Ebike - Bosch Active Plus vs Performance Cruise

mohm.kamal

Hi,

I have rented an ebike to see if it will fit my current requirement or not and I found it great. The bike was Sinus with Bosch Active Plus 2017

Now, when I asked the shop if he has the same bike as new, he told me that he has it with Bosch Active plus 2018 which is - in his opinion - slightly worse than the 2017 and advised me to go for the Performance Cruise

My question is; does anyone know if there is any noticeable difference between Bosch Active line 2017 vs 2018?

Second question; if yes, should I go to the Performance Cruise? taking into consideration that i will be carrying a kid on a steep hilly road for 2kms!

Last one; what do you think about the Sinus ebikes?

Ferris

The following page gives the specs (specifically the motor torque at different assist levels) for the bosch motors. I have a Performance CX on mine and it is quite powerful in turbo assist, spinning MTB wheels on wet grass if you want it to. The crank drive motors like bosch are torque and cadence sensing which is to make them feel very natural to cycle, therefore there is no 'kick' in power.

An ebike whith a motor in the wheel hub will feel quicker in that respect.

A bosch ebike will barely feel the weight of your 2yr old up a hill, they climb like a mountain goat. This is the main advantage of a crank drive bike over a hub powered version. Although a well designed rear hub drive would probably do fine also.

What I would say about the 2018 active line is that it has a conventional sized cog on the front chain, previously it had a small 15-18T cog which could suffer from jams (chain suck) or the chain coming off. I have not had chain suck but my chain does come off occasionally on bumpy ground. I think I just need to adjust the derailleur tension however. Also the new active line, I suspect, will have less drag if you need to cycle without the battery. This is not the case with the 2017 models which are a pig to cycle unassisted.

Re. Sinus - seem okay brand. All are much of a muchness in the consumer brands, mine is a cube and has been perfectly reliable in 7k of commuting. The drivetrain, as in Bosch, is standard regardless of bike brand. I would decide on what motor I want, evaluate what is on offer, especially with regard to spec level on the rest of the bike, and then buy what was most affordable and comfortable.

Alek

A bosch ebike will barely feel the weight of your 2yr old up a hill

My wife (tiny built) was able to pull a trailer with our both kids (5 + 3) and two panniers up the Old Long Hill on the Performace CX-equipped Cube. I guess there was 100kg+ of gear together with the bike.

I consider myself a fairly strong rider, but this was just too much for me on 24x34 gearing on a normal bike

In other words, there is PLENTY of power in the Performance version.

Note however it is a bit buzzy/noisy, while Active is virtually silent.

Ferris

Alek wrote: »

Note however it is a bit buzzy/noisy, while Active is virtually silent.

Good point, the whine does get wearing.

To be fair there is little justification for the Performance CX on the road as the 25kph limit comes up so quickly. Really it was designed for climbing up downhill MTB courses. In addition an active line will use less battery and so get better range.

OP, I would be targeting the Powerpack 500 battery (the largest available) unless you are going to be covering extremely short distances.

mohm.kamal

Thanks Alek, that was very helpful, I could now have an analogy of what I can do with the Performance series.

mohm.kamal

Hi Ferris

I heard that you can "tune" the maximum speed of the performance motor using a dongle because the 25km limit is just a law restriction and the motor itself can go behind this.

mohm.kamal

So, do you think if I will take one 4y child on a road to stepaside does need a performance series or an Active plus (50nm) would be ok?

One last question, if you will chose between Cube and Sinus with the same motor, what would you go for?

Thanks a lot

Ferris

Yes you can delimit the motor. It is illegal however, essentially making a pedelec / ebike into a motorbike. You would need a licence, insurance, tax and registration - hypothetically. In addition you may affect the warranty of the motor, Bosch say that they have a way of detecting if a motor has been delimited with the new motors.

I do not think any of the bosch ebikes will have a problem carrying or towing kids. I know mine barely feels the weight of my 4yr old. I have not used a performance series or an Active plus motor however.

If I had to choose between any bikes it would be based on cost and comfort, assuming similar spec. They're most likely all welded up and assembled in Taiwan anyway.

mohm.kamal

Ferris wrote: »

Yes you can delimit the motor. It is illegal however, essentially making a pedelec / ebike into a motorbike. You would need a licence, insurance, tax and registration - hypothetically. In addition you may affect the warranty of the motor, Bosch say that they have a way of detecting if a motor has been delimited with the new motors.

I do not think any of the bosch ebikes will have a problem carrying or towing kids. I know mine barely feels the weight of my 4yr old. I have not used a performance series or an Active plus motor however.

If I had to choose between any bikes it would be based on cost and comfort, assuming similar spec. They're most likely all welded up and assembled in Taiwan anyway.

Thanks Ferris!

kennethsmyth

mohm.kamal wrote: »

Hi,

I have rented an ebike to see if it will fit my current requirement or not and I found it great. The bike was Sinus with Bosch Active Plus 2017

Now, when I asked the shop if he has the same bike as new, he told me that he has it with Bosch Active plus 2018 which is - in his opinion - slightly worse than the 2017 and advised me to go for the Performance Cruise

My question is; does anyone know if there is any noticeable difference between Bosch Active line 2017 vs 2018?

Second question; if yes, should I go to the Performance Cruise? taking into consideration that i will be carrying a kid on a steep hilly road for 2kms!

Last one; what do you think about the Sinus ebikes?

Sinus are a german brand owned by Haibike/Winora. I bought a sinus for my wife while I own a cube... the cube is very good but the sinus is better built.

The shop is correct in that the performance cruise is a better motor than the active line 2018 in terms of power/torque. But another poster is also correct in that if you need to cycle without power (highly unlikely though) it is harder on the performance line.

Me I picked both cube and sinus with the performance line so that they would be evenly matched, but somehow the sinus appears quicker!

Don't worry about chain suck unless you go big time mountain biking as if thats what you do you can put the clutch on the derailer to increase tension - however if road biking you're absolutely fine and will never experience it.

mohm.kamal

Thanks kennethsmyth

I will go for the Sinus Tria 9!

rubadub

Ferris wrote: »

What I would say about the 2018 active line is that it has a conventional sized cog on the front chain, previously it had a small 15-18T cog which could suffer from jams (chain suck) or the chain coming off.

I had chain suck on my bosch performance, changed to a 20T cog and have been fine ever since, it was only 15T on it at first. The cog turns 2.5 times for every turn of the pedal so it is like going from a 37.5T to a 50T chainring on a regular bike.

It is odd they came up with such a small ring as standard -it is like they forgot that the bike is going to have assistance. I would spend most of my time in the smallest rings on the cassette and so wear it out quicker.

kennethsmyth

mohm.kamal wrote: »

Thanks kennethsmyth

I will go for the Sinus Tria 9!

Excellent choice, the wife’s a tria 8 and is lovely to cycle. If you’re getting it from Greenaer in Dublin say hello to Aurel from me as he sorted me out with my cube when it had issues even though it wasn’t bought from them. Hence the reason I bought the wife’s from them.

mohm.kamal

Yes, Aurel is a very professional guy, and I will buy it from there, will pass the "hello" to him