Bosch vs Powerplay display vs Shimano

What looks better - PowerPlay or Bosch Display?

  • PowerPlay

    Votes: 6 100.0%
  • Bosch

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    6

DJ57UMP

Active member
Mar 13, 2021
177
157
England
So Rocky Mountain just posted pictures of what I thought the new Bosch system would have been - a great looking display built into the frame. Add to that the discrete bar controls on the Rocky Mountain vs the Power Rangers style controls from Bosch... just how long do you think it will be before Shimano take the best of both and release a screen that can be incorporated into the top tube?


Rocky Mountain Power Play control
control.PNG
Bosch Mighty Morphin Power Ranger control
bcontrol.PNG
Rocky Mountain slimline intergrated display
display.PNG
Bosch -'My First' in the way display...
bdisplay.PNG

I'm not saying one motor is better than the other - they all poxy well go wrong just at the worst time!

I'm just saying that there's been much praise heaped on Bosch for their new display when I think it looks like it comes out of a Kinder Egg. I'm interested to see what Shimano do next... it must be coming - right? Will it be a stinker or a winner?

And remember - it's just a giggle - no need to shoot the Bosch hater ;)
 

Peaky Rider

E*POWAH Master
Feb 9, 2019
847
538
Derbyshire Dales
I bought a Rail three weeks ago with the Purion control. After three years of using a discreet Shimano E7000 control I just did not like the Purion so I swapped it out for a Kiox with a top tube fixing. After four rides I am still struggling to find a comfortable position for the handlebar control which is just too bulky and from what I can see, the new unit is no better.

I think one problem Bosch have is their decision not to put the on/off switch on the frame but on the control units instead, meaning more 'stuff' in the control units..

Definitely the current Shimano or the new Rocky Mountain units for me.
 
Last edited:

Redlemon

Active member
Oct 30, 2021
289
467
Canada
That huge Bosch controller makes no sense at all, information should only be displayed on the screen just like Rocky Mountain, Giant & Specialized are doing.

Really confused on why Trek is using that controller when they have a screen available to display that info.

It is ugly, huge and not crash proof.
 

Peaky Rider

E*POWAH Master
Feb 9, 2019
847
538
Derbyshire Dales
If only the bloody EP8 could match the bosh for power

That's just what I thought till I got a Bosch and now I'm left wondering what all the fuss is about. But then, I did turn the power levels down on my E8000s so I guess my motor requirements may be different to others. As a Shimano bonus, their motors are straightforward to 'tune' and having assistance up to 20 mph is sublime.

Still, everyone else, including Rob, sings the praises of the Bosch motor so maybe I'm just not getting it.
 

Motohawk75

Active member
Dec 30, 2020
135
90
U.K.
That's just what I thought till I got a Bosch and now I'm left wondering what all the fuss is about. But then, I did turn the power levels down on my E8000s so I guess my motor requirements may be different to others. As a Shimano bonus, their motors are straightforward to 'tune' and having assistance up to 20 mph is sublime.

Still, everyone else, including Rob, sings the praises of the Bosch motor so maybe I'm just not getting it.
The ep8 is a pain in ass to tune as far as i know ….. mines pretty much turned up to max in all settings but still cant stay with tye Bosh unless its down hill
 

flash

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Patreon
Nov 24, 2018
1,050
986
Wamberal, NSW Australia
All of these things look like tech designed for a city bike strapped badly to an MTB. When I'm blasting through a forest all I need is a coloured LED telling me which mode I'm in and a proper percentage battery meter plus a discrete controller on the bars. Shimano has a great controller and easy to see colours for the mode but the battery bar is crap and it won't stick on the display you set (it always switches back to speed after a few seconds when I'd have range there as the default). Bosch is a joke. Love the motor but don't know if I want that amount of ugly in the shed. The new Rocky looks good but at speed can I see what mode the motor is in? Or is it monochrome?

Specialized seem to have it sorted best. But again, if I want all the extra crap I'd rather attach a garmin. At least you can customise what you see.

I an ideal world I want a WIRELESS version of the Shimano controller and a small display, in the top tube, that shows battery percentage (as a number) and range left in a format that changes colour with the mode in use. That's it. If I want speed cadence, watts etc, there are options. Spech seem to be the closest, at great expense.......

And Bosch. Stop with the city bike displays. They're awful. We don't even want them on a city bike when a decent app and a phone mount would do the same job.

Gordon
 

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