Would an electric bike with a mid-drive motor be better suited for mountain riding?

chen090755

By far one of the most common questions is: what motor to get if you want an electric bike for mountain riding. Usually, the answer will be an electric bike with a mid-drive motor. But what do you think about it?

The Rookie

If you must ride an e-bike then mid mount makes most sense for an MTB,
1. The weight of the motor is centrally located reducing the impact on bike balance
2. The Motor torque is multiplied through the gearing making it more effective off road.

steve_sordy

Many ask which motor to get for an emtb, but so far, the ones I have seen have always meant a mid-drive motor. What they were asking was not should I go hub or mid drive, but which brand of motor.

There are many different brands of motor and they are carefully chosen by the bike brand to complement their design. I am not naive enough to believe that economics don't also play a big part. The key selection criteria for an emtb after "can I afford it?" is just as it is for mtbs, ie "how well does it ride?" All the other selection criteria used for mtbs are equally valid for emtbs.

Many experienced emtb riders develop likes and dislikes for specific motors and will not buy a bike that has that brand of motor, or sometimes will only buy a bike if it has a specific brand of motor. The way the motor performs, its power delivery, its user experience, reliability, warranty service, replacement cost.... and so forth are becoming extremely important to the potential buyer. Motors and batteries are not things like a fork or a shock that can easily be swapped out for a different brand, as they are integrated into the whole bike. Nor can they be upgraded like you can with most other parts of the bike. Motor and battery are a bit like the frame, in that once bought you are stuck with it, for good or ill.

As far as I am aware, the bike brands and motor suppliers have not chosen to cooperate to produce a common interface standard that would allow motors and batteries to be swapped from one bike brand to another. That would be earth shaking news!
Such is the intensely competitive nature of the industry that this incompatibility may well lead to the expiry of at least one motor brand and maybe more. Bike brands will not hitch their wagon to a motor brand that is seen to be failing the rider and/or lagging behind in some way.