Hub or mid drive?

Joined
May 31, 2013
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3,981
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South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
7000 km on my BBS02b 750... Lesson learned. When you buy a Bafang BBS02b, remove the pedal shaft, and lube everything with lithium grease, as if your ass is in the line.
This sounds like there is much more to tell, what's the back-story to this?
 
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Joined
Jan 16, 2011
Messages
712
Location
Vilvoorde / Flanders / Belgium
Last week, I did a small rebuild. Some electrical work, replacing the Avid BB7's with el cheapo Chinese dual action brake calipers and some more small things.

Changed the rather fragile Alfine 11 hub/wheel and mounted a Speedhub. (yes, I feel dirty, needed a shower afterward, I feel like a filthy wallet warrior AZ).
But during the benchtesting, I heard a faint squeeky noise from the motor, something that was hidden by the noises the poor, abused Alfine produced. So, I dug into that.

Testing and feeling, I noticed a small amount of play on the pedals.
First tought, the tapered bearings got some wiggle room, just tighten them up, done. Nope....

I already had extra-greased the outside gears when I installed it. As this is one of the often mentioned things on several install video's on Youtube.

The crankshaft has 4 bearings. 2 thrust bearings and 2 needle bearings in pairs. The thrust bearing on the "power" side was still pretty well lubed up. But the 3 others were bone dry. And the needle bearing on the power side, ain't a needle bearing anymore, but a solid block of hardened pins rubbing over a no longer hardened crankshaft.

Regular maintenance is required for every mechanical part, and the normal interval for the better bike stuff is 5000 km or 1 year. I got to 7000km in 18 months.
So Bafang isn't to blame, except on the rather absent maintenance manuals.

Plan for the moment. I have a spare BBS02b 750 motor, mating that with a spare front boom. A grease nipple will give me the option to squeeze in some fresh grease once a while, filling the Bafangs shaft tunnel.

For now, the abused unit will have to run untill I have time to replace the whole.
 
Joined
Apr 15, 2009
Messages
832
Location
Cape Cod
If you have suspension and drive on a bumpy surface, Mid drive is much better than a heavy Hub drive.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
3,981
Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
Last week, I did a small rebuild. Some electrical work, replacing the Avid BB7's with el cheapo Chinese dual action brake calipers and some more small things.

Changed the rather fragile Alfine 11 hub/wheel and mounted a Speedhub. (yes, I feel dirty, needed a shower afterward, I feel like a filthy wallet warrior AZ).
But during the benchtesting, I heard a faint squeeky noise from the motor, something that was hidden by the noises the poor, abused Alfine produced. So, I dug into that.

Testing and feeling, I noticed a small amount of play on the pedals.
First tought, the tapered bearings got some wiggle room, just tighten them up, done. Nope....

I already had extra-greased the outside gears when I installed it. As this is one of the often mentioned things on several install video's on Youtube.

The crankshaft has 4 bearings. 2 thrust bearings and 2 needle bearings in pairs. The thrust bearing on the "power" side was still pretty well lubed up. But the 3 others were bone dry. And the needle bearing on the power side, ain't a needle bearing anymore, but a solid block of hardened pins rubbing over a no longer hardened crankshaft.

Regular maintenance is required for every mechanical part, and the normal interval for the better bike stuff is 5000 km or 1 year. I got to 7000km in 18 months.
So Bafang isn't to blame, except on the rather absent maintenance manuals.

Plan for the moment. I have a spare BBS02b 750 motor, mating that with a spare front boom. A grease nipple will give me the option to squeeze in some fresh grease once a while, filling the Bafangs shaft tunnel.

For now, the abused unit will have to run untill I have time to replace the whole.
I have 2 x BBS01's and have only greased the drive gear, never the pedal bearings ..... oops! Best get that done.
 
Joined
Jul 29, 2021
Messages
90
I myself have both, a Golden motor hub drive on a Street fox. Adequet power but not for off road IMO.
My daily ride on a Street Fox has a Bafang mid drive that has an enormous amount of torque (I have the rear derailer stuck in low gear only). Trike has 375 miles on it but only rode on paved streets.
Mr. Idaho

I am currently building the Street fox, and would be very interested in more details on how and where you installed your middrive.

thanks Dan in Boston
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
Messages
2,384
Location
Wakefield, UK
I'd think it'd go on easily enough but you'd probably need to cut the mech post off to allow the motor to have that space. You'd not need the extra gears anyway with having the assist. You can rotate the motor to pretty much any position around the bottom bracket and it'll still work.
 
Joined
May 31, 2013
Messages
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Location
South Benfleet, Essex, England, UK
I'd think it'd go on easily enough but you'd probably need to cut the mech post off to allow the motor to have that space. You'd not need the extra gears anyway with having the assist. You can rotate the motor to pretty much any position around the bottom bracket and it'll still work.
The Bafang on my trikes always overcomes the BB clamps and winds the motor round anti-clockwise until it is resting against the mech-post. The manufacturers that deploy Bafang have special side-plate clamps to hold them in the spot of their aesthetically pleasing choice.
 
Joined
Oct 19, 2012
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2,384
Location
Wakefield, UK
My TSDZ2 is designed to clamp to the chain stays on a regular bike so I welded some stubs on to the BB to act as those for my latest trike, albeit 90 degrees out from a diamond frame and pointing straight down. I am surprised the Bafang doesn't. My thought is that if a Streetfox is made as per instructions with the BB sliding on top of the main beam then that main beam will necessitate turning the motor considerably from it's expected diamond frame position into the mech post space as the motor must live above the beam. An alternative is to weld the BB direct to the beam end and do without adjustment. Even without a mech post a secondary ring can always be added using a BB end mounted front mech though there's less use for one with the added grunt of the motor.
 
Joined
Apr 7, 2022
Messages
2
As I understand it regenerative brakes on a bike/trike is more about saving brake wear than recovering battery charge.
If it were just range I'd not bother with the extra complexity. Personally I like hub motors and distrust mid-drives stress on my drive train.
If I were younger and tackled rough trails I might value mid-drives more.
 
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