hey everyone Thanks for tuning in to electric bike journal in today's video we'll be focusing on mid-drive versus Hub Drive e-bike Motors what is the difference between the two of them and which one is better those are two common questions that we get asked a lot here on the channel and we're here to help out you'll have to wait till the end of the video to find out which one is best but a little hint it really does depend on your application and what type of e-bike you want so let's get into finding out what these motors do and help you decide which type of Evike motor do you need well before we get into the Nitty Gritty on either one of these e-bike systems please click subscribe that will help grow our Channel and by growing our Channel it means that we can continue to offer bike reviews information videos Tech tips and how to's to you in the future also we want to say thank you to orbea for partnering with us on these videos they offer both mid-drive and hub Drive Urban e-bikes and they're a great platform for us to show you what both of these systems do so let's talk about Hub Drive e-bike Motors and what those are all about well all electric bikes use the same basic functions whether it be Hub drive or mid-drive they all have a motor a controller and a battery beyond that there's some sensors and other technology that help them function but their Basics are those three things and with those three things helps you to decide how either one of those systems will best perform for you depending on your application now Hub Drive motors have been around for a very long time and it's probably the most common and familiar looking electric bike motor that you've seen with its position either in the front wheel or the rear wheel the motor itself becomes the Hub of the wheel of that bike now there are two different types of Hub Drive Motors available and knowing the difference between the two types of Motors will really help you decide what type of motor you want and therefore which type of bike you're going to get because of the availability of that motor those two types of Hub Drive Motors are geared and gearless or direct drive Motors now direct drive gearless motor there's have no moving Parts aside from the bearings that it sits on and just will apply all of that power through the motor to your wheel and are really great for high top speeds these are common to see and more e-moped style electric bikes ones that speed is what you're looking for another perk with the gearless or the direct drive hub Motors is that they do offer regenerative braking now that isn't a lot of power or energy coming back into your battery it's a very very minor amount but it is something you're going to see it obviously work more efficiently if you're doing a lot of downhills where it's able to work and and drive that energy back into the battery but for just cruising around town it's a very small number so although it is a perk it isn't something to really stack the two of them differently it being gearless in a direct drive it is a direct output of energy and that's what makes it great for those higher top speeds now on the flip side of the gearless or directory Motors are geared Hub Drive Motors and these use a series of Gears within that motor to lower the RPMs of the motor to create more of a torque output now torque is a great thing to have in your motor because that's what gives you all of that power that stop and go the power on the steeper terrain and having more torque not that it's something that you need to put on a pedestal as the greatest value within your electric bike but having a decent amount of torque is something to take note if you are riding in an area that is more hilly or you're going to be carrying cargo on your bike you're going to have a lot of weight that torque is what actually will help that motor apply that power to get you up to speed and offer that pedal assist that you're looking for well now that we've discussed the basics of a hub Drive motor and some of the benefits let's talk about mid-drive Motors Now mid-drive Motors are located in the middle of the frame of the bike right between your pedals they create torque as their energy and apply that energy to the chain ring one of the benefits of this style of electric bike motor is that it is able to take advantage of the entire gear ratio of your bike so if you have 11 speed a seven speed that energy output and that torque coming through the chain ring on your pedals is able to apply that same energy through every gear on your bike this is why they're seen more commonly in E mountain bikes and bikes that are going to be doing more uphill steeper terrain by being able to take advantage of that entire gear ratio you're able to move that bike with the same amount of energy that you wouldn't be able to do on a direct drive or a geared Hub Drive motor another advantage of being able to utilize that gear ratio of the bike on a mid-drive e-bike is that it's able to be more efficient typically a mid-drive motor will use a smaller battery than an equivalent powered Hub Drive motor and that has to do with the motor itself being more efficient by taking advantage of that gear ratio of your electric bike now it's a very basic overview of those two systems and as you can tell already either system has its purpose in its place where it will be the better choice for you and the type of electric bike you're looking for if you're looking for an electric mountain bike something to go out into the woods and do a lot of uphill and downhill a mid-drive system is going to be a better more desirable system to look for because it's going to be able to take advantage of that gear ratio on your electric bike to apply all that power and assist you for getting up those Hills now leaving the woods and that more sporty performance output and the benefits of that mid drive and heading into town and considering your Urban commuter a hub Drive electric bike might be the better system to look into for your type of riding Hub Drive e-bikes have a very wide range of power options available for different Hub systems as opposed to Mid Drive systems that have fewer options available additionally High Drive motors have less maintenance they're more affordable and there are more options in general available Beyond just the power different controllers different batteries overall as a system a hub drive system is more Universal because it's been around longer and there's more Brands playing into that field now as I mentioned earlier there are a lot of similar components used in electric bikes that cross over between mid-drive and hub drive and one of those is the sensor it uses to decide how much power to output and offer that pedal assist Now mid-drive Motors use a torque sensor and that means that it has a sensor within the motor that registers the amount of torque that you're applying to your pedals that Center is then able to take that equation figure out how much torque you're applying and assert and give back and offer that pedal assist to you for the power that you need on the flip side a hug ride motor uses a Cadence Sensor and yes there are a select few that are now starting to use a version of a torque sensor in addition to a Cadence Sensor but they use a Cadence Sensor or a speed sensor that sensor just registers how fast the wheel is spinning and depending on which mode you are in on that electric bike it is going to apply all of that power up until that speed now earlier I mentioned maintenance as a benefit of a hub drive system that's because there's little to no maintenance at all and the basic maintenance of the Hub drive system is gonna be super simple and likely something that you can manage on your own if a gear that needs inside of a geared Hub Drive motor there's a good chance you could fix it but likely due to the prices being so affordable on HUB Drive systems you'll just replace the whole unit on a mid-drive system they start at a higher price point and they have more moving components and parts inside with a more Technical and advanced technology and mid-drive systems you're gonna have to call in a professional to do that service for you and if you do have to replace that whole unit it is going to cost more there are fewer manufacturers of and drive units and those manufacturers are making mid-drive Motors to a very high quality standard as opposed to HUB Drive Motors that have been around for a very long time and have quality standards from entry-level budget really affordable two very high quality as seen here in this small Hub on the orbea vibe now something we see all the time online and articles and in forums and other YouTube videos is people talking about breaking chains on mid-drive systems now although this is definitely possible and something that can happen if you happen to be in the wrong gear and go to pedal and shift gears at the wrong time I've done it myself and I'm not saying that it can't happen but with hundreds and hundreds of miles written on mid-drive systems it's happened once in a very fluke situation um that is not something we consider it to be a negative of a mid-drive unit now to avoid that problem as a whole we're starting to see a lot of urban commuter style and cargo style electric bikes with mid-drive systems use a Gates carbon belt drives so that becomes a belt as opposed to a chain and that belt connects to a rear hub that typically has internal gears so all of your gears are contained within the Hub and you just have that one belt which can take a lot more wear and tear than a chain can now although there's a lot of focus and emphasis on chains braking with mid-drive systems we don't quite see the same focus and emphasis on the topic of heat Management mid-drive Systems tend to be really efficient those manufacturers are spending a lot of time with their Engineers to figure out how to manage and release that heat to keep those systems cooler so that they perform more efficiently and effectively for for longer more sustained use whereas a hug drive system because there is less regulation with more manufacturers making them the quality and ability of those Motors to manage that heat is going to cause them to typically overheat if they are put through a lot of use where they're exerting a lot of energy for a sustained amount of time on all there are benefits to either system whether that be Hub drive or mid drive just depends on your application and although we can sit here and say that we prefer one over the other for us we tend to steer towards mid-drive units as we like the higher quality and the performance aspect of mid-drive units but there are many Hub Drive e-bikes that we really enjoy riding and we would encourage a lot of people to look into because of the type of electric bike they're looking for now this is just a very basic overview of these two systems and if you have any questions feel free to leave them down below we aren't here to tell you that one is better than the other as there are too many factors to decide which one is best and it is easier to say which one will perform best based on the type of writing that you want to do thank you so much for watching don't forget to click subscribe and stay tuned as we continue to grow this series and offer more information regarding electric bikes and what they are and how they'll work for you foreign