Had the bike two weeks now, and a lot of guys helped me out in my first few threads, so thought I'd post a quick review here!
First impressions: Very good looking bike, solid and well built, and I haven't seen (m)any other Bosch performance CX bikes with the 500Wh battery for £1700. The wheels it came with are rather mountainbikey and massive, but that's easily changed. It's a big bike, but will fit in the back of a 3 series estate with the seats down without a problem. The weight is also comparatively good weighing in at around 20kg so I can lift it up and down stairs quite easily. It comes with pedals and a bell, so you can go riding straight out of the box.
The first ride: The Intuvia is quite a simple display, but easy to read and tells you what you need to know. I really like the fact it has a micro USB output on it, meaning I can charge my phone from the bike (and eliminating the need for a dedicated cycle gps - £200 saved right there.) - I'm a big guy at 110kg, but the bike accelerates well up to the cutoff, and it's fairly easy to ride even without power. I do around 20mph on the flat, and I've been up to 32mph downhill. The bike remains grounded and sturdy. The brakes are excellent, though if you press them too hard you could go over the bike! Overall it felt like a nice bike to ride, but the cutoff was quite annoying especially on big uphill segments where I'd suddenly lose power and need to lower my speed to regain it. Didn't get the 'ebike grin' on road, but I've enjoyed taking it on a few trails since.
The experience so far/overall: It's an excellent bike, and feels good to use. The power cutouts are fairly annoying after 120miles or so, but I'll either have to get used to it or dongle it. I think Bosch could do a better job at tailing off power at the high end instead of it suddenly disappearing. I use it mainly in eco, but sometimes switch to 'touring' to do the big uphills. Eco is generally sufficient for the majority of riding, and even if the battery gives up on you, the bike is easy enough to ride home without it. I don't have panniers on it yet, but regularly carry a rucksack with 20kg, so talking a total of 130kg load. I'm a little underwhelmed by the 'fun' factor, but perhaps I just had unreasonable expectations.
Some minor points:
- The batteries are exorbitantly expensive coming in at £700. The Bosch system is not flexible in allowing other batteries, so you just have to either suck it up or get an aftermarket/2nd hand one and pray.
- The battery needs a bit of force to 'lock' into position when putting it in.
- The intuvia is removable, which is nice.
- The suspension is lockable for road use, though it's not much of a hassle.
- The cube seat looks somewhat akin to a torture device, but is actually fairly comfortable
Any questions, ask away
First impressions: Very good looking bike, solid and well built, and I haven't seen (m)any other Bosch performance CX bikes with the 500Wh battery for £1700. The wheels it came with are rather mountainbikey and massive, but that's easily changed. It's a big bike, but will fit in the back of a 3 series estate with the seats down without a problem. The weight is also comparatively good weighing in at around 20kg so I can lift it up and down stairs quite easily. It comes with pedals and a bell, so you can go riding straight out of the box.
The first ride: The Intuvia is quite a simple display, but easy to read and tells you what you need to know. I really like the fact it has a micro USB output on it, meaning I can charge my phone from the bike (and eliminating the need for a dedicated cycle gps - £200 saved right there.) - I'm a big guy at 110kg, but the bike accelerates well up to the cutoff, and it's fairly easy to ride even without power. I do around 20mph on the flat, and I've been up to 32mph downhill. The bike remains grounded and sturdy. The brakes are excellent, though if you press them too hard you could go over the bike! Overall it felt like a nice bike to ride, but the cutoff was quite annoying especially on big uphill segments where I'd suddenly lose power and need to lower my speed to regain it. Didn't get the 'ebike grin' on road, but I've enjoyed taking it on a few trails since.
The experience so far/overall: It's an excellent bike, and feels good to use. The power cutouts are fairly annoying after 120miles or so, but I'll either have to get used to it or dongle it. I think Bosch could do a better job at tailing off power at the high end instead of it suddenly disappearing. I use it mainly in eco, but sometimes switch to 'touring' to do the big uphills. Eco is generally sufficient for the majority of riding, and even if the battery gives up on you, the bike is easy enough to ride home without it. I don't have panniers on it yet, but regularly carry a rucksack with 20kg, so talking a total of 130kg load. I'm a little underwhelmed by the 'fun' factor, but perhaps I just had unreasonable expectations.
Some minor points:
- The batteries are exorbitantly expensive coming in at £700. The Bosch system is not flexible in allowing other batteries, so you just have to either suck it up or get an aftermarket/2nd hand one and pray.
- The battery needs a bit of force to 'lock' into position when putting it in.
- The intuvia is removable, which is nice.
- The suspension is lockable for road use, though it's not much of a hassle.
- The cube seat looks somewhat akin to a torture device, but is actually fairly comfortable
Any questions, ask away
