March 29, 2026, 05:05 PM
Oh man, San Francisco changes everything. The obvious issue is heat. A rear hub motor stuck in one gear trying to push you up those 15-20% grades like Filbert or Divisadero is basically a recipe for cooked nylon gears. You should definitely consider mid drive as you end up using your gears as transmission. They do take heavier loads and wear and tear so you might have to change these components more often.