Voltbike Mid-drive Mountain Bike 26"x2.15" tires

[SuperGoop]

We are planning to have regular size tires mountain bike later in the winter, but it will feature 350w mid drive motor.

...we are planning to release another regular tires 26"x2.15" model later this year which will use mounting bike frame.

@Voltbike Any news you can share with us? I suspect it will be the new Bafang 350W mid-drive motor which Court has reviewed on another bike here: https://electricbikereview.com/volton/alation-mid-drive-48v/

In that review, Court seems to like the Bafang mid-drive a lot in terms of performance and price. It is purpose built and I like it lot also, especially given its lower price point.

I am confident Bafang has a lot of experience with mid-drives from its popular BBS02 and BBSHD kits.

Hopefully, @Voltbike can continue to offer it at a low price with it's "direct to consumer" business model, and this mid-drive will be available before Spring 2017.

 

[Trail Cruiser]

I don't know how true but Luna mentioned that the internals of the max drive as found in the voltbike is the same as the BBSHD, only different casing and lighter. Obviously, it is detuned for legal compliance. But even then, Court registered 36 mph max speed in his review with it.

 

[Stephen Cho]

I emailed George about this... his reply:

"We plan to have mid drive bike soon. It will feature Bafang Second generation mid drive.
It will be full suspension bike. It will be available in around January."

It sure sounds like its going to be the max drive. I understand bikes need to be detuned before shipping for legal reasons but I hope with this one we are at least given the choice to tune it to our liking.

 

[Stephen Cho]

Voltbike's main competition:

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

(Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

 

[vincent]

I agree, the fat bikes definitely draw attention

And then you get more attention when they find out they are electric

This is not something i like either but love the stability of the fat bikes so will live with it

 

[Stephen Cho]

Mixed thoughts on this one... Positive: 1) 48v, (biktrix and m2s is 36v) 2) a little bit cheaper ... Negative 1) 6 speed 14-28 freewheel? You will be spinning out at higher speeds. I don't think anyone makes a 6 speed freewheel with 11t so no simple solution to fixing that. 2) Cheaper disc brakes than competition. I actually don't mind mechanical disc brakes, problem is that most mechanical disc brakes have tiny pads (like this one) compared to its hydraulic brethren. I wish someone would make mechanical disc brakes with a wide pad surface area. 3) Front and rear shocks look a step below compared to competition.

 

[Duncan O]

Do we know if the second mid drive bike that will be coming in 2017 will be a hard tail or exactly what it is (something like the xc sport from M2S would be real nice, Maybe racks fenders, bottle bosses .etc as options ) just dreaming a bit here.