Totally agree. I run an 8 speed wide ratio (12-46 Microshift) with a 40 tooth chain ring. Tonnes of power for climbing, cheap, robust, good shifting. Bonus is that the 8 speed chain is stronger/thicker than higher gear chains. Happy ebiking people.
I agree completely. My last build had some chain line issues with 1st gear on a 9 speed cassette. To correct it, I removed 3 of the gears, moving everything further from center the hub. 6 speeds, nice chain line, I'm happy.
FYI If you're stuck with a freewheel style rear hub and don't want to buy a whole new wheel with a cassette body, Falcon makes freewheels with the following ranges: 7 spd (14-40T), 8 spd (13-42T) and 9 spd (13-46T). As for cassette style, the Microshift Acolyte 8 speed groupset is the best bang for the buck and has a clutch derailleur. They offer a 12-46T which covers just about every range for climbing and flats.
I have a Sturmey Archer 5 speed with a BBS02. It is great. Especially the ability to shift at a stop. Usually only use gears 1-4. 5 is more for going downhill and I live in an area without a lot of steep hills.
@@TheStatge SG-C3001-7D i’ve already done more then 1268km. I don’t even change gears. I always drive on the highest gear without any problems with avarge speed 35km/h.
@@ekrembaysal5995 What front chainring if allows you to not change gears and stay in 7th. Also how many Teeth in the rear. I have ridden a Nexus 8 in Europe using most of the gears. This was a Bosch and Bafang mid with Torque sensor.
Hopefully soon I’ll be converting a Devinci Riff 8speed with a 11-40 cassette and stock 28t chainring to a 500W BBS02 with 36t chainring. I love mountainbiking but also commute to the trails and the store on the same bike, I also dont go fast. Speed isnt a priority, I rarely go over 16km/h on the streets or trails plus live in the Canadian Shield with lots of mountains. Here’s hoping this setup works, hate having to use my electric fat bike on trails right now, my back needs the assisstance.
I agree. I use for my first bike Spectro S7 7 speed IGH with 306% gear ratio, and I use only 1,3,5 gear. For that reason I change to Nexus 3 - 3 speed IGH with 186% gear ratio and for the city commute every day is perfect, but I use it like moped only throttle no pedaling. If I use pedal assist and I pedal I prefer 7 speed Spectro.
On my builds I always opt for a 10 speed 11- 46t Ltwoo A7 groupset. they're cheap from eBay and I've logged many miles (over1k) off road with no issues and they rarely need tuning.
BBSHD with a Rohloff Speedhub here, 52T front cog, 14T rear on 26" tires. I generally only use gears 6-14, but my riding is mostly commuting on flat roads.
Agree 8-9spd. However I use Shimano 10spd because of clutch rear derailleur. The clutch helps with suspension frame chain retention. Also using a "narrow-wide" chainring helps too. 8-9spd stuff is great.
Agree also. My BBSHD commuter now has Microshift Advent 9 speed 11-46. Fewer gears would even be better, but this setup is inexpensive and the all chro-mo cogs are showing no noticeable wear in 2k miles.
If one alternates between pure leg power and motor then modified 12 speed cassette with close ration between smallest 12t and 13t sprockets is still needed.
After many revisions I've settled on a 52T lekkie up front and a 12-32 Shimano 7 speed altus cassette on the rear. I use all the gears. 11t is too few teeth, I always had chain slipping issues.
Great vid as always! I've been using the microshift advent 9-speed with 11-46 cassette. Good enough for just about any situation! Curious what you think would be better between the advent 9-speed (11-46) and the 10-speed (11-48)...? Pretty comparable in price, so aside from that? Are the 9-speed chains actually going to be stronger or last longer? Is a 10-speed chain just as good? (90% as good or more in strength...?) I would love the slightly bigger range of gear ratio, but i wanna stick with a budget drivetrain like this one. Thoughts between the two? :)
A beefy big step internal geared hub would be best for mid drive ebikes, giving all the room needed for the thickest, strongest chain for high torque needs. Ebikes are phenomenal; I hope my own build succeeds when I do mine. I will probably stay with my 9 speed, and hope not to bust the chain.
I run Archer D1x electronically shifted Microshift Advent long cage derailleurs, and 11-42T 9-speed cassettes with 52T Lekkie chainrings. The D1x electronic shifter has on demand 3 cog at a time shifts, and can integrate with a gear shift sensor. Works well with my custom 3 mode pass controller code that includes a stock 860c handlebar pad operated cruise control. The controller within the BBSHD's I use are modified using a double amp shunt mod to produce 3000 Watts and over 300 nM of crank torque. 2 second 0-30 ft times and cruise speeds over 45 mph. Freewheels are not recommended for mid drive builds due to their inherent wobble. Bafang never intended its BBSxx motors to run without a gear shift sensor. The fact is that there are addresses within the stock code for adjustment of gear shift sensor parameters, thus my point is indisputable..
jap, I have a 9speed and use about 4 or 5 of those...maybe a few more when I run out of juice and have to pull my trailer home the rest of the way (what I try to avoid, obviously) With the next cassette I'll probably switch to a 8speed. Gives you a little beefier chain.
10 speed is way to go, the 10 speed chain is made to go off line. But 8 and 9 speed chain were used with front derailleurs to keep chain in line. The shimano 10 speed deore group set is quite reasonable in price and great in performance.
I agree. I have some monster hills where I live and the small steps in gearing really help. Because of the hills I upgraded the stock 11-36 on my Trek Dual Sport + to 11-46, easy-peasy. I also upgraded the brakes, because what goes up must come down, but that's another story.
If you can achieve a perfect chain line with a bbs, which will almost certainly mean you'll have to buy an adapter, I'd go for an 11 or 12 speed system IF you do proper mtb. Otherwise the microshift acolyte is a perfect candidate 8 speed drive train, just don't get the express shifter they always fail.
You mentioned missing your Sturmey Archer igh. I know they are not at all the same British company they once were but there are more options now. (shimano, rohloff) I'm interested if you or anyone else has creditable experience with putting over 3kw through a modern igh. I've been using a modified mac geared hub motor from cell man for the last decade or more and am leaning towards mid drive and considering shimano. I do appreciate the underdrive and over drive range of rohloff but is it worth the money? How many kw can they take? How many hours? Thanks and @JohnnyNerdOut thanks for an interesting video.
Rohloff supposedly can handle over 2kw. I don’t know though. I am constantly talking people out spending $1500+ for one and going with a regular setup or shimano/SA. REMEMBER. at the end of the day, these are all bicycle grade components.
Johnny is it ideal to wear Speedos while riding an eBike because it will make you really speedy on an eBike? You know, aerodynamics and less wind resistance?
That's fair, however doesn't the front chainring come into this at all? Assuming you have a smaller 28T front chainring, you wouldn't really need the larger toothed cog on the rear cassette? I'm currently running a 46T front chainring on an 8 speed cassette (unsure of size of cogs), but 1st and 2nd gear are plenty torquey enough for any hills I've found so far.
My last build a tongsheng TSDZ2 was on a donor that was originally a 3x7. I was going to convert it to 10 speed but it had a dedicated 7speed freehub even though it had 141 spacing so I built it as 7 speed and was pleasantly surprised. It did okay in 1st and second on all but the steepest off road hills. Yes the front chainring does come into play but trying to find on that's less than 36t is next to impossible especially when your trying to maintain the chain line.
Johnny mostly does mid drive which means only one front gear. If you change the front chainring you basically change all Of the rear gears up and down. If you want wider range for up and down hill you only have the back to play with.
The wear and tear on cassettes, chainrings, and chains make an 8 speed ideal for a mid drive. Saves a lot of money over the life of the bike for sure. Also there’s the shimano nexus 5e internally geared hubs which are Ebike specific 5 speeds. Pairs great with a belt drive for crazy longevity and minimal maintenance.
I'd say get a 28t chain ring and 11-40t. I'd guess that would put your perfect wheelie ratio somewhere in the middle where the chainline is straighter. Once you figure out your favorite gear you can put the front/back teeth into an online gear calculator and pick a different chain ring to give a similar gearing on higher or lower gear if you want
IMO, I'd say the optimal rear gearing setup would be 10spd. You get enough gear range that way, and you still get modern chain technology like DHA rollers, meaning you get more durable chains.
Why do you need any gears at all on an e-bike? Especially a complex, dirty, fragile derailleur that puts so much wear on a chain. The best if you want gears would be a 3 or 4-speed hub gear with a wide, long lasting chain. Or a mid-drive motor/ gearbox combination.
Partly true. My only concert is durability and maintenance work. Can the hub gear withstand the huge toque coming from the mid drive without braking something inside?
