Originally Posted by turoczi

First off... Chain drive is better in only 1 place, hilly or mountain areas.
You lose an instant 15% just from the resistance, heat loss etc etc from cranking through a chain driven transmission.

In a hilly area it would be better than a hub motor. But other than that it is far inferior IMHO.

In a flat area which many metro cities are and most of the USA is, a hub motor is far superior.

Not that one is better than the other just each has its place.
THis is one of those conversations where someone says hub is better than chain yada yada..

Each one has its place where is is superior. For the majority of the USA it is a non geared hub motor. But other places where there are many hills etc the chain drive works out much better.