I'm a geared hub fan all the way. for simplicity and ease of installation (if it's a DIY).
I've got a hub drive bike with a throttle, which I rarely use, but is really handy when you need it. I set my PAS to level 4 (out of 10) and after that, it's just shifting gears and my cadence never changes. Where the throttle is handy is when I have to go through a construction zone and one of the safety crew waves a stop sign at you because a 50 ton truck is crossing the road. I guess they figure that I'm going to duck between its wheels. It always happens on the uphill part and here the throttle is really handy from a dead stop, because you probably haven't downshifted. Hit the throttle, get up to speed and you're off at the same cadence. It's also really handy when you drop a chain off the front ring and it jams between the pedal and the bottom bracket. Just hit the throttle and you can still get home without having to do a roadside repair.
If you want a throttle, the choice of mid drive bikes is somewhat limited. There are a few out there but most mid drives are class 1 or 3 and lack a throttle. Your choice of throttled bikes (class 2) is much greater with the rear hub drives. Unless you climb a lot of steep hills, a rear hub drive bike should be fine for what you propose. I do suggest you check the bike class laws where you plan to ride to see if the bike you like is legal.
I have both as well and on flat ground, asphalt, sidewalks, light trails they are very comparable. One cost 4 grand and the other $1200. The biggest difference I can see now is the more expensive middrive will get up to 38 mph throttle only while the rear hub maxes at 28 or so. Still waiting to be dazzled by the middrive...
Actually that is a false difference, a hub can go way faster than 28 mph. the Sondors motorcycle will do 80 MPH! And it has a rear hub motor.
sondorsx.com
Horse pucky. A rare occurrence. The only special care is using a light touch on the brake lever to cut the motor momentarily or add a Gearsensor for the cutout when shifting. Backpedal also works with the BBSxx series.
That he spent his own money on.
all bikes with a rear derailleur need shifting without hard pressure. that includes hub drive bikes Hell since they tend to have cheap components it may be mean more of a issue. You should always let up on the pressure when you shift. and if your real wheel falls apart because its poorly built you will be pushing your bike thats more of a issue then a broken chain thats easily fixed with a quicklink.
Yes, my own bikes. Throttle only no shifting involved. Not sure how I could get my hub drive past 28 mph (flatground) as configured...
Which motor are you running?
Bafang 500 W I think. Espin Sport...
I think one of the bigger geared hub vs. mid drive differences will be fairly apparent when you put both of them up against a pretty good sized hill.
Who wins?
Ha Ha, when is the last time you even heard of someone breaking an acoustic drive system because they pedaled too hard?
My bike is a DIY Trek, for me to remove the rear wheel requires two extra steps. Remove the torque arm and the power cable, total of less than 1 min. The nuts come off with a channel lock, pliers or crescent wrench, just like they did before conversion.
You always let up on the pressure when shifting on any bike pretty much. when your talking most rear hub bikes they have cheap compnents its going to be even worse. you let up as you get smoother shifting. broken chain and stuff in hier prefomace riders happens a fair amount. again rear wheels on hub bikes then to low end and the spokes like to come loose and break. I never said anything about the wheel falling off.
