Yadea Electric Bike Preview – YT300 and YS500

In this preview article, I’ll be taking a closer look at the new budget mid-drive electric bike range from Chinese brand Yadea. The YS500 e-MTB and YT300 e-city bike are now available within the EU from geekbuying.com, and on paper, the specification of both bikes looks to be excellent. If I can get hold of one (or both) of these e-bikes shortly, I’ll be doing a full review.

Summary

The Yadea Technology Group are a Chinese-based e-mobility company with experience spanning over 20 years in the industry. Their range of electric bikes has only just come to my attention, so I thought I’d take a closer look at what they have to offer and share my opinions with you.

Budget mid-drive electric bikes

One of the main things that drew me to this brand was its range of affordable mid-drive electric bikes. The words ‘cheap’ and ‘mid-drive e-bike’ aren’t usually found in the same sentence nowadays but both the YS500 electric mountain bike and YT300 City e-bike look like incredibly good value for money.

Yadea Fusion Motor

Of course, an electric bike is only as good as its components and the new Yadea Fusion motor looks very impressive on paper – with a bilateral torque sensor and CAN-bus communication protocol (as developed by Bosch) it seems to be using the latest technology. The claimed torque of 85Nm is also impressive putting it on par with the latest Bosch CX and Shimano Steps EP8 motors (85Nm) and above the Shimano Steps E6100 and Bosch Active Plus (60Nm) which, considering the budget price is pretty good.

As far as reliability is concerned, it’s too early to tell how robust this motor is going to be but no electric motor is immune from gremlins including Bosch and Shimano.

Bilateral torque sensors are nothing new and are used on all premium systems like Bosch etc. It means that pedal force is measured on both sides, giving a more accurate reading and hence a smoother, more intuitive assist. This pedal-assist system also uses cadence and speed (like Bosch and Shimano). The motor is quite compact and uses an ISIS crank fitment.

On the face of it, this system looks really good and I’m looking forward to trying it out sometime shortly.

Fusion mid-drive motor comparison

	FUSION MID-MOTOR	Bosch (Performance CX)	Brose	YAMAHA（PW）	Bafang MAX
SENSOR SENSITIVITY	0.5%	1%	1%	1%	5%
MAX TORQUE	85NM	85NM	90NM	70NM	80NM
AXIS SPEC.	ISIS SPINE	ISIS SPINE	ISIS SPINE	ISIS SPINE	SQUARE HOLE AXIS
MAX RPM	120RPM	120RPM	120RPM	110RPM	100RPM
WEIGHT	3.6KG	2.9kg	3.4KG	3.5KG	/
POWER TRANSMISSION	II STAGE HELICAL GEAR	STAGE I HELICAL GEAR & STAGE I PLANETARY GEAR	STAGE I PLANETARY GEAR & BELT DRIVEN	II STAGE HELICAL GEAR	II STAGE HELICAL GEAR

Display

Both the displays look okay – the display on the YT300 is a basic LED design and is limited to 3 levels assist, walk assist, light on/off, distance and battery indicator. This is acceptable considering the excellent price and intended use of the YT300.

The LCD on the Yadea YS500 looks fairly basic, but functional and is similar in size and shape to the Bafang C965 display. There are 4 levels of assistance to choose from, a battery range indicator and a trip function.

Battery

The battery on the YS500 e-MTB uses high-quality LG cells and has a total energy capacity of 468Wh (36v 13Ah) which is very reasonable on an e-bike of this price. The  YT300 has a 36v 7.8Ah battery (280Wh) and there are no cell specifications available, so I’m assuming generic cells on this battery.

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Yadea YT300 Electric City Bike

When I first saw the price of the Yadea YT300 I was surprised to see a mid-drive city electric bike available for under €1000. It looks like fantastic value for money and providing the motor proves to be reliable enough, then I would say it’s potentially a great option.  The YT300 is aimed squarely at the commuter / urban riding sector with 20″ wheels, mudguards, rack and lights.

I would say that this could be a great option for a rider looking for a reasonably lightweight and nimble commuter e-bike. The components look fairly basic with v-brakes and 7-speed gearing but I’d say that’s all you need for day-to-day commuting and all these parts are easily serviceable and cheap to replace.

The 36v 7.8Ah battery should give a realistic range of around 30 miles which will be ample for most commutes. I reckon the Yadea YT300 could also be popular with leisure riders and owners of camper vans.

Specification

• Material: Aluminium alloy; Steel
• Colour: Red /Black/White (Optional)
• OKAWA mid-motor:
• Rated Power: 250W
• Rated Voltage: 36V
• Torque: >75N.m
• Max. Speed: 25km/h (15.5mi/h)
• Max mileage: 60km/37mi
• Battery: 36V 7.8Ah
• Charging-time:4h
• Rear Derailleur: 7-Speed Gears
• Brake: Front and rear V-brakes
• Meter: 12V-LED 3-speed level
• Wheel: 20″/50cm
• Max Load Capacity:
• Bicycle: 120kg/264.6lbs
• Rear Carrier: 15kg/33.1lbs
• Size: 157*89-95*59cm/61.8″*35″-37.4″*23.2″
• Net Weight:22kg/48.5lbs

Buy the Yadea YT300 from Geekbuying.com EU shipping

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Yadea YS500 Electric Mountain Bike

At its current price of around €1300, the Yadea YS500 is excellent value for a mid-drive e-MTB. The components are entry-level and include a Shimano Altus 9-speed rear derailleur, Shimano MT200 hydraulic brakes and Suntour XCT forks. The YS500 is going to be a great budget alternative to something like the Cube Reaction Hybrid 400, or Decathlon Rockrider E-ST520.

Specification

Size	Material	Aluminium alloy
	Unfolded size	180*72*105cm
	Package Size	1465*245*775mm
	Wheel	27.5inch
Spec.	Product Weight	25kg
	Load	150KG
	Applicable height	165-180CM
	Max speed	25KM/H
	Model	Three-speed electric assist mode and bicycle mode(Not support pure power mode.)
	The charger	36V2A
Battery	Battery capacity	13AH
	Battery rate voltage	36V
	Charging time	7H
Motor	Motor rated voltage	36V
	Motor rated power	350W
	Range per charge	80-100Km
Shift	Mechanical shift	SHIMANO Nine speed

Buy the Yadea YS500 from Geekbuying.com EU shipping

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Conclusion

It’s always good to see new budget electric bikes become available to the consumer especially when most ‘brand-name’ mid-drive electric bikes start at over €2000.

Yadea have a large presence in Europe, Asia and the US and employs over 7000 people, plus they’ve been in the industry for over 20 years so I’m sure they’ve invested a lot in the research and development of these new electric bikes and their motor.

There’s always an element of risk involved in buying an electric bike and even the more prestigious brands can cause problems, so I reckon the real test will be in the after-sales support.

The specifications of both the YS500 and YT300 are excellent considering their respective prices and I would say that if you’re in the market for a mid-drive e-bike and don’t want to risk buying a used bike, then the Yadea bikes are well worth a look.

Buy the Yadea YT300 from Geekbuying.com EU shipping

Thanks for reading and if you already own one of these please feel free to share your experiences below.