After Fazua already introduced with the Ride 60 drive system a particularly compact mid-drive motor for e-bikes with sufficient power in April, now comes an exciting alternative from TQ.

The manufacturer from Bavaria is not completely unknown, by the way, because they already had an e-drive on offer in the past with the HPR 120S. With an unbelievable 120 Nm of torque and equally enormous numbers for weight, dimensions and power consumption, this motor was more of a niche product — this system was just too much of anything!

With the new HPR 50, they are now going in a completely different direction, which also corresponds to the current trend in terms of e-bikes: the new system is designed for compact dimensions, light weight and a particularly quiet operation. With a motor weight of 1,850 g, it even undercuts the new Fazua Ride 60 drive by 50 g. The power values, however, are with 50 Nm torque and 300 watts (short-term peak power) rather in the moderate range (for comparison: the Fazua Ride 60 offers a torque of 60 Nm). All in all, this is a drive that should offer as much power as necessary while allowing for unobtrusive system integration.

The motor: small but mighty!

The motor itself has a patented harmonic pin-ring gear, which makes the compact design and quiet operation possible. Thanks to the circular housing with its small diameter, it thus disappears absolutely inconspicuously behind the crank.

The controls are just as unobtrusive: the compact button on the handlebars can be used to select the riding modes, and it can also be used to activate functions such as the bike lights or a pushing aid. A compact display for integration in the top tube then completes the user interface. Among other things, the ride data and battery capacity are displayed here, which should always be ideally readable thanks to the OLED display. Thanks to an integrated brightness sensor, the display always lights up according to the ambient light. Darker at night, but as bright as possible in sunshine.

For more power: battery and range extender

The battery of the HPR 50 system has a capacity of 360 Wh, which allows an equally compact design. It should also be possible to remove it from the bike. However, the first model with the drive, an E-MTB from Trek, requires screws to be loosened so that the battery can be pulled downwards out of the frame. This at least looks much more complex than the simple snap-in mechanism at Fazua. TQ also offers a range extender in the form of a water bottle for the HPR 50, which extends the battery power by another 160 Wh at a weight of 900 grams. Fazua does not offer such an additional battery, but it offers more capacity of 430 Wh in the normal battery.

The comparison of the total weight of both systems is interesting: The HPR 50 weighs a total of 3.9 kg (360 Wh battery), while the Fazua weighs 4.26 kg (430 Wh battery).

Conclusion

Two great drive systems that await us this year! If you compare the pure data, then TQ and Fazua are close to each other. The unobtrusive integration is very nicely solved in both bikes, but you will look in vain for a compact display as in the TQ system, as well as an optional additional battery in Fazua. However, Fazua’s battery is a good deal stronger and is probably easier to remove from the bike. The motor also offers a bit more torque.

With the models from Canyon and Riese & Müller, two attractive urban bikes are already in the starting blocks. The new TQ drive, on the other hand, is currently only available in an E-MTB from Trek — but who knows, maybe this motor will soon also end up in an urban bike. It would certainly be desirable!