Hugh
Active Member
I own 2 e bikes, one is an EVO road bike equipped with a Bion X HD500 hub motor running 700c tires and no suspension other than a Cane Creek short travel Thudbuster. The 2nd is a KHS 500 fat tire bike equipped with a Bafang 1000 watt mid drive motor running 26 by 4" tires and no suspension other than a Crane Creek long travel Thudbuster. Yesterday I asked a friend to join me for a ride through our city where we swapped bikes halfway through the ride for a comparison between the 2. Not too long of a ride, about 35 km,s and a mix of paved and unpaved. First the road bike. The Bion X system is very well integrated, other than providing a boost you hardly notice it, you step on the pedals, you go. Want to go faster, just bump up the power level. The short travel Thudbuster works, it takes the sharp jolts out but with the skinny tires running 90 psi you do feel every bit of the riding surface. It is quite silent you don't hear the tires or the motor. Now the fat bike. Running the max tire pressure of 20 psi it provided a much smoother ride. Between the tires and the long travel Thudbuster you barely notice the road surface. Road noise from the tires was very noticeable, especially on pavement, you don't need a bell to alert walkers of your approach. Power delivery is much cruder than the BionX system. I have equipped it with brake sensors and a gear sensor which generally give nice smooth shifts. But between level one and two power there is a noticeable power increase and it's not as smooth as the Bion X but it feels and is more powerful. As for comfort factor the fat bike wins hands down, seat of the pants impression was well almost no impression on the fat bike where the road bike not so much. And the end of the half where I was on the road bike I was glad to step off. Power level is where the BionX does better, giving longer range but that's to be expected with the 700C tires. But the fat bike did well, it started at 52 volts and was down to about 47 at the end after 35 km,s. I honestly have no idea of it's real range although somewhere between 50 to 80 km's is expected depending as always on the level of assist and terrain. My conclusion is I like the fat bike more. Aside from all the other factors mentioned above, it males me smile when i get on it. Finally in this somewhat longwinded tale I have decided to take the motor and controls and the disc brakes off the EVO road bike and use them on a tadpole trike recumbent that I am in the process of building. More on that later.
