Had some gear issues early on, moved to a steel gear but now the later versions again have a plastic main gear ( really quiet similar to the Brose ). I haven't had any mechanical issues in the 1500kms I have done.
There are some firmware development needing doing, principally that level one is too powerful. You can around this somewhat by using the 9 levels available on some of the displays. Still too powerful though to ride with analogue friends. The Apps are there, primed ready to go and yet not able to say upload latest firmwares. Bafang really are way behind in this respect.
Riding is more cadence based rather than true torque response, although it is torque sensitive, its just needs dialling in better to suit the riding you are doing. Biggest change I made that seemed to really benefit the engine was to go to 52 volts and short cranks, the engine likes to be up above 45 rpm and best at around 90 rpm where it starts to flatten off not unexpectedly.
Good motor so far.
Thank you for the assesment, to me that still sounds like Bafang hasn't sorted anything out with their firmware(-s). The discussion following your post only proves that to me. If I read, that everyone has his own preferred firmware, there is something fundamentally wrong. I like a DIY approach and the ability to repair the things I own, but to me that reads like beta software at best.
Say what you want about the established motor manufacturers and their closed system approach, but of all the bikes I testrode in my last two jobs in bike sales (hint: many), I have never encountered motors with such "peculiarities" as Bafang's.
The motors may be mechanically sound, and on paper the M510 looks pretty much like what I am looking for, it is comparatively light weight, has enough power and torque, was developed in conjunction with a real EMTB-team, and so on.
But even though I don't mind fiddling around with something in the beginning, I want to ride my bike and not hook it up to my computer twice a week, to check if another firmware resolves issues of the current one, or if it introduces new quirks.
Wasn't there also mentioning of time to boot up the M510?! If yes, that is just a joke for an Ebike motor...
If a one-man-company like Innotrace apparently does a better job, than a large corporation like Bafang, that is just sad IMO.
A bike with each of Bafang's motors will easily cost 4000€ in the end, for that I expect a better motor performance than what I am reading here.
