john m flores 

Thinking about converting a Zizzo Liberté folding bike to mid-drive. I think I want something on the lower power end (250watts?) but it seems like the market is currently focused on as much power as possible - 750 watts and higher.

Are there good low power mid drive kits available? Are they smaller and/or lighter than the more powerful kits? I've just started my research - does this make any sense?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge...

fooferdoggie 

thats pretty normal. but my bosch is only 250 watts and I can climb 22% grades. but you wont get that with a bafang though. but you dont need a huge amount unless you dont have much energy or are running huge tires
.

2old

The Bafang BBS01 is 350w but not much lighter than the BBS02 at about eight or nine pounds (once you subtract the two pounds which are replaced - crank, BB). The TSDZ2 can be procured with lower power too AFAIK. Check endless sphere (non-hub motor drives) and read to your heart's content. Revel Propulsion had a 350w system that I tested and found to be excellent, but I don't know if they're still producing them.

john m flores 

Does the instability of the market cause any concern regarding long term maintenance and product lifespan or is all of this stuff going to end up in a landfill in 10 years?

Doc_Wui

A lot of us older riders might be in a landfill in 10 years. I installed a BBS02 mid drive in a bike in 2016. It still works great, as I took it out tonight. It's too much motor for a Zizzo, You will likely pull wheelies if you sit too far back on the seat, and mount the battery back there. Another ebike I converted in 2015 with a rear hub motor still runs well. Both of the batteries in these bikes still work too,

That doesn't mean one can blithely walk thru the marketplace and buy batteries w/o getting burnt. If fact, if you buy crap batteries, they could burn, but if you're lucky they just stop workimg.

Anyway, I've put hubmotors on three 20" folders, and one minivello. The main things to think about are where to put the controller and the battery, I used the Aikema Q100H hub motors. They'll move a 20" wheel up close to 20 mph, and they were fine for riding in Illinois, Wisconsin and Florida. all flat places.

Getting back to mid drive installs, I did a second BBS02B for a friend this year. Still a lot of motor. I also have installed two TSDZ2's in the last year, but on full size bikes.The TSDZ2 is a torque sensor bike, and it's fun to ride. Compared to a hub motor though, it's not going to blow you away with the power. Its roughly around 250-350W in my opinion, I think it would be a good fit for a folder.

The main issue is whether my TSDZ2;s will wind up in a landfill. Not made as well as Bafangs, Not as simple as a hubmotor. I just got to liking how my first one works, and I noticed the pedal axle has side-to-side play after 600 miles. However, it is the older model. They say the new ones have some design improvements, Still, they are inexpensive, I can't buy a hubmotor kit for $265 shipped,

https://www.pswpower.com/products/eu...brake-lever-88

Meanwhile, the BBS02B is about 100 more at the moment from the same vendor/ i see no need to pay $500 from a US vendor, when pswpower stocks them in their US warehouse..

https://www.pswpower.com/collections...rive-motor-kit

There is more to the story. The BBS02B probably needs a little tweak to its settings, which requires a $15 cable and a hour with a PC or a smartphone adapter. The TSDZ2, in my opinion also needs this, and the process is less friendly.

veganbikes

Keep in mind the 250 watts for Bosch is nominal power, most of the kit stuff is listed at peak power because that is the only real way to make it look impressive compared.

Nominal power is the amount of power it can sustain forever with power being given to it peak power is the max amount of power you will get out of the motor but it is not really sustainable.