The decisions that come before the purchase
Each of these is a choice we had to make in our own bill of materials, with a price attached. We show what we picked and what it cost — including the cases where the cheaper option is genuinely the right one.
Torque sensor vs Cadence sensor
A torque sensor measures the force you put through the cranks and scales the motor to it, so assistance arrives in proportion to your effort. A cadence sensor only detects that the cranks are turning and applies a preset power level, which is why cadence bikes surge away from junctions and feel like a throttle with extra steps.
Read the comparison →Mid-drive motor vs Rear hub motor
A mid-drive motor sits at the bottom bracket and drives through your gears, so it can stay in its efficient range on any gradient. A hub motor drives the wheel directly, which makes it simpler and cheaper but leaves it working against a fixed ratio on every climb.
Read the comparison →Carbon belt drive vs Chain
A carbon belt runs two to four times longer than a chain, needs no lubrication, and does not mark your clothes — but it requires a frame with a split in the rear triangle and a gearbox or internal hub. A chain is cheaper, universally serviceable, and works with any transmission.
Read the comparison →Internal gear hub vs Derailleur
An internal gear hub puts the gears inside a sealed shell, so it shifts while stationary and ignores rain, salt and grit. A derailleur is lighter, cheaper and offers a wider gear range, but every moving part of it sits in the weather at the lowest point of the bike.
Read the comparison →Generated to your dimensions vs Off-the-shelf
Generated hardware is dimensioned from your measurements and produced in a batch run, so it fits exactly and costs a modest premium over a comparable catalogue product. Off-the-shelf arrives in two days, costs less, and fits whatever the designer assumed about your desk.
Read the comparison →Injection moulding vs CNC machining
Injection moulding front-loads the cost into a mould that runs thousands of parts for pennies each; CNC machining has almost no setup cost but charges full price for every part. For a typical desk accessory the crossover sits somewhere between 400 and 900 units.
Read the comparison →Prebuilt PC vs Built around your parts
A prebuilt PC is assembled from whatever the manufacturer bought in volume, in a case designed to fit every possible combination — which is why it is fifty litres with a card that needs thirty. Building around your parts means the case follows the components: smaller, quieter, and a power supply sized from the actual load rather than from a dropdown.
Read the comparison →USB-C powered vs Mains powered
A product powered over USB-C runs on safety extra-low voltage, which puts it outside the Low Voltage Directive: it needs EMC testing and RoHS, and that is roughly €1,400 and three weeks. Put a mains inlet in the same box and you add LVD, EN 62368-1, creepage and clearance distances, and a test programme closer to €3,800 and six weeks.
Read the comparison →Off-the-shelf project box vs Generated enclosure
A stock ABS box is the cheapest possible housing and perfectly adequate for one unit on a bench. It stops making sense the moment you need more than a handful, because every one of them needs the same holes drilled by hand — and hand-drilled holes are why prototypes look like prototypes.
Read the comparison →Pre-certified radio module vs Your own radio design
A module that already carries a Radio Equipment Directive certificate lets you inherit most of that evidence and file an integration statement instead of a full test programme. Designing the radio into your own board means the full RED route — EN 300 328, EN 301 489, RF exposure — at roughly €4,200 and five weeks, repeated whenever the layout changes materially.
Read the comparison →Aluminium frame vs Steel frame
Aluminium gives a lighter frame at the same stiffness and is cheaper to produce in volume, which is why almost every production e-bike uses it. Steel is more comfortable, more repairable and more forgiving of small-batch manufacture, at a weight penalty of roughly 1.2 to 1.8 kg.
Read the comparison →Removable battery vs Fully integrated battery
A removable pack lifts out so you can charge it at a desk and take it inside overnight. A permanently integrated pack saves 300–500 g of latching hardware, seals better against water, and allows a cleaner frame — but the bike has to be charged wherever it is parked.
Read the comparison →