Bosch Power

[George S.]

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bosch-e-bike-drive-coming-north-america.html

I sent this link to Court and he noted that his review of the Haibike talked about this drive. I was impressed that this is real technology at a real high price, after reading his review. Bosch represents something very substantial.

I'd buy the concept (if not the bike) if they mated a really nice street/urban type bike to this drive and kept it under $5k. If it was not a bike, but "the" bike.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/bosch-e-bike-drive-coming-north-america.html

I sent this link to Court and he noted that his review of the Haibike talked about this drive. I was impressed that this is real technology at a real high price, after reading his review. Bosch represents something very substantial.

I'd buy the concept (if not the bike) if they mated a really nice street/urban type bike to this drive and kept it under $5k. If it was not a bike, but "the" bike.

Kreidler uses Bosch systems and they have an ebike hitting the US market soon. (https://www.bikeattack.com)

Also, BH Easy Motion will be releasing their Bosch system bikes sometime in May 2014.

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[George S.]

Kreidler uses Bosch systems and they have an ebike hitting the US market soon. (https://www.bikeattack.com)

Also, BH Easy Motion will be releasing their Bosch system bikes sometime in May 2014.

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Thanks Ravi,

I am planning to buy an ebike in April, when the weather turns. I like the BH Easy Motion bikes as much as any.

After watching the video and thinking about what the Bosch people are saying, I think I agree that a bike is a bike, so really refined pedal assist is a pure way to go. But why not have the throttle option?

Court has always pointed out that various technologies are clumsy. Some bikes are almost scooters when they only have throttle assist. Some pedal assist systems work better than others. And I guess as pedal assist goes, this is the BMW, or something.

A few months ago it seemed like the US market was fat cruisers for aging Baby Boomers. The two wheels, FlyKly and Copenhagen, might upset this. And the market might go higher end and more refined, if players like Bosch splash around.

There's interesting stuff happening...

George

 

[Admin]

Great thoughts all around, thanks for sharing the Kreidler Vitality Dice Electric with us Ravi. That's a beautiful looking bike.

I've actually shot some reviews of the new Easy Motion mid-drive bikes that use Bosch and I'm just chugging through trying to get them and the rest of my videos up. I love everything about the Bosch system except the lack of throttle mode. It's no surprise however because this drive system was developed in and for a European audience where pedelec and 250 watt is the standard. According to Jim Turner's book about ebikes, throttle mode isn't even legal in many EU locations.

The new US Bosch systems have 350 watt motors and work very well even for off road climbing like with the Haibikes. Maybe they will continue to adapt their offering and bring throttle mode somewhere down the road?

 

[Dave]

The other problem I see with the Bosh drive is their 20mph limitation. Even though they are pedal assist, my understanding, at least with Haibike, is a 20mph motor cut out. There is a product out that is an add on, that allows this limitation to be removed, but it is third party and would probably void the warranty. If Izip, Easy Motion, Pedego, Motiv, Stromer, and probably others allow greater then 20mph in pedal assist, then I have a hard time spending my money on a restricted bike. As on the fence as I am about making a choice, that is the one feature I know I will not compromise.

 

[Admin]

I feel you on that Dave, it's really nice to go above 20mph, especially in pedal assist mode. This is one of the big benefits of the IZIP E3 Dash and their mid-drive model the E3 Peak. Both are capable of reaching 28 miles per hour in pedal assist mode and are classified as what they call "speed pedalec" electric bikes. I just double checked their official documentation and it says 28mph which is pretty awesome.

In my opinion the Bosch system is more polished and quicker to respond vs. the E3 Peak but this is the first year Currie has made this bike, I bet it will get more polished with time. In addition to the higher speed, it's also less expensive than most of the Bosch systems I've seen out there. As a side note, if you don't care about the middrive and won't be mountain biking I think the Dash is smoother and would be my choice for on road conditions. It's also $400 less expensive.

 

[Dave]

Court, the E3 Peak does look very interesting, and it is great that it goes above 20mph in the pedal assist mode. After I read your review, I was concerned about the lack of smoothness, so I did a little research. I was told that the demo bikes at Interbike had beta software, and the production bikes would have a much better responding drive interface. I am just not sure I want to be the first on the block at 3K to test that out.

 

[Admin]

I feel you Dave, if I get the chance to take another ride on the production version I'll be sure to shoot some more video, update the review and let you know... I'd love to hear your thoughts as well if you see one in a shop or end up buying

 

[FitzChivalry]

@Dave, your thinking is one of the main reasons I didn't take up Motiv's offer to custom-build a pedelec version of their Spark by pulling parts from their new Shadow. I don't want to be the guinea pig, especially when I'm nowhere near a bike shop that has experience servicing electric bikes. (Though, it was still very tempting!)

 

[Dave]

I contacted Curry, about issues at Interbike with the Peak. Below is the response I received. Interesting that the bike appears some what programable.

Dave,

Thank you for contacting us. At Interbike, there only were very early samples, that were not ready for production yet. We're due to have the real productions here between February and April, that any bugs should be worked out. I know on the Peak, it does have a programming port, so it can be fine tuned to some degree as well.

Best regards,

Customer Service
Currie Technologies
3850-A Royal AveSimi Valley, CA. 93063

 

[Admin]

Cool! thanks for sharing that letter Dave (I put it into a quoted box and cleaned it up a bit). It's nice that they got back to you but the language in there was a bit choppy, they must be working over time to get the bikes out by the middle of next month

I've never heard of the "programming port" but I do know that these companies are continuously tweaking the bikes (sometimes even throughout the year) and that Currie/IZIP go to extreme lengths to help customers and respond to this kind of thing even though they are getting pretty big. Color me impressed!