Motobecane EF3 Shimano steps folder

No, low powered euro type mid drives do not have throttles

I like throttle and bigger power usually but for what I am using this bike for it won’t be as big a deal

bigger power usually means bigger weight too and for me one aspect of this bike needed to be lower weight
 
Well got in 12 miles on pavement with this folder today

it has some good attributes and not so good aspects

biggest thing in favor of it is weight, for a 3 inch fat tire it is pretty light and easy to lift with the battery off

power is lacking a lot, 40nm will not cut it for me
Rode in high the entire time
Forgot how much I dislike Low powered euro motors and hoped the low nm would not be indicative of how much power it had but it is

Would be hard to take any non biking riding friends riding on it because of the Low power, just not going to help enough for unfit rid

wish I could fit a bbs02 on it with a belt lol

if you are going to be mostly in the flats, mild hills it may be ok
Rode it on a few steeper hills here and it just does not have much to give

Battery wise seems ok and in line with what I would expect, probably 13-13.5 miles on the charge and down one notch- range estimate was at 26 when I got done riding


Folds easily, might be my easiest folding bike

With a bodyfloat on it Rides decent for a folder

these tires do ok but I am going to put the 20x2.8 specialized big roller on it, think it will take another 2 lbs off the bike and think they will do better on dirt
Be a week before those tires get here but I will post feedback

will have this bike 6months or so but it will be sold after that

In a few days will try to run the haibike radius tour with yamaha on this same route and compare
Expect it to climb the hills much better
If the haibike was a full folder I would never sell it...
 
Nice review... have you tried tuning the performance with the Shimano Steps eTube App?


 
No I have not, will look that up right now, thanks for that suggestion

Do any of the dongle’s for these low powered mid drive increase power or just top speed? I would totally put a dongle on it if I could get another 10-20nm out of the motor

A little more power and I would put it IGH on this and be pretty happy with it
 
No, I have not, will look that up right now, thanks for that suggestion

Do any of the dongles for these low powered mid-drive increase power or just top speed?

I would totally put a dongle on it if I could get another 10-20nm out of the motor

A little more power and I would put it IGH on this and be pretty happy with it

Not really... eTube will allow you to tune the power delivery curve.

The speed dongles will de-limit the maximum supported speed. Hope this is a bit of help.
 
i tried to do the tuning but cannot seem to get it to connect
thinking maybe it is missing something needed to do that


either way decided to put this bike up for sale, i am not going to be happy with it and no point in it sitting around

i think a light rider in the flats might like it fine

when i have time will post pics etc in the for sale forum
planning to sell it for a few hundred off new

if anyone is interested in southern cali or AZ please message me through here
 
meant to add i am hoping tern will come out with a new lighter ebike with that light gen 4 bosch motor ravi thinks is so awesome

as much as i am done with euro mid drives, a 20 inch folder is the only bike i might consider one for

if it was possible to swap out this shimano motor for even the 6100 i would probably do that and keep this bike but i do not think that is possible, too bad
 
I tried to do the tuning but cannot seem to get it to connect
thinking maybe it is missing something needed to do that

either way decided to put this bike up for sale, I am not going to be happy with it and no point in it sitting around
I think a light rider in the flats might like it fine

when I have time will post pics etc in the for sale forum
planning to sell it for a few hundred off new

if anyone is interested in southern Cali or AZ please message me through here

GLWS... 😉
 
Wanted to update this because i rode the haibike radius tour with yamaha motor on the same streets today, no comparison on how this 40nm shimano climbs
the yamaha walks up these hills pretty easy- a hill the shimano was struggling to get up at 6mph in any low gear the yamaha went up with moderate effort in gear 2
 
Wanted to update this because i rode the haibike radius tour with yamaha motor on the same streets today, no comparison on how this 40nm shimano climbs
the yamaha walks up these hills pretty easy- a hill the shimano was struggling to get up at 6mph in any low gear the yamaha went up with moderate effort in gear 2


Well, I told you ;)

You should get a 45 lbs bike with Yamaha PW-X or Bosch gen 4 system.
Next time, I am going to bring my prototypes and we should go around the Grand canyon before tourists start crowding that place ..
 
Lol

I don’t think anybody makes a folder with that yet....
would totally have bought a Yamaha if there was a full folder with that motor

You definitely need to come ride the Grand Canyon with me, I cannot wait to go back in a couple of weeks!
 
Wow, really good news

Did not expect this but I spoke to Shimano today on a lark to see if I could swap out for one of the bigger motors and they said they all Bolt In exactly the same

they felt the 6100 motor which has 70nm would swap in With zero problems and plug into everything

I am also considering the 7000 motor

would probably like to do the 7000 if possible - obviously I have some research in my future


good chance this will change everything and I will keep this bike
 
Wow, really good news

Did not expect this but I spoke to Shimano today on a lark to see if I could swap out for one of the bigger motors and they said they all Bolt-In exactly the same

they felt the 6100 motor which has 70nm would swap in With zero problems and plug into everything

I am also considering the 7000 motor would probably like to do the 7000 if possible - obviously, I have some research in my future

good chance this will change everything and I will keep this bike

Both are great Shimano drive systems... the E6000 is designed for more Hybrid/Road/Treking vs. the E7000 for Off-road/Mountain.

See my signature... I have 2 EBikes with the Shimano 6000 motors and have not found a hill that I could not climb in low gear. ;)
 
Last edited:
Do you have the old 6000 motor or the newer E6100?

How do you think it compares to the Yamaha px since I have experience with that motor

Do your motors have sent 70nm? my understanding is that is what the Yamaha has
 
Do you have the old 6000 motor or the newer E6100?

How do you think it compares to the Yamaha px since I have experience with that motor

Do your motors have sent 70nm? my understanding is that is what the Yamaha has

I have the original Shimano E6000 motor... similar to the E6100 but it does not have the eTube app the power tuning option.

Both the Shimano E6000 and E7000 are rated at 60Nm... the E8000 has 70Nm. Any mid-drive over 60Nm will get you over a steep hill. 😉

Regarding the Yamaha PW-X, it is another great motor with 80Nm of torque... here is a handy guide to the highest TQ motor for each manufacturer.


1595558758234.png
 
Last edited:
I have not ridden the new Yamaha motor but have put quite a bit of miles on the PW and it will climb anything for me

I will do some research on that but swapping out this motor seems like a viable option and that I would be pretty happy with this bike
 
flatsix are you sure the e6000 is the same motor as the e6100 except bluetooth tuning? i dont care anything about tuning, just want 100% power from the motor in high

there are some e6000 on ebay, if they plug and play i might pick one up cheap....

my display is this one i think- dont1595575899888.png have the bike with me






and the control buttons are these





do these look like yours?
 

Attachments

  • 1595575996828.png
    1595575996828.png
    227.9 KB · Views: 400
Back