Surely even if they use sealant its better to have the cable going downwards unless they have worked out that splashing up from puddles is worse than rain..(sic] running downwards.
Absolutely so but if the sealant were right at the point of cable exit on the axle then like many other sealed surfaces on a bike, the moisture won't penetrate surely?
The disadvantage of the 'drip loop' approach is the possibility of the motor cable snagging on something and getting damaged although I should imagine in a practical sense the chances of this happening are low unless riding across country or leaving the bike parked against other things (like bikes in bike sheds?). I think the biggest advantage of 'top entry' is an aesthetic one as it looks so much neater and is less of an advertisement that it's an e-bike.
All small points of course but as is typical of us humans, where there's a choice.......
And I think assumptions like '
bottom entry is better' and '
carbon forks for hub motors are a no-no' are always worth exploring expecially when there are real world and sound examples that are opposite to what might be considered the norm.
