Drunkskunk
100 GW
macribs said:The thing about Direct Drive hub motors are that they don't do to well on steep hills. And me being a "heavy rider" weighing in at 110 kilo I don't think direct drive motors will do it for me. Not only because I am heavy but also because there are a lot of ups and downs hills on the way to work.
Yeah, that's not even wrong, It's completely off the mark.
Here's a short vid of a direct drive pulling up a few hills.
[youtube]5JPDF1V7Brg[/youtube]
Direct drive can handle larger hills and more weight. They just aren't as efficient doing it. Lets compare two 500w motors, the MAC and the 9C. A geared motor like a MAC makes around 25% more torque at it's peak power (1500watts) than an equivalent speed 9C motor at the same power.(which is direct drive). However, the 9C can be pushed up to twice the power(3000w), making far more torque. Direct drive make up for less initial torque by being able to shed a lot more heat.
While you can oil cool a geared motor to shed a little more heat, melting of the windings is only one failure mode. the gears can simply self destruct from too much torque, regardless of how cool you keep them. If you're running at the point where you need active motor cooling on a geared motor, you're running them on the verge of self destructing.