Bosch cx race motor quite underwhelming

[Uktonyb77]

Hi all,

Guessing the Bosch race motor would be pretty rare but hoping others on this forum have maybe got one on their bike. I’ve recently got the mondraker crafty carbon XR limited edition which came with Bosch race motor.

I find it a little underwhelming given the hype that was created in pre release reviews etc. i don’t find there much difference at all between using the motor in turbo or in race mode.

If anything on say a 15 - 20 degree climb I found turbo to be more of an assist as it seems the race mode demands a +100 cadence to really benefit from the 400% assist advertised.

It’s a different story from a standing start however and the race mode is rapid and outperforms turbo.

Another observation is going along a singletrack trial pretty flat at say 12-14mph race mode seems again underwhelming with almost a lag before it delivers the power whereas again turbo is instant.

There’s definitely a longer overrun which is nice for techie steep stuff and does indeed help to a degree.

Just wondering if anyone else has experiences to share as maybe mine is goosed or something. I’m All on the latest software and was the same performance wise even before the very recent Bosch update.

Thx in advance

Tony

 

[Zimmerframe]

I think the race mode motor is setup for what it's designed for.

For general riding a lot of thought has gone into the modes and support on the Gen4 and it works well for 99% of the time.

The race motor shouldn't be seen as an "upgrade" , it's an alternative. I suspect most people who end up with one who don't race will end up with getting the firmware flashed as standard as it's more usable for general riding.

We'll probably end up with a shortage of "race" motors for people who need them because people with spare cash will see it as an "upgrade" when it's not.

The Race modes will be setup to give optimum/maximum power when it thinks that's required and in the meantime it will be trying to conserve power to make up for the boosts when they're required, presuming that an athlete is riding the bike so it will be optimised for those conditions.

 

[Uktonyb77]

Yes I get it’s purpose. It was simply on the bike I wanted and bike didn’t have any other option of motor available.

If it is really meant for athletes. / racers then why would the manufacturer's bother to spec on general public release bikes other than for them to grab extra cash like you rightly point out.

You mention race modes ?? There’s aren't race modes but only one mode called race which gives the same adjustability as all the other modes ; assistance dynamic , max speed , acceleration and NM torque . Pretty basic really and in line with all the other modes such as turbo or emtb & your+ etc.

Would be far more beneficial to be able to manipulate the power curve in each mode on the smart system and have greater adjustability in dynamics overall on the Bosch. Shimano seem to have this nailed with there latest motor and firmware.

Just a real shame benefitting from the cx race motor on a bike there is a real inability to optimise any settings on that claimed special race mode other than the standard generic presets.

You mention getting firmware flashed ?? What do you mean by this as I’m pretty sure it’s the same firmware on the recent download via the flow app as the normal performance line cx motor . It definitely doesn’t seem like there is any magic firmware or anything that’s different for the norm. Unless of course like you stated being an athlete / racer one would have access to more firmware’s to suit a specific discipline of riding.

 

[Zimmerframe]

The latest update lets you edit the modes, even the EMTB and EMTB lite modes (a bit like shimano trail - though that's dynamic, so even if you change it it does its own thing anyway).

Ideally, just stick it in EMTB and use that. Presumably Turbo has been replaced with Race on yours ?

A shop can let you select which modes you want on there, so you could replace race with Turbo and just have the lighter motor.

 

[Uktonyb77]

Hi , I’ve got tour+ , emtb , turbo & race on it as supplied from the mondraker dealer. I’ve put the tour + to a -2 on the new update and it seems a lot better and not overpowered like tour should be really. The tour+ with standard dynamic settings was just too much in my opinion.

I did contemplate returning to the dealer and getting eco , tour+ , emtb & just race and dropping the turbo altogether in the beginning but after 400 miles on it now I’m a little underwhelmed with the race mode completely like I’ve said in my first post.

Turbo is just as good with the assist on steeps etc. i have noticed definate benefit on real rooty rocky climbs with the race giving just that little bit more ability to manoeuvre the bike better without pedal striking etc. One could argue though just improve technique

It’s the mid power grunt where I feel the race motor to be pretty flat on the power. Turbo seems to give power on quite a linear curve whereas I don’t feel race mode to be mapped that way. If you spin a cadence of 100+ in race mode things to improve but not noticeably enough to be any different to turbo. If my bike was available with choice of cx performance line or the race version , knowing what I have experienced now 1st hand I would have just gone with the performance line. Like the previous poster said ; maybe aimed more at competitive racers and athletes than Joe public

Shame it’s not possible to adjust your own power curves like on the non smart Bosch gen4’s

Who knows maybe Bosch will appease rider feedback and allow the race mode to be further fine tuned in the future. Or is that me just wishful thinking

 

[Redders473]

Anyone had to warranty there race motor yet. Mine as become horrendously loud,like people can hear me coming from 300m away it just changed over night and it's been that way ever since.