We gave a KTM Macina Cross to Cycling Weekly

IR772

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 5, 2016
931
1,044
Leominster
They published this a while back, but we didn't spot it.

There will be a full report later this month.

All positive really, as we'd all expect.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/training/seven-things-i-learned-from-riding-an-electric-bike-285512

Dear Mr KTM

After reading the above I remembered reading the review on your eCross P
which was also very positive.

As a high end manufacturer, hub or crank motor or continue with both?

What percentages are your UK sales between the two motor styles and are European sales same as the UK.

Which type do you prefer?

Sincerely
IR772
 

RobF

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 22, 2012
4,732
2,311
Dear Mr KTM

After reading the above I remembered reading the review on your eCross P
which was also very positive.

As a high end manufacturer, hub or crank motor or continue with both?

What percentages are your UK sales between the two motor styles and are European sales same as the UK.

Which type do you prefer?

Sincerely
IR772
The Panasonic hub motor has been dropped from KTM's 2017 dealer book, so we've seen the last of it on KTM bikes.

All KTM ebikes are now crank drive, about 90 per cent Bosch, and a handful of Steps and the venerable Panasonic.
 
A lot of the bikes aren't in the 2017 so the fact that the eRace and eStreet aren't in there shouldn't be read into too much. The Lycan LT (one of our best selling bikes) also isn't in there for instance.

But to answer the questions.

Dear Mr KTM

After reading the above I remembered reading the review on your eCross P
which was also very positive.

As a high end manufacturer, hub or crank motor or continue with both?

What percentages are your UK sales between the two motor styles and are European sales same as the UK.

Which type do you prefer?

Sincerely
IR772
Both have advantages / disadvantages, and there if anyone tells you one is "better" they are pretty much wrong. There are some people who will benefit from one or the other based on their type of riding. There are also more "bad" hub drives than there are crank drives.

But putting aside those statements. In reality between the 2 style KTM's its really not worth worrying about. We don't suggest dealers stock both styles as it just confuses customers. As in 99.9% of cases you'll be perfectly happy with the option you choose.

Us having access to both means we ride lots here on both, and in practical use there are some small difference which means if you own both you'll have favourites for certain actives / rides / weather conditions etc etc.

But if you don't own both you'll never know and never need to worry about.

We sell 90/10 Bosch to Panasonic. This is to do with the excellent job Bosch has done with marketing, the priorities of our dealers (most traditional bike shops are very nervous of hub drives), the availability (we tend to only to one or two Panasonic builds a year). etc etc.

Personally I prefer the hub drive, but I've still not spent a decent amount of time on the new CX drive offroad, so I suspect that could change my mind. But as soon as I get a puncture I wish I was on the Bosch bike!
 
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