Ron Paul's Blimp said:My first impression is holy hell it's even louder than I feared it would be after reading this thread. Even in assist level 1, even lightly pedaling, it sounds like an RC car. Really disappointing and it might be a bit of a deal-breaker if the opensource firmware doesn't help somehow. Unfortunately I don't know what else I'd use since I don't know of any other torque-sensing mid-drives in its weight class that don't require a custom frame. Huge bummer.
Having come from a BBS01B which was almost silent the TSDZ2 is a little on the nose in the noise department.
Yes they are loud. There are people claiming they have quiet copies, but I have yet to see/hear evidence on youtube
I plan to have a really good go at quieting mine next month once I have moved. I haven't pulled apart yet other than the chain side where I added some more grease to the secondary reduction with no real change.
On the plus side the opensource firmware is amazing, the new color screen coming and the torque sensor means I will never go back. I have ridden a bosch mid drive and it is quite noisy too. Maybe the Bafangs are the outlier?
Mine is in a Cargo bike ... though I just spotted a German Cargo bike with integrated Steps mid drive, hydraulic disks, suspension, carbon belt drive and electric infinitely variable rear hub ... for the price of a small car Not sure the wife will go for it but far superior tech to mine
Cheers