This is an exciting prospect for the price! That said, I’m somewhat skeptical how the hub drive motor will fare in tricky uphill terrain, in terms of torque. IMO, a mid-drive motor would be more ideal, but I won’t fault them for bringing more options to market.
Just about any mid drive would undoubtedly be better than a hub motor, but even on my shitty, heavy EP2 Pro from ENGWE can climb OK on a 750w rear hub. Helps to pedal of course (especially on steeper hills), but it’s still easier and faster to climb with (when powered) than my 21 speed hybrid. I would imagine this can get up most hills with a modest amount of effort even if mid drives beat it all day long.
Hub motor? That’s an instant no.
Why’s that? I’m relatively new to ebikes and curious why I’ve seen this opinion around. I have a Lectric XP 2.0 with a hub motor and have no complaints.
Hub motor can’t take advantage of bike gears. For example, you might face a steep hill. If you have a hub motor, it will simply stall as it won’t have enough power to lift you up. But if you have a motor in your bottom bracket, you can switch to a lower gear and it will take all the way up.
That makes sense, and I have run into that a few times, but never thought much of it. I can see it being an issue for very hilly areas or for a lot of off-road riding.