Building an ebike is way cheaper than buying one, but off the shelf mid drive stuff from Bafang, etc is generally not as high quality as Shimano, Bosch, TQ, etc. I’ve got a Bafang mid drive bike that’s crazy powerful with 2300w, but it’s heavy as hell and very loud/not super refined. My TQ bike is 25 pounds(!) lighter and while it only has 300w of power, the power delivery is incredibly natural and responsive, and the bike feels more like an actual mountain bike to ride on trails instead of like a motorcycle lol.
Building an ebike is way cheaper than buying one, but off the shelf mid drive stuff from Bafang, etc is generally not as high quality as Shimano, Bosch, TQ, etc. I’ve got a Bafang mid drive bike that’s crazy powerful with 2300w, but it’s heavy as hell and very loud/not super refined. My TQ bike is 25 pounds(!) lighter and while it only has 300w of power, the power delivery is incredibly natural and responsive, and the bike feels more like an actual mountain bike to ride on trails instead of like a motorcycle lol.