Are mid drives just naturally less zippy than hub motors?

[Rome]

I don't how to put batteries together and make it perform.
How many miles on throttle alone.?

 

[Rome]

Let's get out topic.
Have you anyboby seen the killer whale video.
Thare was held captive a killer whale in San Diego. I forget its name.
It was regurgitating its stomach and spitting it out for seagulls when they are close enough whale would eat it.

 

[Gionnirocket]

They can be less zippy... But generally have more doo_dah.

 

[teskow]

A mid drive without a throttle has to be peddled very hard to activate the torque sensing power control to get full power out to the motor whereas a hub drive usually has a hand throttle which merrily has to be fully applied with your thumb for max power delivery. So in essence a hub drive can be and or feel zippier without the physical effort on the riders part.
I had throttles on my first two bikes but none on my mid drive and must say I miss it from time to time.

 

[mrgold35]

I have a rear hub+throttle cadence sensor 750w/80Nm 7-speed Radrover and Himiway Cobra Pro mid-drive w/ throttle tq sensor 1000-1600w/186Nm 10-speed. The Radrover throttle feels more "zippy" with instant max power response since it doesn't matter what gear is selected. The mid-drive throttle really depends on which gear is selected and PAS level to get the same "zippy" response compared to my rear hub Radrover.

 

[Kayakguy]

I've test ridden a lot of different e-bikes over the last couple months trying to find what fits me best. This would be a second bike for me, I currently own a hub motor bike from Juiced Bikes. I've tried hub drives and mid drives from a lot of the big brands (Juiced, Rad, Specialized, Reise & Mueller, Gazelle, EVELO) and it seems like no matter what the hub drive bikes are always zippier than the mid drive bikes.

What do I mean by this? Basically it seems like the hub drives always accelerate faster and the motor responds quicker when you put more pressure on the pedals or press the throttle. By contrast the mid drives have slower acceleration and take more pedal pressure before I feel increased motor output.

I posted all of the above on another ebike forum and a common reply I got was that I was probably feeling the difference between cadence sensor pedal assist vs torque sensor pedal assist, but this doesn't seem to line up with my experience. For example, my Juiced bike (Ocean Current model) is a hub drive with torque and cadence sensor and the ride feels very similar to a friends Rad bike (Rad Expand 5 model) which is hub drive and cadence sensor only. They both have that zippy feeling I like. In contrast I have recently been riding an EVELO (Omega model) which is mid drive with torque and cadence sensor and it feels quite a bit different than the other two bikes. So at least in my limited experience it seems like the motor type makes a bigger difference than the pedal assist sensor type for how the ride feels.

I am wondering if other people who have ridden both types of motor feel the same way or have I just not ridden the right type of mid drives? Does anyone know of any mid drive bikes that feel really zippy like my hub drive bike? (Preferably a commuter style)

No offense, but this query sounds like a quest for confirmation bias. I'm guessing you already have a hub motor bike, and want reassurance that you made the right choice. Or not.

 

[Imchud]

Let's get out topic.
Have you anyboby seen the killer whale video.
Thare was held captive a killer whale in San Diego. I forget its name.
It was regurgitating its stomach and spitting it out for seagulls when they are close enough whale would eat it.

Wow... that sounds gruesome. I'm going to look for it on You/Tube