thanks for all of this guys.
i had a eggrider installed today which has unlocked full power!
mycle told me over email that it has a 500w motor but it’s restricted to 250w. does anyone know if it actually is 500w?
Motors don't have power. They're transducers that convert electrical energy into motive energy. It's the controller that decides how much power the motor will get. How much motive power it converts it to depends on how fast you're going. The faster you go, the more efficient it becomes.
If a motor has a rating stamped on it, like 250w, it's for regulations, and nothing to do with how much power it gives or can handle, except that it's guaranteed to handle that rating, when under optimum conditions.
In the UK, the motor or bike must be marked 250w or lower to be legal. If the motor is marked 500w, it is per se illegal. There's nothing you can do by restricting it to make it legal. If it can produce 1000w and is stamped 250w by the manufacturer, it's legal. Obviously, you bike becomes illegal when it produces power above 17 mph (15mph + 10%).
Letting a hub-motor run faster is always better for it, regardless of its rating.