Bosch performance CX 2018, ease of installing badass dongle?

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
Hi,

After a couple of years of deliberation I’ve finally bought an ebike, it is a mountain bike with a Bosch performance CX motor, I’ll be using it for about 50% off road fun, and 50% very long commutes (about 28 miles each way).

The commute is mostly flat countryside roads I’d like to get the assisted speed up to around 20mph to help reduce the commute time. It seems the badass dongle is the easiest install, but I can’t find any YouTube videos showing how to install it, only a video about the magnet. I’m not good at understanding installation instructions and diagrams, does anyone know of a YouTube video that shows the actual dongle installation?

Any advice is appreciated, thanks for reading.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
 

TZC

Pedelecer
Feb 4, 2014
133
93
47
Hi julie I'm not sure you would get 56 miles out of the battery going at around 20mph there and back. Might have to put in the work for the last few miles

Edit: I suppose it depends on your weight and the weight of the bike, it's surely pushing things though? anybody?

https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/range-assistant/

There you can get an idea. I came up with a rough range at 15.5mph in turbo of 34 miles. See if you can tweak it better to your circumstance
 
Last edited:

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
if you use the lower power settings then yes if you use turbo and max rpm 120 it wont do 20 miles if that.

i can get about 25 miles but i cant spin the cranks at that speed non stop.
 

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
Hi julie I'm not sure you would get 56 miles out of the battery going at around 20mph there and back. Might have to put in the work for the last few miles

Edit: I suppose it depends on your weight and the weight of the bike, it's surely pushing things though? anybody?

https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/service/range-assistant/

There you can get an idea. I came up with a rough range at 15.5mph in turbo of 34 miles. See if you can tweak it better to your circumstance
Thanks, I’ve already worked out one battery would not be enough, so I’ve bought a spare, so I have two 500w batteries, sadly charging up at work is not an option.

I have done a test run using my mothers Freego Wren which has the largest battery installed and it got me to work and halfway back, the bike is 3 years old though, and hardly been used so I reckon the battery is not in the best shape.

Riding home the last 15 miles without battery assistance was terrible, hence why I bought two batteries so I don’t have to worry about that, hopefully.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
you will want a bigger front sprocket with a dongle or you will spin out b4 max speed i use 18t at front with 10t at rear.

can hit 30mph+ so you want a decent helmet and gloves
 

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
I really don’t want to exceed 20, the Freego went about 18 which was almost good enough, I don’t feel safe going 30 on my moped wearing full motorcycle gear.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
you will need to spin the cranks faster with a smaller sprocket so it is about cadence more than speed my avg speed is about 24mph with 18t.

just see how it goes ;)
 

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
I'm just about to buy the dongle, but am not sure if brake cable running underneath near the sensor would be an obstacle to installing it, i've taken a couple of pics to show the issue, does anyone know if it might be a problem, thanks.


bosch sensor 5.jpg bosch sensor 4.jpg
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
the new ones are smaller than mine so it will be fine.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Julie

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
My Badass dongle from amazon just arrived, I was a little bit unsure if it would work as it was Amazon Warehouse deal and i thought it might have been a customer return that did not work, but it looked brand new and works fine.

Initially i had a problem with the magnet hitting the dongle but when i turned it 90 degrees as shown in their video it moved it far enough away.

I've just been for a short ride, i use my little Garmin Edge 200 to show my speeds, and i was comfortably hitting around 21 MPH, which i'm happy with, i don't want to go any faster and will be sticking to 15MPH in built up areas, my commute is mostly empty country roads so it will be nice to be a little bit quicker.

My bike is a Trek Powerfly 4, in case anyone else has the same bike and wondering if the badass dongle will work.

Thanks for all the help.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Trekkie

Trekkie

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 22, 2018
19
3
Leicestershire
My Badass dongle from amazon just arrived, I was a little bit unsure if it would work as it was Amazon Warehouse deal and i thought it might have been a customer return that did not work, but it looked brand new and works fine.

Initially i had a problem with the magnet hitting the dongle but when i turned it 90 degrees as shown in their video it moved it far enough away.

I've just been for a short ride, i use my little Garmin Edge 200 to show my speeds, and i was comfortably hitting around 21 MPH, which i'm happy with, i don't want to go any faster and will be sticking to 15MPH in built up areas, my commute is mostly empty country roads so it will be nice to be a little bit quicker.

My bike is a Trek Powerfly 4, in case anyone else has the same bike and wondering if the badass dongle will work.

Thanks for all the help.
Hi Julie, do you have any pictures with it in place?

Thanks

Roger
 
  • Like
Reactions: Julie

Julie

Pedelecer
Jul 30, 2014
147
51
60
Gainsborough England
If you need any more pictures let me know, I did panic a bit initially as the box hit the magnet on the spokes, but when i turned the magnet 90 degrees as shown on the installation video there was enough clearance. I think you'll love the difference it makes :)
 

Trekkie

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jul 22, 2018
19
3
Leicestershire
If you need any more pictures let me know, I did panic a bit initially as the box hit the magnet on the spokes, but when i turned the magnet 90 degrees as shown on the installation video there was enough clearance. I think you'll love the difference it makes :)
Thanks Julie, that’s very kind of you. Like you I’m only after another 5mph to match what I would be getting from my road bike (on the flat). I will go ahead and get one ordered.

Best regards

Roger.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Julie

Advertisers