E-Bike Motor Guide: Hub vs Mid-Drive, Brushed vs Brushless

By Gleecycle · October 6, 2026

Almost every new e-bike motor is brushless. Where that motor sits changes how a bike feels far more than which technology it uses.

A controller decides when current flows, how much of it, and in what order. The same motor under two different controllers can feel like two different machines.

Hub motors live inside a wheel. Mid drive motors sit at the cranks and send their power through the chain.

Hub Motors Put the Power Inside the Wheel

Walk past a rack of city bikes and most share one arrangement. An e-bike hub motor sits inside the wheel it drives, so the two turn together.

A geared hub hides a small planetary gearset inside the shell, which gives it useful torque at low speed. A direct drive hub skips the gears.

The appeal is simplicity. The trade-off sits in where the power goes. A hub motor drives the wheel directly, so it never passes through the bike's gears.

Shift down on a climb and you multiply your own leg force, not the motor's.

The Dukawey FUGL3.0 pairs a 250 W rear hub motor with 65 N·m. The LANKELEISI KETT-8 uses a rear hub motor rated at 85 N·m.

Mid Drive Motors Send That Power Through the Chain

Stand on the pedals of a mid drive bike and you are standing directly above the motor. Its output runs through the same chain and derailleur you use to change gear.

That one difference explains most of what follows. Because the motor shares your drivetrain, a low gear multiplies its torque as well as yours. The gears do the rest.

It also explains why an e-bike mid drive system so often pairs with a torque sensor, since the controller needs to know how hard you are pushing rather than just how fast the wheel is turning.

The cost is complexity. Mid drive units cost more to build, and the chain carries motor torque as well as leg torque, so chain and cassette wear a little faster.

The LANKELEISI GT800 takes the idea furthest, with a BAFANG M600 mid motor, 120 N·m of torque and a Shimano 12 speed drivetrain. The ENGWE N1 PRO adds a 250 W Ananda mid drive unit and 80 N·m.

Brushed Motors Lost the Race to a Wear Part

The word survives in old spec sheets and second-hand listings, long after the technology left the market.

A brushed motor reverses the current through its coils with a mechanical switch. Carbon brushes press against a rotating commutator, and the contact moves from segment to segment as the rotor spins.

Because the brushes are always rubbing, they wear. The same friction produces sparks, noise and heat. That contact is the weak point.

Brushed motors survive today mainly in the cheapest throttle kits.

Brushless Motors Moved the Switching Into the Controller

The rotating field is still there. What changes is who produces it.

A controller reads rotor position and energises the windings in the right order. That position usually comes from Hall sensors, though some designs estimate it from back EMF and leave the sensors out.

Two things change for the rider. There is no brush to replace, so maintenance drops. Efficiency rises too, which means more distance from the same battery.

Hall sensor motors start more smoothly from a standstill. Sensorless motors save a sensor and a wiring loom, and ask more of the tuning at very low speed.

Rated Watts and Peak Watts Are Two Different Numbers

Two wattage figures on the same motor line look like an error at first. Both can be accurate at once. The two measure different things.

Rated power is what the motor delivers continuously under stated voltage, speed and cooling conditions, while peak power is a short burst limited by heat and the controller's current limit.

Peak figures help you judge acceleration. They say little about sustained output.

Torque Tells You More Than Watts Do

Two motors rated at the same 250 W can feel completely different on the same hill.

Watts describe how fast work gets done. Newton metres describe how hard the motor twists, which is the figure you feel when you pull away or climb. The number to read is torque.

One caution matters here. Manufacturers measure motor torque at the shaft rather than at the wheel, and gearing multiplies it on the way. That is why a mid drive unit can out-climb a hub motor with a higher shaft figure.

Hub Drive vs Mid Drive Comes Down to Your Route

The table below maps the routes people actually ride to the motor type that handles them best.

Start with the one that looks like your week, then work down to the e-bike that matches it.

Find Your Motor at Gleecycle

Both designs have a place, and the route decides which one wins.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a mid-drive motor always more powerful than a hub motor?

Not always. Two motors can carry the same rated wattage and behave very differently, because the difference lies in where the torque gets multiplied. A low gear magnifies a mid drive motor's output at the wheel, while a hub motor drives the wheel directly.

Why does the motor stop helping the moment I stop pedalling?

That is a legal requirement rather than a fault. A pedal assisted cycle must cut motor output when the rider stops pedalling, and must reduce assistance progressively before the bike reaches 25 km/h. Regulation (EU) No 168/2013 sets both rules.

What does it mean when one motor is listed with two different wattages?

The two numbers measure different things. Rated power is what the motor can hold continuously under stated conditions. Peak power is a short burst limited by heat and current draw.

Do I still need the gears if the motor does the work?

Yes, and more so on a hub drive bike. A hub motor does not pass through the drivetrain, so shifting to a lower gear multiplies your own leg force only. A mid drive motor shares your gearing, so the same shift multiplies both.

Why do brushed motors barely appear on e-bikes now?

Because the brush is a part that wears out. It has to rub against the commutator to switch the current, and that contact produces sparks, noise and heat.