BOSCH PERFORMANCE LINE CX REVIEW - [R]EVOLUTION MAGAZINE

WHEN YOU BEGIN NAVIGATING THE WORLD OF E-MTB IT'S NATURAL THAT YOU WILL ASK WHAT THE BEST MOTOR, BIKE OPTION, BATTERY SIZE, WEIGHT ETC. LET US START BY SAYING THE TEST TEAM AT [E]VOLUTION HEADQUARTERS ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THEIR HANDS ON A VARIETY OF EBIKES, THEY ALL HAVE THEIR LITTLE INDIVIDUAL QUIRKS BUT IN PARTICULAR, WE GET ASKED A LOT ABOUT THE EBIKE MOTORS.

We currently have a 2022 Focus Sam2 eMTB on review which you can check out on the other pages within this mag, but one of the standout features of this bike was the all-new Bosch motor. We have ridden a lot of different motors and to be honest they’re all pretty good, so we asked ourselves the question as what all this hype was around the Bosch system. Suffice to say after a few months aboard this motor we were really impressed, so without boring you to death we thought we’d delve into a bit more chit chat on this motor and give you shredders at home a bit more of an insight into what makes this super cool Bosch motor tick. This is the now in its fourth generation Bosch motor, it is as you can see rather sleek, light, compact and bloody powerful to boot. With a 625w battery, 85nm of torque, and a variety of progressive settings what’s not to like about this neat little setup. Not only does the Bosch motor deliver in athletics, but it also has ample amounts of grunt to complement its good looks. There are also 4 different power modes and a walk function thrown in for good measure.

Economy or ‘Eco’ mode pumps out 50% of added support from the rider’s power output, which in short makes the bike feel and pedal like your non-aspirated whip. The ‘Tour’ mode 120% of additional grunt, in this setting you are getting a noticeable assistance but you’re still getting a workout, as the name  ‘tour’ suggests, this setting is ideal if you’re heading
out for a longer ride and want to get the most out of your battery life, but you still want a little extra pep from the motor to conserved energy. One of the really cool settings is the EMTB, think of it a as bit more punch than your traditional trail mode but still a good option to conserve a bit of battery, it’s a lot better for climbing as it provides a smoother output under load which maintains traction with the trail surface yet still pumps out plenty of torque on the decents and undulating sections, as matter of fact this is like your do it all mode which we found ourselves riding in the majority of the time. One little cool element to this mode is what they refer to as ‘extended boost.’ In short as you’re pedalling up climbs especially more technical sections the power assistance continued to drive the motor for a fraction even after you stop pedaling which makes navigating tight, steep, technical sections a breeze and really maintains traction between the rubber and trail surface.

And at the very top of the horsepower list is of course ‘Turbo’ mode! This setting defiantly put a smile on our dial, to be honest we didn’t use this setting a lot as is really packs a punch deliver 300% percent of assistance to your power output. We found we used this mode a hell of a lot when punching fi re roads or fl at section between trails or a lot on the road when riding to our trail networks, one thing we’ll say is the ‘Turbo’ setting does put a grin on your face. Some other cool notable features about this motor its weight coming in around 2.79 kg, the motor is light compact and comes with built in protection from any trail debris. Bosch offer a couple of variables with their motors, battery sizes and
control screens which will depend a lot on what make and model eBike you’re going for. The motor we tested really is best suited to more aggressive style riding, so one thing we should touch on is its reliability. We have really handed it to this motor, in a variety of conditions and it been super reliable, not only that, but it is also really, really quiet compared to some other motors we’ve ridden. A couple of other key points is the fact it charges up super quick but the biggest thing we noticed was the smooth delivery of power that sets Bosch apart. A few of our crew took this sucker for a spin and they all complimented this motor on how smooth it is to ride. The system we tested came with a neat little display screen on the bars were your can see how far, fast you’re going, gone, speed, battery life etc. and as mentioned above there is an easy-to-use walk assist function. There is also scope to adjust your settings, so if you want to get into customizing your own settings you have the ability to do that as well. We ran a 625w batter which some may argue is on the smaller side of things but to honest it was pretty economic for its size. We punch out some decent rides with this battery size and never found we ran out of juice. With that said there is different batter size options again depending on what bike you buy. Overall, when you ride a bike fitted with the new Bosch Performance Line CX it becomes immediately obvious why so many people have been raving about this motor. It’s ride quality and performance certainly does not disappoint. It pretty much ticked all the boxes as far and style, weight, power output and adjustability, not only that its ride performance was right up there we the best our team have experienced to date. If this new Bosch motor is an insight into the progression of eMTB, all you cool cats start saving your pennies because you’ll need more space in your shed for an addition to your quiver of trail sleds.

Words - Scotty Prendergast

Photos - Matt Staggs