Quick ride on several motors. Bafang M500, nice surprise

unclezz

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May 3, 2020
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CZ
Yesterday I went to some e-bikes exhibition and tried several motors on different e-bikes brands (first time for me riding e-bikes). Giant/Yamaha, Bosch Gen 4, Shimano and... Bafang.

For the Shimano I did not like the lag of the motor when stopping pedaling. I liked on the contrary the way the power was delivered, especialy in trail mode (default settings).

On the Bosch I had chance to try 2 different bikes. 1 lighter (whyte E-180RS) and one heavier (KTM Machina chacana 293). On the Whyte the motor was supporting even too much for my desire. I did not have opportunity to ride for long time and on trails but I felt I did not have to put any effort in pedaling, unless I was in ECO. On the KTM I think that the weight was very important because even if I had support from the motor I had to put quite a lot more efforts in pedaling.

I liked quite a lot also the Giant Yamaha. I think it was one of the most balanced in the way it was providing support. I felt very natural pedalling, even if I was trying it on one of the most entry level fathom, which was very heavy.

Some of the local brands are making cheaper e-bikes with cheaper components and they generally use the Bafang M420 or M500 motors. I tried this last one and I was quite surprised: not so noisy, powerful enough and when turned off I was able to ride the bike almost naturally. I have to admit that I think Bafang is a very valid motor in its tag price/range and I would really love to see it on more premium bikes.

There is one thing I however felt on all bikes... they are very very heavy. Of course while riding it's more or less ok but when going very slow and when stopping the weight is important if I compare it with my HT that is around 14kg.

It was a nice test for me and still not sure I want an e-bike or better to go on a full suspension acoustic for now and better learn manual, bunny hop, riding on trails techniques.... I am not that young anymore - well over 40 - but still very passionate :)
 

maynard

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Yesterday I went to some e-bikes exhibition and tried several motors on different e-bikes brands (first time for me riding e-bikes). Giant/Yamaha, Bosch Gen 4, Shimano and... Bafang.

For the Shimano I did not like the lag of the motor when stopping pedaling. I liked on the contrary the way the power was delivered, especialy in trail mode (default settings).

On the Bosch I had chance to try 2 different bikes. 1 lighter (whyte E-180RS) and one heavier (KTM Machina chacana 293). On the Whyte the motor was supporting even too much for my desire. I did not have opportunity to ride for long time and on trails but I felt I did not have to put any effort in pedaling, unless I was in ECO. On the KTM I think that the weight was very important because even if I had support from the motor I had to put quite a lot more efforts in pedaling.


Keep telling yourself you don't want one . But sounds like the bug is in you already. You sound like a levo sl man to me . If money isn't a problem I would advise you to stop being a baby and just buy one already .
I liked quite a lot also the Giant Yamaha. I think it was one of the most balanced in the way it was providing support. I felt very natural pedalling, even if I was trying it on one of the most entry level fathom, which was very heavy.

Some of the local brands are making cheaper e-bikes with cheaper components and they generally use the Bafang M420 or M500 motors. I tried this last one and I was quite surprised: not so noisy, powerful enough and when turned off I was able to ride the bike almost naturally. I have to admit that I think Bafang is a very valid motor in its tag price/range and I would really love to see it on more premium bikes.

There is one thing I however felt on all bikes... they are very very heavy. Of course while riding it's more or less ok but when going very slow and when stopping the weight is important if I compare it with my HT that is around 14kg.

It was a nice test for me and still not sure I want an e-bike or better to go on a full suspension acoustic for now and better learn manual, bunny hop, riding on trails techniques.... I am not that young anymore - well over 40 - but still very passionate :)
 

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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There is one thing I however felt on all bikes... they are very very heavy. Of course while riding it's more or less ok but when going very slow and when stopping the weight is important if I compare it with my HT that is around 14kg.
I don't actually ride my Emtb other than commuting just now because of this.
I've fallen back in love with riding my normal bikes, the far far lighter weight contributes to so much nicer handling.
My roadbike and BMX are 8kg, 100mm (4X) hardtail is 11kg, 170mm carbon enduro FS 13.5kg, Alu 200mm DH bikes 15.8kg
But my 170mm FS Eeb is 21.6kg
There's no getting away from the difference that extra weight makes to handling (no matter what the evangelists here might tell you)
They behave entirely differently and I'm noticing it even more now it's so dry and loose, the normal mountain bikes are a dream to change direction, drift, pop, hop, jump, manny etc. whereas the Eeb is an effort.
it's good to have choice tho
 

OldGoatMTB

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Mar 24, 2020
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Yesterday I went to some e-bikes exhibition and tried several motors on different e-bikes brands (first time for me riding e-bikes). Giant/Yamaha, Bosch Gen 4, Shimano and... Bafang.

For the Shimano I did not like the lag of the motor when stopping pedaling. I liked on the contrary the way the power was delivered, especialy in trail mode (default settings).

On the Bosch I had chance to try 2 different bikes. 1 lighter (whyte E-180RS) and one heavier (KTM Machina chacana 293). On the Whyte the motor was supporting even too much for my desire. I did not have opportunity to ride for long time and on trails but I felt I did not have to put any effort in pedaling, unless I was in ECO. On the KTM I think that the weight was very important because even if I had support from the motor I had to put quite a lot more efforts in pedaling.

I liked quite a lot also the Giant Yamaha. I think it was one of the most balanced in the way it was providing support. I felt very natural pedalling, even if I was trying it on one of the most entry level fathom, which was very heavy.

Some of the local brands are making cheaper e-bikes with cheaper components and they generally use the Bafang M420 or M500 motors. I tried this last one and I was quite surprised: not so noisy, powerful enough and when turned off I was able to ride the bike almost naturally. I have to admit that I think Bafang is a very valid motor in its tag price/range and I would really love to see it on more premium bikes.

There is one thing I however felt on all bikes... they are very very heavy. Of course while riding it's more or less ok but when going very slow and when stopping the weight is important if I compare it with my HT that is around 14kg.

It was a nice test for me and still not sure I want an e-bike or better to go on a full suspension acoustic for now and better learn manual, bunny hop, riding on trails techniques.... I am not that young anymore - well over 40 - but still very passionate :)
The saying about bikes used to be "Light, strong, inexpensive. Pick two!" I'm sure there's a parallel analogy for ebikes, I just don't know exactly what terms to use.
 

Gary

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The irony of "Cheap light strong, pick two" is that it was a phrase coined by a Californian bloke who has made a lot of money selling fairly expensive not hugely strong or particularly light bicycles and parts and then sold his mediocre brand to TREK.
The dude has also been quite vocal about his dislike of Ebikes.
 

OldGoatMTB

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Mar 24, 2020
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The irony of "Cheap light strong, pick two" is that it was a phrase coined by a Californian bloke who has made a lot of money selling fairly expensive not hugely strong or particularly light bicycles and parts and then sold his mediocre brand to TREK.
The dude has also been quite vocal about his dislike of Ebikes.
Who are you talking about? At first I thought maybe Gary Fisher, but he does nothing but say the E bikes are the future.
 

Gary

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Lol

Keep guessing...

all crappy US sitcoms have bikes (product) placed in the background
 

speedkills

Member
May 17, 2020
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221
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The Klein guess and the sitcom reference is funny because it reminded me that Seinfeld had a Klein hanging on his wall, and that one season for some reason it changed (to a Cannondale I think?) and enough Klein fans wrote in and complained that they put it back. Or at least that it my recollection, it was a looooong time ago.
 

Ananda

Member
Jun 29, 2019
32
16
Athens
I agree with the op. We are now living an intermediate era of ebikes. They are heavy without enough power or enough speed or enough range range. Some of that is due to technology and some due to regulations. The current 20+kg breed of ebikes makes sense only if you have motor support up to about 50km/hr and enough range to boot. But you have not. As things stand I believe the only motor which makes sense is the fazua. Enough wattage to feel you are on an ebike without the weight, plus you can take it off sbould you please and have a perfectly capable analogue bike.
My ebike is a 750w bafang equiped analogue bike which I use mostly for commuting. It is not speed restricted, however I rarely draw more than 250watts from the motor and when I do is because I have not upgraded the cassette yet for steep gradients.
So there you go. I will be on the market for an ebike when I see the fazua motor trickle down to more affordable fs bikes than the current ones available as we speak.
 

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