Upgrading the motor on a 2021 Explore e+ 2 gts 28mph?

[scootter82]

I took the fenders off and added slightly more aggressive tires to the bike so far, but I've always felt pretty underwhelmed by the motor. It says 28mph class 3 motor, but even after many trips to the local Giant store for firmware updates and servicing it just doesn't get there. Feels like the motor stops helping around the 18mph mark. At first I would get resistance when trying to go faster than that. Like maybe it thought I was in a lower gear. After updates there's no resistance anymore, but still no extra help from motor after 18 mph. I got it up to 25mph pedaling fast and going downhill.

The main reason I got an ebike was for my bad knees, on a normal bike my rides are limited to about 20 miles round trip.

To the point of the title, can I do a direct swap from the Sport motor to the Pro motor? If so, do I need to stick with a certain year version of the Pro motor? I'm pretty mechanically handy, are there other e bike motors I could consider installing, assuming I'd also have to swap out the LED screen controller and probably battery so that's likely out...

 

[Stefan Mikes]

That's strange... 18 mph? It is even not Class 1!
Perhaps your Giant is configured as an Euro e-bike, 15.5 mph limit? With the Sport motor you should get past 20 mph easily in the maximum assist mode!

 

[scootter82]

My initial test ride the other day after at home updates and changing the tire I rode around my hilly neighborhood and got to 21 easy enough, and no resistance from motor, but the top speed was like 25.3mph on a downhill portion. It does saay 28mph in the app as part of the bike description.

But I've read the pro motor gives 100% power from the beginning, whereas the Sport only gives 80% power under 10kph. Also the pro has a higher maximum cadence. Thinking that'd help on the sudden hill climbs and when I want to pedal faster

 

[scootter82]

Just checked the motor and realized I have the lower powered SyncDrive Life and not the Sport I was thinking.

 

[scootter82]

CO just passed an ebike rebate, so I probably just need to trade-in or sell this one for something else lol

 

[PedalUma]

Many places let people use rebates to purchase used bikes. How old is it? Will the dealer allow for a trade-in?