Bosch SmartphoneHub

[Over50]

I wish it worked for me. It’s been so terrible for me. I went on a two hour ride and the hub shows it on the app but doesn’t send it to Strava. Having no start and stop button for the app is a usability nightmare. Also the UI in general is a mess IMO. It looks and feels like something an engineer designed on their own without and adequate UX and Design team. I mean wow! So far I absolutely HATE the Smartphone Hub. One of the reasons I went with a Bosch system Bike is because I thought the displays looked nice in the videos.

Disappointing to hear. Before I swapped to Kiox, I don't recall having problems with Smartphone Hub sending my rides to Strava. It did so reliably. I can't recall how I had it pause rides however but it seemed that it did so.

Initially, I posted that I was disappointed that Kiox wasn't set up to communicate with Strava. In the settings, it has a control to sync with Komoot - and I was thinking "why not Strava?" - like the Smartphone had. But I discovered the Strava connection for Kiox. If you launch Bosch's e-bike connect app before you ride, it will seamlessly track your ride and log each leg of your ride. You don't have to interact with the app while out on the bike. If you power Kiox off, it logs that section as a leg of the ride. I have my Kiox setting to reset the trip odometer every 24 hours - this is customizable and can also be reset inside the 24 hour period by the user on the control pad. So as far as Kiox and e-bike connect are concerned, all the riding I do in a single day will be logged as various legs as I power Kiox on/off. And this matches how I ride. I'll generally head out and ride 15-20 miles, stop at a coffee shop, ride some more and stop at the grocery store and ride home. Later, from the comfort of my couch and using the laptop, I can log onto Bosch where my daily activity has been uploaded from the app. I can rename the legs and the main ride and I can export either just the main ride (i.e. the aggregate of the legs ) - or any/all of the individual legs to Strava. The export to Strava only works if you had the e-bike connect app running in the background (and obviously your phone with you) whilst out on the ride - and it exports the map too. If you go on a ride and forget to lauch e-bike connect, you cannot export that ride to Strava - at least for me the control is disabled when I review my ride at the Bosch website. I usually keep my phone stowed away in a seat or frame bag and just let Kiox communicate with e-bike connect. Now that I've been using it awhile and I've figured this out, I'm really liking the sync between Kiox and e-bike connect and then the latter to Strava. I don't have to worry about hitting a pause/restart control as I'm out riding. On other bikes, when I try to track my ride with Strava running, I'll inevitably forget to restart my ride after one of my stops. No worries with the Kiox and e-bike connect app - as they handle this automatically. Too bad that with a lot of Bosch bikes, they aren't offering the purchaser a choice between Smartphone Hub or Kiox or Nyon.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I'm glad I decided to not get the smarthub installed on my Lefty 3. I think I'll wait until the Spring and get the new Nyon installed instead.

yes thats why I went with the Kiox but should have waited for the non ifI knew it let you adjust assist levels.

 

[William - Bosch Team]

Too bad that with a lot of Bosch bikes, they aren't offering the purchaser a choice between Smartphone Hub or Kiox or Nyon.

Great info, and great explanation! Thank you for sharing. I may link back here in the future if anyone needs a good walk-through on smooth sailing with Strava.

Regarding your last point, there may be an option for some folks here. OEMs decide what displays to order from Bosch and install on their eBikes, with Bosch not having any real input. This holds true for all components of the eBike system, as well as pretty much every other part on a new bike. Customers are often not fond of one part or another on a new, complete bike, so many shops will offer a credit on an OEM spec'd part to be applied towards a different aftermarket option.

To be clear, this is not the OEM, and this is not Bosch. It is soley at the IBD's discretion. Anyone who is looking at a new bike (eBike or traditional, Bosch or other) may have the option to swap out a few parts when new. This will vary widely from shop to shop, but it is fairly common, and doesn't hurt to ask. I've worked at some shops that would credit 1/2 of MSRP for the trade-in part, and one that offered full-price value. YMMV