How we evaluate Bafang motors
A site that compares products must state what it does, and above all what it doesn't. This page serves as a reading contract: it describes our source, our method for collecting data, the point beyond which we prefer to say nothing, and how we handle a missing data point.
Our source
Bafang's manufacturer documentation, for the BBS series. It feeds the seven fields of our standard spec sheet: rated power, maximum torque, supply voltage, sensor type, controller maximum current, bottom bracket compatibility, and motor weight.
These seven fields are the same for all three motors, without exception. A missing field would leave a hole in the comparison table, and that constraint is exactly what prevents it. It has a second, less visible benefit: it stops us from cherry-picking the specs that favour a given model. A sheet that selects its own fields always tells a flattering story.
The scope we cover
Three motors, and nothing else: BBS01B, BBS02B, BBSHD. These are the Bafang conversion kits you can buy on their own and fit to an existing bicycle. Motors assembled at the factory, built into a frame by the bike's manufacturer, fall outside this scope: they can't be ordered separately, and a reader looking for a kit can't do anything with them.
Hub motors are also absent. They belong to a different mechanism — the effort passes through the wheel hub rather than through the drivetrain — and to a different purchasing logic. Comparing the two families on the same line would produce a fuller table and a more confused decision.
What we don't fill in
When Bafang doesn't publish a value, the cell stays blank and shows "Not disclosed". We don't fill it with an estimate, or with a figure taken from a forum or a retailer's listing.
A blank cell is information
"Not disclosed" means: the manufacturer does not publish this value. That is more useful than a figure lifted from an unverifiable source, and it is the only honest alternative to invention. The opposite mistake would be just as wrong: leaving a published data point blank. As things stand, all seven fields for the three BBS kits are filled in.
What we haven't done
We haven't assembled any of these motors. No test bench, no torque measurement, no kilometres ridden, no teardown. None of our pages therefore describes a sensation felt at the handlebars: that would be a fabricated experience, with no basis at all.
What we do instead:
- Cross-reference the specifications against each other. A motor claiming 160 Nm behind a 30 A controller doesn't compare the same way to a 120 Nm / 25 A motor as it does to an 80 Nm / 15 A one. This comparative work is what produces our reviews.
- Match specifications to real uses. A loaded cargo bike, a 10% climb over three kilometres, a flat urban commute: each use calls on different figures, and that is how we frame our recommendations.
- Flag the constraints product sheets stay quiet about. Bottom bracket width, clearance around the housing, the bike's legal status. These are the three things that most often sink a purchase, and the three most comparisons pass over in silence.
How we track prices
The site's catalog carries one reference price per model: the entry-level version, motor only, without a battery. It is this single value that the spec sheet, the comparison table and the buy boxes all read, so that no two pages on the site can contradict each other.
In the text, we express prices as a range, because these motors pass through many retailers and the axle version, chainring and display included shift the figure. The line-by-line detail is in Bafang motor prices.
Who writes these pages
The editorial team, collectively. We collect specifications from the manufacturer's documentation, apply the same public rating grid to all three motors, and update the pages whenever the data changes. The grid itself, criterion by criterion, is published in our rating system.
Our links to retailers
The buttons on our pages lead to searches on the marketplace, never to a fixed listing: a product identifier valid in one country isn't necessarily valid in another, and the reader would land on a missing page. The full legal framework for these links is set out in our legal notice.
FAQ
Have you ridden these motors?
No. None of the three kits in the catalog has been installed, weighed or measured by us. Our pages compare manufacturer data and how well each model fits the uses it targets. We would rather write that plainly than let it be assumed otherwise.
Where do the published specifications come from?
From Bafang’s manufacturer documentation for the BBS series. When a data point isn’t published there, it stays blank and shows "Not disclosed" rather than being taken from an unverifiable secondary source.
Can your ratings change?
Yes, when a manufacturer data point evolves, when a model joins the catalog, or when a reference price changes durably. The rating grid itself stays identical for every motor.
