Bosch active line plus or performance cx for tuning

[Tobsie]

I am deciding between 2 Cube bikes the Cube kathmandu hybrid pro 500 or the Cube touring hybrid one/pro 500 (both 500Wh battery). The main difference between the bikes are the bosch engines. the kathmandu has the bosch performance CX (75nm) motor and the touring the new bosch active line plus (50nm). In NL the bikes are limited at 25 km/h, so I want to tune the bike so I can ride faster to work (one way 28km), around 35 km/h would be ok. All the roads where i live are flat (so no hills). I don't want to buy a speedelec directly.

I have the following questions:
- What is the main difference when I tune the motors. because the performance has a max support level (in the highest level) of 300% and the active line plus 270%. Does this mean that with the performance I can go a bit faster?
- Is the higher torque also important for the top speed (or just for hills)? Ie when I ride 40km/h with the bike, do I have to put in a lot more effort with the active motor?
- An other doubt is that the active line plus is a new 2018 motor. Which is lighter, quiet and has lower pedal resistance (when the motor is off or the battery is empty). So it is a new 3nd generation motor. The performance is a 2nd generation motor, but has more torque.
- Which motor would be more suitable for tuning for higher speeds?

What is your opinion? Hope someone can help.

 

[anotherkiwi]

If you want 35 km/h the Active line will be fine on your flat roads. I prefer the larger chainwheel which should mean less wear and if it is quieter...

More torque is good for sprinting away from the lights faster when they go green.

 

[RobF]

The dongle does not 'tune' the motor in any way, it just bypasses the 25kmh cut off.

Which means a dongled CX motor will feel a bit pokier than a dongled Active, just as non-dongled motors would.

Of bigger concern will be range.

You will struggle to get 60km from one charge hammering along at 35kmh - irrespective of which motor.

You might manage if you could stick to Eco or Tour settings, but the wind resistance at speed means you will slurp the battery whatever settings you use.

 

[Tobsie]

Of bigger concern will be range.
You will struggle to get 60km from one charge hammering along at 35kmh - irrespective of which motor.

You might manage if you could stick to Eco or Tour settings, but the wind resistance at speed means you will slurp the battery whatever settings you use.

Thx. This will not be a concern, since the one way trip to my work is 28 km and I can charge the battery convenient in the bike house .

Great to know that for max speed the torque is really not an issue.

 

[Deno]

I have a delimited bosch CX powered Cube 29er. I cruise between 40-50kph on Turbo and the battery is on its last bar after 26km. My commute is mostly flat but windy with a steep hill at either end.

Also I keep a second charger at my desk in work to avoid having to bring one with me.

 

[Tobsie]

Is my conclusion correct when I say the both are a 250watt motor so the max speed of both motors is the same with identical pedal power? Is the only difference that a performance motor will get me faster to the max speed?

 

[soundwave]

yes they are all 250w
https://www.bosch-ebike.com/en/products/drive-unit/

for max speed you want a high cadence so at only 100-105 compared to 120 for the cx and performance motors they will give a faster top speed.

 

[Tobsie]

for max speed you want a high cadence so at only 100-105 compared to 120 for the cx and performance motors they will give a faster top speed.

I don't really understand what you mean. Do you say that at the same pedal power the performance CX motor will give me a higher max speed then the active line plus?
If yes, is the reason that in the turbo mode the active line plus gives 270% support level and tge performance CX 300%?

Difficult to choose which motor is best for me, because I will definitly change to a larger front chainwheel and if the performance will give me higher top speeds then this is probably the best choice instead of the newer active line plus (which I rather buy, because of noise and pedal resistance).

 

[soundwave]

its not the power it is the rpm that you can spin the cranks more rpm then more speed.

yam 110rpm
bosch 120rpm

 

[Trevormonty]

I don't really understand what you mean. Do you say that at the same pedal power the performance CX motor will give me a higher max speed then the active line plus?
If yes, is the reason that in the turbo mode the active line plus gives 270% support level and tge performance CX 300%?

Difficult to choose which motor is best for me, because I will definitly change to a larger front chainwheel and if the performance will give me higher top speeds then this is probably the best choice instead of the newer active line plus (which I rather buy, because of noise and pedal resistance).

You will hardly notice extra noise of CX drive over wind noise when doing 35-45km/h. Extra pedal resistance only matters if riding unassisted which you won't be, especially if trying to do more than 30km/h.

For tour and leisure riding upto 25km/h cutoff, Plus would be nicer motor.

There are limited options for chainrings for Plus while CX offer 13-22t (32-55t ).

When derestricted CX drive in turbo will chew though drive trains. 9spd is cheapest for replacement components ie chains and cassettes.