Not much love in the Mahle section here ... first thread !
The Mahle X20 - released sometime last year (22)
Hub motors won't be for everyone, but in many cases they're a sound solution (or silent in this case....) providing a simpler, cheaper and often lighter drive option to the mid mount motors which will also be putting less strain on your drivetrain (normal people) transmission (dentists). A dentist riding an X20 powered bike may expect to get 10,000-20,000 km's on a chain and cassette.
One down side is that you're adding weight to the rear axle, which is not really where you want it on a suspended MTB.
At 1.4 kilo's though, it's not that heavy and it's also replacing your rear hub, though compared to a mid drive, you'll need the bottom bracket with the torque sensor so you'll add some more back in there if you're looking at this comparatively. Though all in, with a cassette, you're not looking at similar rear end weight to some of the IGH solutions which many use quite happily and successfully.
Full system weight is quoted at 3.2 Kilo's. That's with the motor, bb, controller and a 250wh battery. For comparison a Fazua Ride 60 is just over 4.2 kg's.
The X20 is an upgrade to the older x35. The X35 weighed in at 1.5kg's and had 40nm torque. The X20 reduces the weight and at the same time increases torque to 55nm- which is a nice level of support for anyone looking at the lightweight options rather than the Full Fat options.
There's two battery options, the 250wh which only weighs 1.8kg (down from 2kg for the x35 system). There's a 350wh battery and also a 1.1kg Water Bottle range extender (171wh/€499) option.
One really nice thing with the motor is the "AMC" - automatic motor connection. Rather than having a cable, which makes wheel removal a PIA, there's a connection block instead.
The head unit's nice and tidy and offers three modes. The mode controllers also vibrate when you change mode so you know you've changed.
There is a display option or you can use your phone. All the modes can be configured and you can also set things like maximum heart rate so it will adjust assistance accordingly. The system offers BLE and ANT+ connectivity.
The iX250 and iX350 are pretty sleek so should enable some slim downtubes. The system also does away with cables running in parallel with the battery and has inputs and outputs top and bottom.
The charger is an active charger and uses canbus to communicate with the battery to vary charge levels for quick charging/better battery life. The charger also has a Micro USB port (rather than USB C which is a bit weird) so you can update the bike that way.
One interesting thing is the torque number. As we know the numbers presented by manufacturers don't often correlate to how a motor feels when you ride it. In this case theoretical actual torque on the motor is only 23nm, but Mahle quote it as 55nm as from their tests that's how it compares to Mid mount motors on the Dyno - presumably in a specific and most optimum gear.
So far this only seems to be used in road bikes and gravel bikes, but maybe someone will put one in a hardtail MTB or even try it in an FS bike.
The Mahle X20 - released sometime last year (22)
Hub motors won't be for everyone, but in many cases they're a sound solution (or silent in this case....) providing a simpler, cheaper and often lighter drive option to the mid mount motors which will also be putting less strain on your drivetrain (normal people) transmission (dentists). A dentist riding an X20 powered bike may expect to get 10,000-20,000 km's on a chain and cassette.
One down side is that you're adding weight to the rear axle, which is not really where you want it on a suspended MTB.
At 1.4 kilo's though, it's not that heavy and it's also replacing your rear hub, though compared to a mid drive, you'll need the bottom bracket with the torque sensor so you'll add some more back in there if you're looking at this comparatively. Though all in, with a cassette, you're not looking at similar rear end weight to some of the IGH solutions which many use quite happily and successfully.
Full system weight is quoted at 3.2 Kilo's. That's with the motor, bb, controller and a 250wh battery. For comparison a Fazua Ride 60 is just over 4.2 kg's.
The X20 is an upgrade to the older x35. The X35 weighed in at 1.5kg's and had 40nm torque. The X20 reduces the weight and at the same time increases torque to 55nm- which is a nice level of support for anyone looking at the lightweight options rather than the Full Fat options.
There's two battery options, the 250wh which only weighs 1.8kg (down from 2kg for the x35 system). There's a 350wh battery and also a 1.1kg Water Bottle range extender (171wh/€499) option.
One really nice thing with the motor is the "AMC" - automatic motor connection. Rather than having a cable, which makes wheel removal a PIA, there's a connection block instead.
The head unit's nice and tidy and offers three modes. The mode controllers also vibrate when you change mode so you know you've changed.
There is a display option or you can use your phone. All the modes can be configured and you can also set things like maximum heart rate so it will adjust assistance accordingly. The system offers BLE and ANT+ connectivity.
The iX250 and iX350 are pretty sleek so should enable some slim downtubes. The system also does away with cables running in parallel with the battery and has inputs and outputs top and bottom.
The charger is an active charger and uses canbus to communicate with the battery to vary charge levels for quick charging/better battery life. The charger also has a Micro USB port (rather than USB C which is a bit weird) so you can update the bike that way.
One interesting thing is the torque number. As we know the numbers presented by manufacturers don't often correlate to how a motor feels when you ride it. In this case theoretical actual torque on the motor is only 23nm, but Mahle quote it as 55nm as from their tests that's how it compares to Mid mount motors on the Dyno - presumably in a specific and most optimum gear.
So far this only seems to be used in road bikes and gravel bikes, but maybe someone will put one in a hardtail MTB or even try it in an FS bike.
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