Which ebike is better and why? Back motor, mid motor or front motor?

[steve mercier]

I own all three types of drives on my ebikes, and have dabbled with 2 wheel drive. My hub motors are all geared motors. I am not interested in direct drive motors because of their resistance to coasting/pedaling. While this is manageable on commercial bikes, DD motors for kit builders are mainly heavy (but powerful) monsters. We have one commercial bike, a geared rear drive bike and various kit bikes of different sizes from a fatbike to small folders. My mid drive is a 750W bafang BBS02, but I also have a TSDZ2 model that I've not installed yet.

For a commercial ebike, I assume that the manufacturer has managed the strength issue on front drive. I think a kit builder should simply avoid front drive. It adds an extra concern and makes front suspension more worrisome.For rising, I find that FWD can slip on wet pavement or gravel on an uphill start. In hindsight, I would not do it again.

Mid drive requires a bike riders mentality. You want to be in the right gear for starts and for hills. A stronger motor can overcome rider error, but it's not good. Commercial middrives do monitor motor temperature and shut down if the rider heats it up too much. Road bikers who average close to 20 mph claim to change their chains every 500-1000 miles, while us slower riders haven't touched a chain in decades. If you run your mid drive at 25 mph, then you should expect the same kind of chain wear. I suspect most recreational riders will never wear the chains on a Bosch or Yamaha bike at 15 mph.

Hubmotors also benefit from smart bike riding. I believe the motor is there to assist, so one still needs to be in the right gear. However, starting out from a stop only needs about 100W, so riders like my wife get away with a throttle start in a higher gear.

I think all ebikes are fun. However, features like suspension, riding position, comfortable seats and hand grips are probably more important than the type of motor, once you have something that has enough power for your needs. Weight and maneuverabilty may also be more important to you.

I suspect that hub motors break more spokes than mid drives.

 

[ebikemom]

2500 miles and counting, no broken spokes, hub motor. I don't think broken spokes are a problem with hub motors, but bikes with hub motors do need to have well-built wheels and a well-built frame where the wheel attaches that can handle the regular stress applied each time there is accelleration. It's possible that some bike manufacturers don't manufacture their wheels and frames accounting for the stresses a hub motor will naturally produce. For DIYs, I imagine hub motors could result in problems if wheels/frame aren't very durably built.

 

[steve mercier]

2500 miles and counting, no broken spokes, hub motors. I don't think broken spokes are a problem with hub motors, but bikes with hub motors do need to have well-built wheels and a well-built frame where the wheel attaches that can handle the regular stress applied each time there is accelleration. It's possible that some bike manufacturers don't manufacture their wheels and frames accounting for the stresses a hub motor will naturally produce. For DIYs, I imagine hub motors could result in problems if wheels/frame aren't very durably built.

with all due respect ebikemom I dont think your 2500 miles is a large enough sample regarding broken spokes. Why dont you start a new thread enquiring for input about broken spokes? My guess is there will be many more broken spokes on rear hub bikes.

 

[ebikemom]

Some folks get broken spokes pretty quickly, I've seen here. We have four ebikes with about 7,000 between us, no broken spokes, but I'm not claiming a scientific study with any generalizability, for sure!!!! If you're interested, I suggest doing a search here on the forum or elsewhere online. I've noticed a few brands of bikes where there are broken spoke discussions, if I remember correctly.