Both bad news I think John, particularly Machine X.
If anything would attract police attention and start a witch hunt on illegal e-bikes, it's that, and I hope it never reaches British roads.
They'll get gear trouble anyway. The 14 speed will be the Rohloff hub and the 8 speed automatic the new Shimano auto. I doubt that either will transmit that power for very long before hitting trouble, both were designed just for rider power alone, and the Shimano 8 has already been failing in it's first months of life on rider power only.
The main reason hub gears normally last well is that they are used in the utility market where few riders are at peak fitness. On the odd occasion that they are used by top fitness cyclists the failure rate is quite high. Currently I know of one professional rider who gets a failure every six months on average, and another, a hub gear fan, who rides for a living and who's had both the Sunrace Sturmey and the Nexus eights fail in a few months.
Add a 500 watt motor and the outcome is inevitable.
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