacity remaining. Helpful information like speed, watts are missing.
The U.S. distributor "disables" the 16 mph European limit that is normally on this bike. The limit that remains is the 85 rpm maximum motor limit, according to the distributor. Once the motor hits this RPM, it cuts power. Therefore to increase the speed of this bike, you must switch to higher gears. With pedaling, I think that the bike can reach over 20 mph in the tallest gear. I may attach a bike speedometer to determine the maximum assisted speed. The standard rear cassette on this bike is 11-34T with mountain Deore XT derailleur. I don't know what the drive spocket size is. I was really impressed with the climbing ability of this bike when using the 34 T ring. It was able to climb steeper hills than my BMC hub system, which consumes up to 1200 watts. While the BMC motor climbs most hills faster, there is a certain steepness where the BMC bogs down. There is little fear of stalling the Panasonic motor and creating damaging heat. My guess also is that the small 8 ah battery has decent range because the mid drive system is pretty efficient. The motor noise is also very low. The distributor indicates that the drive reduction uses helical cut gears in the gear box. Total range is not yet known to me because I have not fully depleted the battery. However, we made a 10-mile round trip over some pretty big hills with some capacity left.
All in all, I like this bike a lot. It rides very naturally. The pedal assist is very smooth and quiet. I actually like it better than another mid-drive model I recently rode called the Jarifa Speed. The Jarifa can reach speeds of 28 mph, but the taller geared rear road cassette detracts from its climbing abilities. The Max 700 has a good balance of speed and climbing ability and is lightweight. It does have eyelets for a rear rack. It would make a good every day commuter if you had a secure place to park. This comes at a pretty penny though. Retail is close to $3K. I was thinking that you could build 2 or 3 diy kits for this cost, but this really is a different animal that needs to be ridden to be appreciated, as numbers on paper don't tell the whole story.
