George S.
Well-Known Member
People tend to do ‘year in review’ stuff about now. I was wondering what the ebike product of the year should be. The Haibike was the bike of the year at the Vegas show. It has the Bosch mid drive.
My product of the year is a ‘bare’ low end mid-drive, the Bafang or 8Fun BBS02.
I don’t own one (or a Haibike, for that matter) but mostly I like this drive because it is very builder oriented. There are nice versions in factory bikes, like the Energie series, and these are value bikes. E bikes are dividing along the lines of value bikes and premium to super premium bikes. The BBS02 is a solid value component.
It is also the product of the year because it reflects the global interdependence. Globalism that is just trying to work. The original Bafang mid-drive seems to have been engineered for the European market. That’s a low power market, basically 250 watts. The story is that LeGrand at Lectric Cycles in Tempe convinced them to engineer a more powerful version for the US market. This version has not been around all that long. I doubt Bafang regrets the higher power version, since it is extremely popular in the US. Of course, the globalism thing carries over to where you might buy a BBS02. The hottest deal on Wall Street this year was Alibaba. You can pick it up there. You can buy it in Hong Kong. You can buy it in Arizona. Just another decision.
The issue with this drive seems to be the shifting. Maybe this is because the engineering began with a 250 watt motor, and the changes to make it 750 watts were more to the electronics and motor. Applying 750 watts to the chain and then to the rear gears is not entirely smooth. Even a recent review of the Energie with the Bafang noted the issue. They probably need different sensors. I don’t know what Bosch does. I’d like to build one, already have a bike to do the build. I’d also like to wait a bit to let things settle out. Ravi has questioned the reliability. Bafang is in a nice spot with this drive, and they do have a large staff of engineers. But who knows?
Products like this seem to shift the focus back to building an ebike, rather than buying a factory bike. All bikes have an issue or two. The more you know, the better, even out there by the side of the road. This isn’t a complicated build, but you would know what you had, at the end. Plus people are working with the electronics to mold a bike exactly the way they want it. None of this is ‘done’ or off the shelf. You have to deal with batteries, throttles, computer interfaces, etc. But every year, maybe every month, it gets more ‘done’.
It wouldn’t shock me if one of the Web bike dealers offered the BBSO2 as a bolt on factory ‘accessory’. They might not want to deal with the liability issues
My product of the year is a ‘bare’ low end mid-drive, the Bafang or 8Fun BBS02.
I don’t own one (or a Haibike, for that matter) but mostly I like this drive because it is very builder oriented. There are nice versions in factory bikes, like the Energie series, and these are value bikes. E bikes are dividing along the lines of value bikes and premium to super premium bikes. The BBS02 is a solid value component.
It is also the product of the year because it reflects the global interdependence. Globalism that is just trying to work. The original Bafang mid-drive seems to have been engineered for the European market. That’s a low power market, basically 250 watts. The story is that LeGrand at Lectric Cycles in Tempe convinced them to engineer a more powerful version for the US market. This version has not been around all that long. I doubt Bafang regrets the higher power version, since it is extremely popular in the US. Of course, the globalism thing carries over to where you might buy a BBS02. The hottest deal on Wall Street this year was Alibaba. You can pick it up there. You can buy it in Hong Kong. You can buy it in Arizona. Just another decision.
The issue with this drive seems to be the shifting. Maybe this is because the engineering began with a 250 watt motor, and the changes to make it 750 watts were more to the electronics and motor. Applying 750 watts to the chain and then to the rear gears is not entirely smooth. Even a recent review of the Energie with the Bafang noted the issue. They probably need different sensors. I don’t know what Bosch does. I’d like to build one, already have a bike to do the build. I’d also like to wait a bit to let things settle out. Ravi has questioned the reliability. Bafang is in a nice spot with this drive, and they do have a large staff of engineers. But who knows?
Products like this seem to shift the focus back to building an ebike, rather than buying a factory bike. All bikes have an issue or two. The more you know, the better, even out there by the side of the road. This isn’t a complicated build, but you would know what you had, at the end. Plus people are working with the electronics to mold a bike exactly the way they want it. None of this is ‘done’ or off the shelf. You have to deal with batteries, throttles, computer interfaces, etc. But every year, maybe every month, it gets more ‘done’.
It wouldn’t shock me if one of the Web bike dealers offered the BBSO2 as a bolt on factory ‘accessory’. They might not want to deal with the liability issues
