in the deep end

[wotsthat]

Having got rid of the car am looking to replace it - so
I've been in touch with the "Bamboo Bicycle Club"
and am gonna be building a recumbent load carrying trike
trying to decide between Hub and Mid drives and looking for advice
the main use will be longish tours - Thanks in advance

 

[steveindenmark]

Two questions.

Is this a bamboo load bearing trike?

Would a second hand trike not be financially more viable?

I look forward to seeing this.

 

[wotsthat]

yes tis - not much of a load though - me n me camping gear maybe a spare person relaxin in back
would a second hand trike be more viable for the long haul - possibly but where's yer sense of adventure?

 

[Ananda]

Having got rid of the car am looking to replace it - so
I've been in touch with the "Bamboo Bicycle Club"
and am gonna be building a recumbent load carrying trike
trying to decide between Hub and Mid drives and looking for advice
the main use will be longish tours - Thanks in advance

Depends how much you want to spend on batteries. Mid drives have the edge in performance and miles per charge but hub drives are simpler and tend to be a bit more reliable, due to simplicity. They also do not load the drive system, so the chain and sprockets will live a longer life.
For a normal bike I would choose a mid drive, but for a recumbent which is heavy to start with and has a far greater load capacity, I would go for a 500w geared hub drive with lots of battery watt hours, budget permitting. That being said, a bafang bbshd mid drive that is not pushed to the limit will probably have a long service life and have gobs of torque.

 

[wotsthat]

Depends how much you want to spend on batteries. Mid drives have the edge in performance and miles per charge but hub drives are simpler and tend to be a bit more reliable, due to simplicity. They also do not load the drive system, so the chain and sprockets will live a longer life.
For a normal bike I would choose a mid drive, but for a recumbent which is heavy to start with and has a far greater load capacity, I would go for a 500w geared hub drive with lots of battery watt hours, budget permitting. That being said, a bafang bbshd mid drive that is not pushed to the limit will probably have a long service life and have gobs of torque.

Thank you Ananda for that - all helping with the research