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Looking at the pictures we see the inside of three different motors. The motor on the far left in the first picture is a standard small geared motor that many large distributors use. Beside it is the new hybrid geared motor (6.5″ diameter). Many Electric Bike Solutions’ customers are very satisfied with this new motor at just 36V for 900 watts of peak power. It does not go as fast as it does with a 52V battery, but still has great torque for hill climbing. If you are looking for a great boost for hills and wind and are okay with 18 mph top speed, at 36V this system is a great, cost effective, solution.
The big motor pictured here (9″ diameter) next to the smaller geared motor is a gearless direct drive. It runs strictly off of the coils and magnets. Because it is larger with bigger coils it can handle higher voltages and amperage than the smaller geared motor (the geared motor also includes gears and smaller windings, as well as magnets). With a 48V battery the direct drive motor easily goes in the mid to high 20’s mph range. It has fewer moving parts. It is also heavier at 14 lbs with rim and spokes, and it has some resistance when just pedaling.
What would happen if we took the best of both worlds? Well, Electric Bike Solutions partnered with the manufacturer to do just that at an affordable price. The motor to the left combines bigger windings and magnets with bigger, very durable, nylon gears to provide a high torque, high power, efficient system. It is very sleek in its design unlike the bulkier, much higher priced, high-end geared motors already on the market. It weighs about 10.5 lbs with rim and spokes compared to the 14 lb. weight of the direct drive motor and the 9 lb. weight of the smaller geared motors.
How does it ride? I (the owner Doug) personally took this setup to an 11 mile mountain climb called Mines Road near Livermore CA. A customer with a slightly used OptiBike 850R joined me for the ride. Here is a link to the OptiBike review with its $13K price tag: OptiBike. I personally found the mid drive crank motor on the OptiBike to be annoyingly loud and the 14 gears you have to go through when riding to be cumbersome, but it is a nice ride. I am pictured with both bikes above. How did the hybrid geared hub motor compare? To me there was no comparison as I literally ran circles around the Optibike all the way up the mountain with amazing ease. On any grade, I would pull way ahead with little effort and then circle back to wait for the huffing and puffing rider on the OptiBike. What really surprised me, however, was when we pushed the battery limit of each bike. His OptiBike was upgraded to a 24-26 AH battery, my setup uses a 12 AH battery. After we came back down the mountain and rode around for a bit, we decided to tackle another steep 2-3 mile climb that would overlook a lake. I was taking it easy to conserve energy and enjoy the scenery when after a couple of miles I looked back and the OptiBike was nowhere to be seen. I circled back for about a half mile and found it, and the rider, practically out of juice just creeping up the mountainside. Thus demonstrating the excellent efficiency of this hybrid geared hub motor. Both bikes were close to the same for top speed at roughly 23-24 mph with 200 lb+ riders on them. When my battery was fully charged I had a slight top-end advantage (note: 25 amp controller now included with this high-end system providing more torque and 25 mph of speed). As previously stated, the motor can be used at either 36V or 52V. To optimize the fun factor I recommend 52V.
To be blown away by this new high-end geared motor kit click on the link at the bottom of the page to go to the shopping cart for this setup. It does now come in all sizes, front and rear, 16″ – 700c. It works great at 36V to 52V providing 900 plus watts at 36V and 1300 plus watts at 52V.
Please do not hesitate to pick up a phone and call me, the owner, with any additional questions you have at the numbers listed at the bottom of this page. We now have many many very happy customers using this smile producing kit. Here is just one sample email I received from a customer: