What is volspeed V4?

[Stu12a]

Did they repair the motor for you, at a cost, or did you have to buy a new one?
I was thinking of fitting a Volspeed 4 to my Rail but you've made me think twice now.

They gave me a 15% discount on a new motor. Still cost me $1100Aud.
They also made a point of saying that even if the motor was out of warranty and it had failed without the chip in it, they would have covered it as if it were under warranty as they believe they have so little failures and just want to keep people on their bikes.

 

[Planemo]

Concerning. Quite an unusual one in that it simply didn't turn on rather than an error code though.

Mines been OK but then I haven't done a lot of miles yet. Maybe similar to what you have.

 

[Peaky Rider]

They gave me a 15% discount on a new motor. Still cost me $1100Aud.
They also made a point of saying that even if the motor was out of warranty and it had failed without the chip in it, they would have covered it as if it were under warranty as they believe they have so little failures and just want to keep people on their bikes.

You've convinced me, 15.5 mph it is, which is a shame as I have an Shimano E8000 unlocked to US market settings and it is just so nice.
Wonder if they get more failures in the US?

 

[izometric]

Speedbox vs volspeed

I used speedbox 3.0 for 1600 Km since I bought the bike new (Trek Verve 2 + with Bosch performance line). I gave up the warranty all together, I didn't even went to the compulsory 500 km checkup. The reason was that I wanted to avoid any kind of software update and I know that derestriction can be detected with a diagnostic tool and warranty will be voided anyhow.

So, 1600 km and 11 month later, my speedbox 3.0 suddenly died. It displayed error 503 (no speed reading) and the bike would go in limp mode (less than 20 kmph)

I contacted the reseller, he put me in contact with a technical sales from Speedbox, we troubleshot the unit, a decision was made to have my unit replaced.

Meanwhile, while waiting for the return process to complete, I purchased a Volspeed V4 because riding the bike to work in the middle of nowhere limited at 25kmph was absolute torture.

There is no difference in behavior between the Speedbox and Volspeed. The Volspeed electronics box is smaller than the speedbox, but the wiring is almost double in length. So in terms of volume occupied inside the motor cover there is no difference, but I would give a slight advantage to Speedbox. The package feels somewhat more compact.

Speedbox is virtually not limited in speed. If you have the right gears and muscle power, you can theoretically go to 99 kmph.

Volspeed can be set to a maximum of 45 kmph, which is more than enough, I never exceeded this speed limit so perfectly fine for me. I usually ride at 35-38 kmph.

Another advantage of the Volspeed is that it alternates the range reading with the battery percentage left. This is a nice perk, I really like it.

All in all, I am perfectly happy with both derestricting boxes. Riding almost one week without one was traumatic, I don't want to repeat the experience. So until I will pass one more year to make my bike worth the purchase cost, sell it and reinvest in a speed pedelec, I decided to keep the Speedbox replacement unit that will be sent back to me as a reserve.

 

[Hamina]

I beg to differ. I installed a V4 on my Focus jam² 2020 bosch cx4 unit. After about 300km of riding with a Max speed set to 35kph, it decided to not turn on one day after being charged. The motor was taken to my LBS and immediately, Bosch said they could see it had been tuned.

All connections were checked as recommended by bosch before the motor was pulled and sent. They were able to tell by the power draw of the motor that it had been modified. It was clear as day to them.
This myth that they are undetectable is misleading and a false claim.

This is something very spectacular here. I think it would be the first time ever I've heard about such capability at LBS or Bosch.

Do you have any further details on this? What was your driving profile?

 

[Hardtail]

I’ve done 10,000 km’s on the Volspeed V3 with the non-smart Bosch gen 4 625wh.
I only had one detection error after riding in torrential rain after 6 months, the Volspeed inline connections are not waterproof, had corroded badly and where wet.
I replaced the speed sensor, due to corrosion, and now tape the connections in electrical tape.
I have my speed set to 60 kmph and have Volspeed enabled all the time on the bike.
I purchased one for my brothers bike also and again opted for the V3 over the V4 because of the speed limit and I bet with the ability to modify power settings it would be more likely to be detectable…
I also unplug the Volspeed whenever I drop it in to the LBS for updates etc.
It is a great product, set and forget with no boot up or countdown timer.

 

[Hamina]

I have 5500km with Volspeed V3 on old Bosch CX Gen 4 with Purion controller. There hasn't been any issues with the Volspeed.

 

[ReinerSt0ff77]

10000Km no Problems,CX 4 no Smart.

 

[Bomble]

If it’s clear as day to Bosch detecting chipped motors I would have thought there would be a lot more reports of it.