First ladies ebike recommendations

[MelbournePark]

It's not clear (Dahon don't say) which of Bafang's extensive mid-drive motors is actually fitted, or if it's CanBus or UART... the later most desirable if you want to be able to tweak the bikes performance.

One of my own e-bikes uses a Bafang Mid-motor; being UART, you can really rinse the thing to optimise its performance (in standard form, they tend to be programmed to be a bit mediocre/lacklustre). If you intend to get the most from your K-One(s), you won't be getting far on a small 8.7Ah seat-post battery so you may want to consider buying a spare or two (I doubt you'll be getting anything like the claimed 30 miles unless it's in de-tuned form).

The bikes I am getting don't have the Bafang mid motor. The rear motor is a Tongsheng TSDZ2 @ 32 volts. The newer Dahon A-20 which isn't available in Australia yet, also is reputed to have a Tongsheng, but likely a different version, as its 200 Watts. Its said to perform well. I doubt I would be able to hack it as I think much of the electronics are welded into the frame, sort of in a box just behind the bottom of the seat post area.

 

[Bonzo Banana]

I didn't know about chat GTP until last night!!! Yep - its database is shallow ... I tested it with automobiles and it was wrong!

Bonzo - Newton's laws do apply. You said that the energy ie torque - decreases due to the gears, and you listed the decrease in torque from 80 to 70 to 60 down to 10, when one changes the gears.

Newton's law shows that a force is met by an opposite reaction ie the force is not lost. You debated that it is lost due to the gears. Then later, you tried to talk about speed issues.

The facts are that the loss from a mid motor is minimal. There is extra lost power from the mid motor when one looses a tiny bit of power from the friction of the gears.

If one really considers the issues, a mid motor will accelerate better than hub motor by using gears. And if the gears benefit the power usage - such as on heavy grass which slows the bike down, or thick sand, or up hills - then the mid motor's ability to use gears increases efficiency. That means a mid motor is more efficient, if the gears are a benefit to the bike.

In cars, trains etc, electric motors do not use gears. The reason is due to the excess of torque in an electric engine that will achieve an auto speed of double the speed limit. Despite Porsche using a second gear.

I reckon if bikes had excess power, then the benefit of a mid motor would be somewhat marginal, excluding the handling improvement.

Its early days though with the electronic controls, and perhaps, with authorities deciding what is legal and what is not. In Australia's largest populated State (Province/Region etc) of New South Wales, the have recently (in March/April of this year ) doubled the permitted wattage for an bicycle aided by an electric motor, it now being a 500 watt motor where 250 watts was the previous maximum allowed (for street use). So NSW now has double what the rest of our Country allows.

If one ignores the loss of energy from having a heavier wheel rotating around (the mass of which also looses energy) a well controlled hub motor is excellent. IMO it has one very huge advantage - it can regenerate power by being the brake.

For me though, I much preferred the mid motor for our particular usage.

I think we will have to agree to disagree there as most of what you write doesn't make sense its like you are so pro mid-drive that your whole reasoning has been lost. It is contrary to both the laws of physics and the actual reality of how ebikes work. You may have a preference for mid-drive and that's fine, I have too for e-mountain bikes.

 

[Woosh]

The OP's main concern is ease of puncture repairs.

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[MelbournePark]

I think we will have to agree to disagree there as most of what you write doesn't make sense its like you are so pro mid-drive that your whole reasoning has been lost. It is contrary to both the laws of physics and the actual reality of how ebikes work. You may have a preference for mid-drive and that's fine, I have too for e-mountain bikes.

You have no capacity for even schoolboy physics Bonzo.

You said the following:

The fact is because its independent of the drivetrain every single gear can have maximum assistance from the motor which lets say is 65Nm for a high power hub motor. So you can tackle a hill in a mid-gear and still have full assistance from the hub motor. However on a mid-drive motor with lets say 85Nm it may be you get 90Nm for its lowest gear but its very slow with a high cadence and then as you go higher you get 70Nm, 50Nm, 40Nm, 30Nm, 20Nm, 10Nm etc so the faster you go the less assistance you get.

As per Newton's laws, there is no energy lost from the mid motor. Whatsover.

- A small part of that energy directed for forward motion is lost in friction in a mid motor setup.

- A small part of that energy directed for forward motion is lost due to extra rotational mass in a hub motor.

- A small part of that energy directed for forward motion is lost to friction in a hub motor with gears.

Your thinking that using gears magically looses energy is complete rubbish.

I have tried to be simple, but you still even now do not understand. I even had to resort to Sir Isaac Newton. You know - the guy who had an apple fall on his head? Vis a vis gravity (a tale about the apple though). And who enunciated basic physical "laws"? Most energy is not lost from either motor setups, but one allows the gears to use the motor's energy.

But you seem to think that because a cyclist chooses to use gears, the cyclist is magically wasting their energy. Just forget the motor issue, and consider a rider, with a fixi, and one that has gears.

It is just totally bazaar, that a person who posts in a bike thread, cannot understand that in normal bikes, gears actually can improve bike riding. Get real.