50 nm mid drive vs 50 nm rear hub

[mikecoin56]

I am currently riding an Aventon Pace 500 which I am generally pleased with. A couple annoying features though have me now looking at a mid drive bike.

The Aventon is a 500 watt, 48 volt, 50 nm, 8 speed rear hub motor ebike that is capable of ascending every hill I've tried even with my 250 pound weight. Albeit sometimes slowly.

I dislike the abrupt on-off feel of the motor due to the cadence sensor and the inability to pedal constantly in PAS 1 without going 11-12 mph.

I also dislike that the assist doesn't start helping from a stop until a pedal revolution or so.

I do like the relaxed, upright riding style as I'm 63 with some health issues.


Looking at Trek mid-drive ebikes with the 2020 Bosch Active Line Plus motor and 50 nm torque (Verve+ 3).

Or a 2020 Specialized mid-drive ebike with Brose 1.2e motor and 50 nm torque (Como 3).

Would either of these two mid drives perform as well or better on hills as the Aventon?

Do I need to go to the Electra Path Go and it's Bosch Performance line motor with 65 nm torque?

Or the Specialized Como 4 with its Brose 1.3 motor and 75 nm torque?

 

[Sierratim]

The torque delivered to the wheel is not dependant on rider gear selection for hub motors. The torque delivered to the wheel by mid-drives does depend on the gear you select. With that said, both the Como 3 has a 40t front chainring with an 11-42t cassette. As such, it can be downshifted to a lower than 1:1 gear ratio allowing it to deliver more torque to the wheel than a comparable hub motor. If you're happy with your 50Nm hub motor, a 50Nm mid-drive should be OK for you. Note that the Como 4 has a 48t chainring with the same cassette so its lowest gear ratio is ~1:1.14. With its 75Nm motor, it would still be stronger than a 50Nm hub motor.

You did mention wattage. Many mid-drives have a 'nominal' 250W rating but they are capable of delivering well over this at peak output. Torque is the more important spec for you to compare, as you seem to be.

Do you need to go to a bike with a higher torque mid-drive? It doesn't appear that you've had any issues with the 50Nm motor you have now, so no, there's no need to upgrade. It's more a matter of want and budget. We went with higher torque to help assure that we wouldn't get stuck walking on a new route and as insurance against needing more support as we age since we're both in our 70's. We're glad we spent the extra $.

BTW - The Como 4 has the 1.2 motors @ 75Nm. The Como 5 has the 1.3 motors at 90Nm.