Recently I’ve been doing a lot of side-by-side comparisons of ebike models from different manufacturers – for instance comparing MeloYelo’s step-through mid-motor ebikes with those available from other brands.
In doing so, I noticed that while the motors on other brands offered between 50 and 65 Nm (newton-metres) of torque, our MeloYelo motors offer 80 Nm of torque – up to 60% more torque than competing motors.
So what is torque and why should you care?
Torque is the Turning Force, regardless of how fast the rotating item is turning.
When you push on the pedals, you are creating a turning force on the chainring. The harder you pedal (greater force on the pedal), the more torque.
With the same gearing, the higher the torque at the chainring, the higher the torque at the back wheel, and that allows faster acceleration and better hill climbing.
So the output torque of a motor can be likened to pedalling effort. A motor with higher torque output is like a rider who can pedal harder. The result? Higher speeds possible in the same gear, better hill-climbing and better acceleration.