From Rear Hub Drive to Mid-Drive on same bike

[creativepart]

In Dec, 2020 I built a 750 rear hub drive ebike with a Dillenger Premium Off-Road Kit on a 2018 Specialized Crosstrail Sport bike in my garage. It worked great and I enjoyed putting over 1,000 miles on it over the next 8 months.

BUT... I've been eager to try out a mid-drive setup and decided to just do it. So, this month I removed all of the Dillenger kit and restored the "acoustic" version of the bike back to OEM condition. Then I purchased a BBSHD kit from JohnnyNerdOut's website and built the bike a 2nd time with the mid-drive kit. Easy Peasy!

Now I just starting to accumulate miles on the bike with the new drive system. I'm using the battery from the Dillenger kit, so I saved about $500 there. And along the way I've upgraded the original bike to make it much better overall. Plus I got the BBSHD with a Bafang C860 color display that I like pretty well.

The most common question is which is better - hub drive or mid-drive?

Well, that's tough to say. BOTH are excellent eBikes. I have 1000 miles on the hub drive and less than 100 on the mid-drive so, it's really too soon to tell. The hub drive was much more potent and punchy, but the mid-drive is faster top speed-wise. The hub drive was better on hills and also from a stop with the throttle. I will add that the shift cut-out on the mid-drive takes some getting used to.

Both are super fun. And, I always have the option to revert back to the hub drive anytime I wish. Who knows, I may pick up another bike and make it a hub drive with the leftover Dillenger kit parts. All I'd need is a bike - and I can switch the one battery between the two if I wish (its a 48v, 13ah 624w battery).

[wilsoncb]

Hey, any update on this? I'm trying to decide between a hub or mid and surprised to hear the hub was "potent and punchy". I'm curious to see if you have put in any more miles with the mid drive to know any more.

If it's not too much trouble, would you be able to provide any of the following details for the Dillinger kit?
- Diameter of motor.
- Motor manufacture: I know they say it's Dillinger, but I'm pretty sure it comes from Bafang or Shengyi. Should be a number on the motor.
- Torque rating of motor...if you know, otherwise the question above should answer that.
- Controller manufacture so I can determine if it's compatible with Eggrider display. Again, they say it's Dillinger, but it's probably made by Lishui or Kunteng.
- Wheel details: Color of rim, color of spokes, rim inside dimension, rim outside dimension (rim manufacture).