They swapped the cover when it went in for a service. I didn't get an invoice when I bought it but I have the till print out which says nothing! Interesting to know that the motors can be easily swapped over. That's what I'm pushing for!
Bosch Active Line Plus - no torque
- Thread starter MandyPandy
- Start date
I'm not 100% sure of my facts but it looks like the KTM has a 38T front chainring and 22T nexus cog compared to the Cube's 40T chainring and 20T Nexus cog so the Cube is a fair bit higher geared. Then when you factor in the Nexus 8 I think is a wider gear range the KTM has a significantly wider gear range especially low gearing. So its not just the motor. The Nexus 8 also has a 1:1 gear for maximum efficiency in gear #5. A quick google shows the Nexus 7 has as 244% gear range compared to 307% for the Nexus 8. So the KTM should be significantly easier up hills even if they shared the same motor. As they show in the image below its like the Nexus 8 is a 12-38T cassette and the Nexus 7 is a 13-32T so while high gearing is similar the Nexus 8 is significantly better for low gearing even before you factor in the chainring and cog size.
The combination of the effects Bonza points out above (assuming both have 700c wheels with 32c tyres) gives a 24.7" bottom gear on the KTM and a 34" bottom gear on the Cube; a difference of 37%. As he suggests, that's quite a bit more than the difference in peak motor torque.
I suspect the Cube has very similar gearing to our Motus with Nexus 7; as well as the same Active Line (not Plus) motor. I would certainly prefer lower gearing, neither my wife nor I (*) uses top gear very much at all, and do use bottom quite a bit. It hasn't been enough of an issue to change the sprockets.
(*) We share this bike and have a tandem for when we go out together. She's out on it right now so I can check the actual sprockets.
I suspect the Cube has very similar gearing to our Motus with Nexus 7; as well as the same Active Line (not Plus) motor. I would certainly prefer lower gearing, neither my wife nor I (*) uses top gear very much at all, and do use bottom quite a bit. It hasn't been enough of an issue to change the sprockets.
(*) We share this bike and have a tandem for when we go out together. She's out on it right now so I can check the actual sprockets.
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Allowing for the 5::4 difference in torque as well as the gearing difference, I make it 72% better climbing ability on the KTM.
I don't know how much you could safely drop your gearing by changing sprockets without overloading either the motor or the Nexus. Even if you do get the shop to change the motor (which I think they should) there's still going to be quite a difference.
One thing to check is the chain tension, though I think that would effect wear more then efficiency. It could be an issue if it's significantly too tight. If it's like our Motus it's a bit of a pain to set. (I must look into a chain tensioner which the later Motus have, but there's no convenient place to mount one)
I don't know how much you could safely drop your gearing by changing sprockets without overloading either the motor or the Nexus. Even if you do get the shop to change the motor (which I think they should) there's still going to be quite a difference.
One thing to check is the chain tension, though I think that would effect wear more then efficiency. It could be an issue if it's significantly too tight. If it's like our Motus it's a bit of a pain to set. (I must look into a chain tensioner which the later Motus have, but there's no convenient place to mount one)