BBSHD vs. BBS02?

[AZeBikeGuy]

I don't know/have videos but have been around plenty of BBSHD's and a several BBS02's and I can't tell any difference in sound. I suspect by far the majority of the motor sound is from the secondary reduction - it's right under the cover and it's two steel straight-cut (noisier than helical) pinions.

Having said that they are both very quiet. My tires make a lot more noise when rolling over hard surface and the hub freewheel is downright thunderous compared to the motor. I can hear it when riding but I doubt it can be heard easily more than ~10m away, particularly if there's any background sounds at all.

I wouldn't be concerned about any sound difference between the two nor use it as a factor it when deciding between the two - it's too close to say one is louder than the other to my ears. For me I'd go with BBSHD for most applications except for a lightweight hard-surface-only bicycle. I have friends with BBS02's on fat-bikes... they tend to be more on the pedals than many though... but I'd prefer HD for those bikes regardless

 

[E-HP]

I don't know/have videos but have been around plenty of BBSHD's and a several BBS02's and I can't tell any difference in sound. I suspect by far the majority of the motor sound is from the secondary reduction - it's right under the cover and it's two steel straight-cut (noisier than helical) pinions.

Having said that they are both very quiet. My tires make a lot more noise when rolling over hard surface and the hub freewheel is downright thunderous compared to the motor. I can hear it when riding but I doubt it can be heard easily more than ~10m away, particularly if there's any background sounds at all.

I wouldn't be concerned about any sound difference between the two nor use it as a factor it when deciding between the two - it's too close to say one is louder than the other to my ears. For me I'd go with BBSHD for most applications except for a lightweight hard-surface-only bicycle. I have friends with BBS02's on fat-bikes... they tend to be more on the pedals than many though... but I'd prefer HD for those bikes regardless

Thanks, this is helpful. I've only seen one around (not sure if it was the 02B or HD), and it was pretty quiet, but not under heavy load at the time. I guess the HD is the way to go, even if I don't need the power now, I'll probably want it in the future.

 

[Chalo]

BBSHD has wider Q than BBS02, if that matters to you. It weighs more and costs more. It seems like folks have just as many or more reliability problems with the notionally more robust system.

Both these systems beat out all other DIY crank drive options I'm aware of, in terms of reliability, support, and system integration.

 

[ginekolog]

I had BBS02A for 3 years and now BBSHD since 2018. I ride it hard on mountains. BBS02 worked fine but had big design fails on this power level (800-1000 W constant load). Had to "rebuild" it 4-5 times. At end windigs got fried.

BBSHD is much better unit for hard loads. Both are very quiet, much better than friends expensive bosch and yamaha units.