Let me know if you need anymore info on this. I’m part of the Intra Drive team as well as operating Willow Bike (www.willowbike.com).
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Thanks for sharing! Very cool bikes. Do you know if the shifter will be wireless? And if it uses a handlebar display or something integrated? And the battery voltage? Sorry for the barrage of questions.
The system is 36V. Currently there is a handlebar mounted shifter with simple display. There is also a separate bigger TFT display. To be honest, our main customer for this is the bigger OEMs so if someone wants a specific display/shifter configuration, we’ll work with them to provide what they need. There’s no current plan for a wireless shifter.
I’d like to be able to offer a complete system to smaller framebuilders. Drive Unit / wiring harness / battery, shifter, display and steel cradle/mount. We just need to work out a pricing structure that works.
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My concern regarding the middrive motors is because of the proprietary cabinets, the frame is essentialy a consumable accessory to the motor. Freeflow technologies mentioned earlier in the thread don’t seem to exist any longer. Did you know that Continental also used to make a motor? Comp drives had a few middrive motors, even a very nice small and light one and were even willing to talk about supplying individual sets. Until they went bust. As a hobbyist, there is no way I am spending my little free time building a frame for something that might not exist by the time I am finished. 4 od my frames are ebikes and it’s all hub motors. If you can figure out who made your set, you can repair just about anything on these and worst case scenario, you end up with a bike. Middrive motors seem to be designed for an alloy frame that cost 50 € painted and shipped, so anytime I see a small framebuilder make an elaborate frame for a Bosch motor, I don’t know how to feel.
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Bosch initially would supply in low quantities. If you contact them directly now then you are unlikely to get far. My EU Magura supplier lists Bosch parts including drive units. They list prices for single units (plus all spares, cables batteries etc) but I’ve never bought from them. The IntraDrive unit uses the same cradle/bridge mounting system as Shimano so there’s a little less risk with that. Shimano have published specs of their motor mount beyond 2027 so it’s unlikely there will be a new ‘standard’ from them anytime soon.
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Yes, the constantly changing mounting points are pretty silly. There are going to be a lot of expensive paperweights in 10 years time. For my next cargo bike, I am going to go with a flexible design that uses different inserts to fit various motor models. It’s not pretty or light, but a cargo bike is more forgiving in that regard. I still have a lot of refining to do, but the goal is to have something future proof.
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Talk to Reynolds. We are partners with MAHLE to sell X20 and X30 to framebuilders. We have everything needed, including DB Downtubes for internal batteries.
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Hey Steven, did you guys end up working out a pricing structure for small builders. I’ve been meaning to check in with Cirdan as we had been back and forth last year about it all. I had started some modelling with the Intradrive step models but put it on hold until I knew I could get a single unit.