Hub motor or Mid Drive Motor Buyers Guide : Which system is right for you?

[TheSpirituallyRooted]

LOL. I did my first conversion after watching that video and of course I bought a mid drive and loved it. Took me a while to realize that since I do food delivery and prefer single speed bikes a hub motor was just fine for me. If it wasn’t for the hills here 😆😆😆

[dennisyoung]

Mid-drives work better for bad hills and heavy loads. (I have run both at some length.)

In such conditions, mid-drives give significantly better performance regarding pulling power (for trailers, or if you’re heavy), hill climbing, and power consumption, especially with real distances.

[graybeardedmadness]

Greetings Sir…

Must tell you I have had SOOO Much fun building my bike.
Thank you so much for your expert advice and for the components I got from you.
Everything has worked out great!
You rock Sir!

“Madness”

[clydeb]

💯 right changing a flat on a hub motor is pain difficult but i did fix flat..

[bjnslc]

One thing I'd add. If you want a step through bike, you probably will need to go with a hub motor complete bike. Good step-through conventional bikes worthy of conversion are very few and far between. There are folks who know how to ride a bike, but for whatever reason have difficulty with the range of motion needed to mount a conventional bike. However, If you're in this group - see if a dropper seat post can do the trick for you before you go researching step-through bikes. One other thing. Compared to a ready-made affordable hub motor bike, a retrofit bike using any conversion motor will be tens of pounds lighter. A lighter bike is easier to lift and to transport without investing in bomber bike racks. Ready-made mid-drive bikes cost more, and good ones cost ton more.

[SmokeyTreats]

Man Johnny I'm so grateful for this vid!!! I had seen the previous one comparing the two where you called hub motors junk. So being 67 & not riding for over 30 years I began searching for mid drives. But after seeing this one I ordered this monster hub ebike this morning, or rather backordered one. It's a Kepler 52V Electric Fat Tire Bike with great specs (to dumb me). Ever hear of them? There's a cool vid on here by The Junker test driving one & it sure can git it! He said it's great for steep hills too. Appreciate any views you have on this one. Thanks.

[michaelsprinzeles]

Very fair comparison & good info for the new enthusiast.
After much research and a long life to learn...
I ride a mid-drive and drive a stick shift;) Wouldn't have it any other way.

[cerebralpalsybiker]

Hey Jonny I have a Stromer st1 and a gazelle Mondeo T9 I know the stromer cost more then the gazelle. But I have noticed is the stromer does better in the snow I think that hud motor weight in the back rim gives it better traction. I still like my gazelle.

[RobertBeriault]

Can't disagree with anything you say. Good, balanced analysis of the difference between the two systmes.

[ashpunting]

First of all I live in the UK I was born driving a drink shift I've had 3 hub motor e-bikes and since I've got the mid-drive I always look forward to getting on that bike I understand the mid-drive plus I don't go hard on the crank and I have a spare KMC Chain and innertubes so I don't get cort short Johnny 😅

[BWGPEI]

Thank You Johnny! Aging mountain biker, full-suspension bicycles, living in moraine territory and serious about off-road riding to the tune of ~1K km trail riding a year. Equally serious about chain cleaning and drive-line maintenance so I get a couple of seasons from a 9-speed chain and 3- 4 seasons from cassettes and chain rings. I do have the tools to measure the actual wear in the chain (which don't stretch). Really sounds like I ought to investigate a hub motor to assist with the black-diamond rides that get tougher every year, as I'm getting way too close to 70.

[rickyn]

You gave the exact reason Bike shops refuse to work on an Ebike, unless you purchased it from said Bike shop.

[madmanwheelies]

BBSHD with asi bac 855 and 72v 25ah battery 4300watt of pure mid drive shreding power 1.st gear 45mph 3.third you are gone 4. Up to rocket to moon 😎💪🏻

[octagonPerfectionist]

i think belt-driven hub drivetrains are the future for mid drive bikes. so much more reliable and longer lasting than a chain.

[snipergw]

Thanks Johnny! Can you do a vídeo how to re-grease the middrive mottor? Thanks!

[necroticavalon]

For delivery around the city, hub drive any day. Lots of stop-starts between traffic lights, no time to shift gears if you want to get that early jump to cross the red light before traffic starts, the one-gear throttle-controlled hub motor does wonders, and puts no strain on the chain. I've literally seen other delivery drivers with mid-drives have to downshift, losing that critical second or two before they could get going from the light, sometimes too late to get that early jump through red. I just thumb the throttle and speed off.

That being said, you do need a good powered hub motor for that kind of peppyness. 1000w minimum (I got a 1500w one). And yes, it's less efficient and less torque up hills, but for me the tradeoff works.

Obviously not street-legal (especially here in Europe), but who cares. Put a 250W sticker on the hub (rip the 1500w one XD ), drive low-key around cops, and nobody pays you a 2nd glance. Very easy to get around the dumb rules.

[navidmehdi]

I had bought my used bbs02 preinstall on a big 22 frame bike. After like 2 years I finally swapped it onto a 18 inch frame and it feels so much better. I'm a small guy as well. The motor didn't fit in the bottom bracket I had to use a dremmel to slowly thin it out. I also thinned out some of the paint on the bbs02 as well (maybe that bad idk). But it the yeah took me 2 whole days to do because I also had to swap all the other parts like the drive train as well from my first bike onto the 18 inch frame. I also have a triangle battery and it fits perfectly. Tbh I wanted to maybe get a 16 inch frame but because of the battery I had to pick the 18.

[pacificostudios]

I'm a bit offended. One advantage of a hub motor is that the bike still works if the chain breaks or won't stay on the cogs. If that happens, you would rather fix it at home, not have to tinker with the derailleur while you are on a trail or street somewhere; assuming you have the tools available and it isn't dark, raining, or otherwise miserable for a roadside breakdown. That goes double for a Type 2 pedal assist bike. Broken chain? Turn on the throttle and ride home on your remaining battery power. With a regular bicycle, or mid-drive e-bike, you're walking home or begging for a ride.

Hub motors work fine for smaller motors that won't exceed the strength of the spokes. The only real advantage of a mid-drive is that the mid-drive allows one to use gearing to match the motor speed to the bicycle velocity; however, my Velotric Discover 1 has enough power to conquer the steepest hills by my home in southern California despite having a maximum short-term overload power of 850 watts, so I don't know what you need a mid-drive for. If you want to ride that fast on steep hills, get a motorcycle.

The exception is if you're in one of those countries that limit e-bike power to just 250 watts, like Europe -- there's a reason many e-bikes in Europe are mid-drive designs.

[daniilvolkov]

Im an experienced rider. I prefer the hub drive. Dont really care for gears, its illegal to ride any faster, than 28mph anyway. I bought the cheapest geared hub drive kit from aliexpress. (Sorry JohnnyNerdOut) Its been staying strong for around 15000 miles so far. I love it, its quiet(less so than a direct drive, but a lot more quiet, than a mid drive) powerful enough for me (750w) and the range lets me go full out on it for an hour straight. Biggest plus vs a mid drive over that time has been the noise. Hub drives are more quiet, even the geared hub ones. Biggest minus? Going uphill (that is literally the only time i pedal)
I have geared hub drive for compactness and weight saving.

[branno]

Great video I cycle to work & back every day I don’t drive been looking at hub motors but after seeing this video I obviously need a mid drive instead thanks for the video it really helped 💯