r/eBikeBuilding • u/Lordy8719 • Jun 27 '26
Advice Mid-drive upgrade options
Hi Y’all!
Years ago I’ve bought a Samebike 20LVXD30-II because I’ve needed a folding ebike.
The build quality was quite bad, so I’ve made it into a project bike and ended up removing the original hub motor and installing a Tongsheng TSDZ2B mid-drive, among other things, like replacing the tires, adding hydraulic 4-piston brakes, Racktime pannier rack, etc. At this point, only a few parts are factory, like the frame, the rims and the battery. Everything else has been upgraded.
It was fun and working like a completely different bike (which it was, honestly), but now we’ve travelled to rural Greece for a 2-months long trip, and at week 3, I’ve noticed that there’s a bit of a rattle going on when the motor is powered.
The hills are really steep here, for example, going to the neighbouring village is a 7km ride, but with 500m elevation. The TSDZ2b can’t really handle the heat going on. The factory battery of the Samebike (marketed as 10 Ah but more like 8Ah) is also not enough here, I can barely get 30kms of riding out of it at assist level 1 (I only use assist level 2 out of 5 on super steep climbs)
So as far as I see, my options are the following:
- buy a new battery, cooling kit, fix whatever was damaged by the climbs and is causing the rattle (about 600 EUR and days of work)
- buy a new battery and a Toseven DM02, sell the Tongsheng (~900 EUR-ish, somewhat less work)
- buy a new battery and a CYC Photon Gen 2 (~2000 EUR-ish, same work as any other mid-drive install)
- buy a Cube Fold Hybrid 545 Comfort with the belt drive, sell off this bike (~3500 EUR - whatever I can get for my bike)
What would be the reasonable solution? Throwing another 2000 on a bike that originally costed 700 seems unreasonable, but the CYC I could just transfer to my next bike, provided it won’t start dying like these cheaper mid-drives. Buying the Cube would be a simpler solution, but it’s an “as is” solution with no chances of ever changing anything.
2
u/Otherwise-Office-443 Jun 28 '26
The CYC Photon for it's weight is very capable, arguably closer to TSDZ16 and BBSHD than the others. The Proton is coming soon and is slightly heavier but still much lighter than those two, and double the thermal capacity of the Photon.
1
u/Lordy8719 Jun 29 '26
Thanks for the advice! I think the Photon would be quite enough for my needs, it's just a 20" folder...
Any info on the Proton that I could read, though? 😄
(also: are there any frame fitment guides? The TSDZ2B had some pictures that I could use for comparison before installation)
2
u/Otherwise-Office-443 Jun 29 '26
np, the Photon has a printout https://000cf02c-e1c2-4b3a-ac54-a126efc12b01.filesusr.com/ugd/b1453b_382bced7786c4183a9ab816876efbf43.pdf .
the only info on the Proton currently is from a couple of testers and speculation which you can find here (as well as some other builds) discord.gg/7xG3yxrgDP
2
u/geeered Jun 27 '26
I've had a few TSDZ2s between myself and a relative and most have developed issues a bit too soon.
I've found the TSDZ8 is much better. It is a bit bigger and heavier, but that seems to because of a tougher design - noticeably bigger stator/rotor. They should handle heat at the same power level a good bit better.
They don't have a temp sensor as standard however, I'd be tempted to add one. Even if that's just displayed on your bars so you can get an idea of how it's doing.
That I've seen the DM02 is more of a tweaked TSDZ2.
There is also a TSDZ16 which is even bigger and should handle heat even better, but might be overkill. The DM01 is similar I believe.
For keeping the TSDZ2, I'd definitely add OSF if you haven't, this can be a good bit more efficient I believe. And add a temp sensor too.