Bosch Smart System Mysteries Explained Once And For Good!

Especially when there are still a ton of BES2 bikes for sale new on closeout. How much did that "server" actually cost them? My guess, peanuts. This is Bosch not just planning obsolescence, but actively forcing it.
Typical of and why I avoid proprietary and manufacture micromanaging overreach on use
 
@Stefan Mikes Thanks for the video link and the explanation. Makes it much clearer how the various modes work.

I recently purchased a Trek bike with a Bosch CX Active motor and have been playing around with the various modes available in the app. Is it just me or are the Dynamic/Adaptive modes (Auto, Tour+, etc ) which claim to vary the assist based on your effort, incline and headwinds/etc really inconsistent, laggy and a bit rubbish?

I find it makes the bike feel really unpredictable as I'm never sure how much boost/assist the motor is going to provide in any given situation? Sometimes it surges forward with seemingly no reason whilst in other situations it fails to provide enought power to maintain my speed even on slight inclines nevermind hills

I've tried some of the fixed assist modes (Eco, Tour, Sport) and they feel much nicer. Seems like picking the mode yourself and increasing/decreasing it as required is a far superior option. Manually selecting Eco for downhill/flats, tour for slight inclines and sport for steeper hills seems to work far better than auto or tour+ from my experience so far. Doing it manually also means you can pre-emptively change power modes up/down as you arrive at hills or descents rather than waiting for motor to realise it’s in the wrong mode and adjust after the event.

This is my first ebike so I guess it might just be that I'm not familar with the automatic modes and perhaps maybe just need time to adjust?

Does anyone else prefer changing modes themselves to having the motor dynamically/automatically adjust modes?
 
I own no Bosch e-bike so I trust your observation. I tried AUTO mode on (formerly) mine Giant Trance E+ with a Yamaha motor: the assistance was unequal and unnatural but the mode was a real battery guzzler! As a Specialized rider, I trust fixed assistance modes, which are not only stable but also predictable in terms of battery consumption, so I'm sure it is the same with Bosch motors.
 
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When I prep a Bosch bike for sale, I do the following:

- Do all firmware updates
- Download all assist modes
- Set the headlight (if present) to "last state"
- Set all assist modes to fixed (no "+" modes)

If the user wants to try a dynamic assist mode, it's already loaded, and they can switch it themselves with Flow. That way they can decide what's most important to them, range or dynamics.
 
I replied to your Reddit post - but thought I’d add my recent changes…

I’m still really liking Auto mode for gravel riding. But I’ve adjusted Support to -5 and Dynamics to -2.

In less than 200km of riding, I‘ve found I can easily predict how it’s going to apply assistance and I like when it does so. I found that if I keep my cadence up for an extended amount of time, it will keep my speed about the same when climbing a hill, if I’m at a similar cadence. Pretty much what Bosch says it will do.

I found when I move back to one of the Standard modes, they all feel over-boosted to me now (except for Eco)!

With my current settings my range on Auto is about 80km (750Wh battery) now. I’m happy with that and can drop down to Eco or Eco+, if I need to extend the range for some reason…
 
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