Will the torque/power of the Bosch Gen 5 increase this year with a software update?

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,807
5,265
Weymouth
That’s what Panasonic used to say about Samsung back 2008.
Now people say “Who’s Panasonic!”
you are comparing apples with pears!! The DJI motor etc is not standalone, it has to get fitted to a bike....meanwhile all the leading/volume brands are already committed to Bosch or Shimano etc. Hence the market share for bikes with the DJI system is very small and until/unless anything other than Amflow or a niche brand decides to adopt it .....it is not a key competitor for Bosch.
 

DirkWisely

New Member
Jun 14, 2024
117
100
California
you are comparing apples with pears!! The DJI motor etc is not standalone, it has to get fitted to a bike....meanwhile all the leading/volume brands are already committed to Bosch or Shimano etc. Hence the market share for bikes with the DJI system is very small and until/unless anything other than Amflow or a niche brand decides to adopt it .....it is not a key competitor for Bosch.
But if it proves to be as good as everybody who has reviewed it has said it is, then it's a future threat. Why would brands stick with an inferior motor/battery when their first competitor to adopt it will eat their lunch?
 

zizajaun

New Member
Mar 12, 2025
14
6
UK
I saw a video from a bike show and the Bosch research engineer said that Bosch had decided that 85Nm was the optimum amount of power for both assistance and mileage. As most of my rides are 30+ miles I tend to agree with him. Whether peer or power pressure will take over who knows.
I think if they don't increase it, they will lose a lot of the market to DJI. Whether that's justified is unclear - the DJI's Boost mode (120 Nm, 1000 W) seems a bit gimmicky, but I could see myself using 100 NM / 800 W while doing laps of enduro trails - sometimes you just want to get up the fire road as fast as possible.
 

TorAtle

Active member
Aug 4, 2018
111
100
OSLO
From my cabin there's a 17 km 900 vertical meters trail / descent. Obviously the time getting back would go way down with a DJI, which is a big plus. Same advantage for park rides as already mentioned by others. For this reason alone I will not look at Shimano or Bosch.
Oh and btw, did anyone notice that DJI will output 600 Watts with only 50 Watt rider input? That's 12x assistance, compared to 3.4x (Bosch) and 4x (Shimano). Amazing!
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,807
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Weymouth
As fast as possible is limited by the speed cut off beyond which the motor is doing nothing. Product buyers spending large lumps of cash are always advocates and reviewers have copy to sell.
Reliability, longevity, warranty, service and support, distribution, pricing, all play a part in determining product success and most are medium to long term factors yet to be fully tested.
 

zizajaun

New Member
Mar 12, 2025
14
6
UK
DJI will output 600 Watts with only 50 Watt rider input
Where did you get this info from? The DJI website implies max 800% in Turbo (which is 850 W) and less in other modes:
1741955643301.png
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
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Weymouth
No fireroad climb is difficult and offroad techy climbs are all about grip , control and skill at speeds well below cut off.
Personally I have my enduro bike with Bosch motor tuned at plus 3 in Flow and EMTB mode does everything I need..never use turbo. No way would I want max power at only 50 watt rider torque...May as well just have a throttle!
The other thing that would concern me on the video is how much heat is created with such power outputs. It is not just about derating and fluctuation of output. The components of the motor will be going through repeated heat cycles and that does not bode well for longevity.
 

zizajaun

New Member
Mar 12, 2025
14
6
UK
That's useful info, thanks. I was thinking the Bosch would be basically as good as the Avinox once the update comes through, but the lower assistance ratio and longer charging times make me think the Avinox will still be quite a bit better... unless Bosch will also improve those things at the same time.
 

zizajaun

New Member
Mar 12, 2025
14
6
UK
No fireroad climb is difficult and offroad techy climbs are all about grip , control and skill at speeds well below cut off.
Personally I have my enduro bike with Bosch motor tuned at plus 3 in Flow and EMTB mode does everything I need..never use turbo. No way would I want max power at only 50 watt rider torque...May as well just have a throttle!
The other thing that would concern me on the video is how much heat is created with such power outputs. It is not just about derating and fluctuation of output. The components of the motor will be going through repeated heat cycles and that does not bode well for longevity.
I've never ridden an ebike, but if you're doing a whole day of laps at, say, Forest of Dean or Bike Park Wales, you'd want to expend as little effort as possible to get to the top. So being able to input 50-150 watts and still get up there pretty quickly seems like it could be handy. Maybe not 12x, but wouldn't a 4-8x ratio be usable?

Or to put it another way, I want to spend less than 1/3 of the effort on each bike park climb compared to an acoustic bike. If I understand the numbers correctly, Bosch wouldn't let me do that.
 
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Suns_PSD

Active member
Jul 12, 2022
587
494
Austin
But if it proves to be as good as everybody who has reviewed it has said it is, then it's a future threat. Why would brands stick with an inferior motor/battery when their first competitor to adopt it will eat their lunch?

I think buying a motor system from a competitor that also produces bikes, is problematic.

But beyond that, ya the DJI appears to be a better package. However, the bike is what is what is most important, and both motor systems are very good and certainly good enough. The Bosch is quieter as well.

DJI also has a poor history of providing support after a few years for their drones, so that might be a consideration as well.
 

BMP

New Member
Apr 18, 2024
45
33
Iowa USA
I don't think the Bosch really needs any more power as the Gen 4 climbs very well if you get the pedals spinning.
So true! My youngest daughter's BF just bought a 85nm Rail 7. It's his first assist bike. He was floored to see how well the bike climbed with a good spin at the pedals even in ECO mode.
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,763
5,940
Scotland
I've never had an ebike so don't really know how much power I need, or how big a battery. But I'm 100kg and do a mix of long mountain days, short blasts around the woods, and black diamond bike park laps. For the first two, I'm not in a huge rush on climbs, so maybe 400 W is plenty. In parks, I want to get to the top ASAP and with as little effort as possible, mostly on fire roads, so 600-800 W might be useful.
Yes go big battery I'm 90 kg . You may cycle a lot further than you think we'll I do. I get 45 miles max 1000m climbing ,just a rough guide for u. My battery 700 and I still would like more.
 

highpeakrider

E*POWAH Master
Aug 10, 2018
698
573
Peak District
We have non-Smart Gen 4 Bosch and we rarely use Turbo, and even then only occasionally for silly steep hill climbing. For 'normal' MTB riding it's just stupid fast. If you need a fast eBike buy one and keep off the trails and stay on the roads where they belong.
On a gen 5 i’ve never used turbo and most riding can be done in tour+, on silly hills the assisted hill start works a treat to reduce the starting torque.
 

Pedec

Member
Mar 17, 2024
46
34
Weyburn,Canada
Rocky Mountain been making a 107nm e-bike since 2022. It totally a different design than other e-bike motors. The crank arms are not part of the motor so pedal strikes are less likely to hurt motor. The actual motor does not see water or dirt from the environment you are riding in. Motor power is very adjustable with nice display that shows lots of extra things. But Nobody seems to talk about it.
 

Biano44

Active member
Oct 7, 2020
152
148
Charnwood
Rocky Mountain been making a 107nm e-bike since 2022. It totally a different design than other e-bike motors. The crank arms are not part of the motor so pedal strikes are less likely to hurt motor. The actual motor does not see water or dirt from the environment you are riding in. Motor power is very adjustable with nice display that shows lots of extra things. But Nobody seems to talk about it.
Massive Rocky Mountain fan but the aesthetics and the separate drive wheel wouldn’t work for me in the UK winter slop.
 

Pedec

Member
Mar 17, 2024
46
34
Weyburn,Canada
Massive Rocky Mountain fan but the aesthetics and the separate drive wheel wouldn’t work for me in the UK winter slop.
Do you know anybody that rides a Rocky Mountain there. I know in Canada were powerplay bike was developed and tested is like a rainforest and very wet (North Shore BC). Kinda why I thought they designed e-bike for wet conditions. But I have seen some vids from UK and mud can be sticky and just gross. I have the RM Blizzard powerplay and one the reason I bought it hoping motor design would take wet conditions better and has so far 500km. What I really like is motor feel it just very strong, smooth, quiet and natural feeling even in lower power setting. I am only using 50-60% of the power most times. I also own a gasgas yamaha powered e-bike and it been good also but just does not have the same feel as RM.
 

SandroRiz

Member
Sep 6, 2022
38
13
Italy
my dealer say YES... only cx 5, at least 95 maybe more; probabily togheter with the launch of the top-tube display
he says 2026, other people september (Eurobike 2025 is in June, too early for me)
 

gio_se

Member
Jan 26, 2023
10
3
Ancona, Italy
my dealer say YES... only cx 5, at least 95 maybe more; probabily togheter with the launch of the top-tube display
he says 2026, other people september (Eurobike 2025 is in June, too early for me)
I believe 2026 is too late: considering that the release of bikes with the new Brose Drive3 Peak motor (which has 95Nm) should be imminent, I doubt Bosch wants to take the risk of being overtaken by the only real other German competitor in the ebike motor market (yes, I know there's also TQ, but from what I see, for now, they prefer to stay within the e-light category).
 

SandroRiz

Member
Sep 6, 2022
38
13
Italy
I believe 2026 is too late: considering that the release of bikes with the new Brose Drive3 Peak motor (which has 95Nm) should be imminent, I doubt Bosch wants to take the risk of being overtaken by the only real other German competitor in the ebike motor market (yes, I know there's also TQ, but from what I see, for now, they prefer to stay within the e-light category).
If I were Bosch I would be more worried about the Chinese than the German competitors :)
 

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