Bosch arguably the company who really brought E-bikes to the mass market with their motor systems have released a brand new generation of their performance Line CX motors. The Gen 4 motor has a lot to offer over the previous versions and not just in terms of power and size. Although both of those are new features of this new motor.
More Compact
The motor has slimmed down significantly compared to the previous model something that you can really see when you put them side by side in actual fact the motor is almost 50% smaller making it easier to integrate onto a range of E-bikes.
Lighter
Than previous offerings meaning that the super heavy E-bikes are slowly coming down in weight still weighing in at 2.9kg it is a small amount for such a powerful motor.
Better Sensitivity
The MTB mode has been reprogrammed and now delivers consistent power over a wider cadence range, Bosch have promised that the support given from the motor feels very natural.
Better Modulation
Turbo mode has had an overhaul and is set to be less “choppy” than the previous versions especially when you get moving. Bosch is sticking with the 4 different modes Eco, Tour eMTB and the much loved Turbo.
Smoother Transitions
The transition when you go from motor assistance to powering the bike under your own steam promises to be a lot smoother, this transition happens at 25 km/h.
One major change that contributes to this is that the Gen 4 motor no longer has a mini chainring and gearbox set up, instead the power comes directly from a large chainring. This leads to almost no internal resistance which eliminates any draggy feel that users have reported in the past.
Narrower Q factor
The Q-factor is the distance between the cranks which is now narrowed down to 175mm which provides a more natural pedalling feel, when it comes to the Q-factor on E bikes the narrower the better.
Bigger Capacity
The battery not only got slimmer but it ha managed to pack more power inside, in addition to the previous 500Wh PowerTube battery there is now also the PowerTube 625 giving longer rides.
Tuning Eliminated
New anti-tuning software is implemented into the new Gen 4 motor system that detects motor tuning and manipulation via sensors while riding if it detects tampering then the system automatically goes into limp home mode.
These new motors can be found on a number of 2020 E-MTB’s from brands including Whyte, Orbea, Cube, Haibike, Trek and Focus just to name a few.
