I think higher voltage, less amps is the way to go. You get higher speeds, and greater drivetrain longevity. In the video, he explains how the 50A BBSHD only accelerates more quickly up to max RPM vs. the regular BBSHD.
After trying the Cyclone 3000 and BBSHD, the next thing I'd like to try is an external controller on a BBSHD. The Cyclone 3000 can be trouble-free for a while but if you change anything, it can act up for a while until you find out what's wrong. For example, I just put the Cyclone back on my Trek after trying the BBSHD, and I decided to try a 48T outer chainring instead of the 44T that I've used in the past. For seemingly no reason whatsoever, it kept throwing the motor chain. I tried shortening the chain, but that didn't help. I checked the alignment and adjusted the chain tensioner but it still threw the chain. At the 3rd chain throw (and this was in a day or so), it snapped the chain in half. Then I decided to try a 44T outer chainring to see if that would help, and it did! No more chains thrown, but that's when I decided to buy a narrow-wide for the outer and then thought of the half-link chain.
So that's why I'd rather not deal with a secondary reduction chain and for similar reasons as yours. I don't want to lose toes. When the chain snapped, it tore the chain guard off and left gouges down the crank. I'm so glad I wasn't injured.
But the main issue with the BBSHD is the chainline if you plan to put high loads on it while using the largest rear cogs. To deal with chainline issues, you may have to try some of the stuff they did in this thread.
https://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=84097
I use this bike to tow my trailers, so the BBSHD just won't work for this. There isn't a chainring small enough (even 28T) or a rear cog large enough (I'm using a 50T Shark in the cassette), and you can't send enough current to the BBSHD to make it as powerful as a Cyclone.
But for now, I think I have my Cyclone dialed-in, and when I put the half-link chain on, it will be added protection against drops, hopefully. The Cyclone is just too much fun, so I'm willing to put up with it.
Oh, another idea I've toyed with is to use a BBSHD in place of the Cyclone to drive the outer chainring. I'd have to come up with a mount to hold the BBSHD (just 2 pieces of aluminum should do), but it would drive the outer chainring in the same way as the Cyclone. This way I can have a 3rd reduction stage for more reduction, and my bike would be nearly silent, but I have no need for such a thing at this point in time, so the Cyclone will do for now.
dirkdiggler said:
80 amps continous? Now the whole debate whether its better to have 72v at 40 amp or 48v at 80 amp.
Hmmmmmm.....?
The mini-cyclone does look quite nice. Is the Luna version worth the extra $300 or so? Maybe just put a new controller on the BBSHD bare bones motor? Still not going to get the 3800 watts that the minicyclone gives you with the kelly controller. Don't know how the BBSHD has held up to the abuse. I always disliked the extra chain from the Cyclone - I thought I'd catch all kinds of crap in there, hands, pants and fingers, but haven't had issues yet. Still hate to be messing with thrown chains.
I do love what Luna Cycle has done. If I had the extra time and money I'd do the same thing. They have built up some nice complete bikes for those that don't want to tinker with things. Also the ability to take the Chinese products and improve upon their designs.