I went to the Ebike show in Tempe yesterday. It was much more fun than I was expecting, and I stayed hours longer than planned. I rode half dozen ebikes, including road, hybrid, and full suspension mountain bikes, most with mid drives. They had a decent test track set up, and were managing it well. I tested a bunch of different mid drives: Bosch, Shimano, Yamaha, and a couple proprietary. Every one of them did great, and better than the more or less twice as expensive, noisier, non-auto-pedal-assist Optibike I test drove last year (I have not tried the newer, smaller, less expensive Optibike). All of these were perfectly silent and smooth and had very effective pedal assist. I did prefer the torque sensing assist of the Bosch drive over the speed or cadence only sensing of some of the others.
There were some great bikes using these drives, including some very well made and well equipped bikes from Felt, Haibike, Stromer, Bulls, eMotion, BESV, Kalkhoff, and others, as well as a lot of lower end ebikes. The better bikes were predominately between $2500 and $4500, with a few over $6000. Unfortunately, I did not get to try any of the 28MPH Bosch or other faster systems, as all I tried were using the 20MPH cut off and all were 350W or 500W. I did get to talk to a few who have experienced the much faster Specialized bike and various 1000W, 28MPH Bosch equipped bikes, and learned a bit there. There were a few faster bikes at the show, but I didn't get a chance to drive any, nor was the test track set up for even 20 MPH riding.
Some random observations. Felt did the best job with well matched quality components and minimum weight bikes. Stromer bikes were HEAVY, but rode very well like they were much lighter bikes and seemed bullet proof. Bulls has some innovative twists with their own drive and also with Bosch drives; I believe they had the only mid-drive with shiftable front gears (2x10 or 2x11). The Haibikes were very nice looking and rode well. I sure did want to ride the amazing looking Kalkhoff (11 speed internal, belt drive, 28MPH, fully integrated display with GPS linked to your phone, tail+braking rear light, and more), but they did not have a small enough frame size for me to ride. There were also a number of very interesting cargo, fat tire, folding, off-road trike, and other setups.
My apologies to others at the show who I failed to give due mention. This is a well run and very well sponsored event. I recommend it to all.
There were some great bikes using these drives, including some very well made and well equipped bikes from Felt, Haibike, Stromer, Bulls, eMotion, BESV, Kalkhoff, and others, as well as a lot of lower end ebikes. The better bikes were predominately between $2500 and $4500, with a few over $6000. Unfortunately, I did not get to try any of the 28MPH Bosch or other faster systems, as all I tried were using the 20MPH cut off and all were 350W or 500W. I did get to talk to a few who have experienced the much faster Specialized bike and various 1000W, 28MPH Bosch equipped bikes, and learned a bit there. There were a few faster bikes at the show, but I didn't get a chance to drive any, nor was the test track set up for even 20 MPH riding.
Some random observations. Felt did the best job with well matched quality components and minimum weight bikes. Stromer bikes were HEAVY, but rode very well like they were much lighter bikes and seemed bullet proof. Bulls has some innovative twists with their own drive and also with Bosch drives; I believe they had the only mid-drive with shiftable front gears (2x10 or 2x11). The Haibikes were very nice looking and rode well. I sure did want to ride the amazing looking Kalkhoff (11 speed internal, belt drive, 28MPH, fully integrated display with GPS linked to your phone, tail+braking rear light, and more), but they did not have a small enough frame size for me to ride. There were also a number of very interesting cargo, fat tire, folding, off-road trike, and other setups.
My apologies to others at the show who I failed to give due mention. This is a well run and very well sponsored event. I recommend it to all.