Bosch cx or Yamaha pw

[Jamie82]

I'm looking at haibikes. The lower models seem to have the yamaha pw. As you go up the range a little it switches to the Bosch cx. I'm trying to get a test ride of both, but for any of you that have ridden both what are the pros and cons of each in your opinion and what did you prefer? Thanks

 

[GLJoe]

I'm looking at haibikes. The lower models seem to have the yamaha pw. As you go up the range a little it switches to the Bosch cx. I'm trying to get a test ride of both, but for any of you that have ridden both what are the pros and cons of each in your opinion and what did you prefer? Thanks

Which you prefer is probably going to be down to preference. The Yamaha seems to have a smoother, more controlled delivery. The Bosch maybe a bit harsher, more 'in your face'. My wife likes and prefers the Yamaha approach, I don't mind the more aggressive bosch.
A big one for me personally is cadence. If you don't pedal above say 75 rpm, the yamaha is fine. However check out the power curves of the PW motor, you'll find that power starts to fall off above 80rpm, and by say 100rpm, there is virtually no assist. I often sit and spin at 85rpm and above for extended periods when road riding, so a PW motor wouldn't be my own personal choice for ME for a commuter bike. For other people, its a non issue.

Bosch CX has a high cadence support. (Note - Yamaha PWX also has increased cadence).

You can get cheap(er) 3rd party batteries for Yamaha. You can't as yet for bosch!

The yamaha charger plug is a poor design and you have to be careful you don't break it. And a new charger is slightly more than the already pretty expensive bosch ones.

It really is six of one and half a dozen of the other. If max cadence isn't going to factor into it, then things like the fit, style and cost of the bike as a whole are probably going to be more of the deciding factors.

 

[STEVEMANFA]

You can run more than one chainring up front with the Yamaha drive.

 

[soundwave]

you can have 2 on the bosch as well

 

[Trevormonty]

you can have 2 on the bosch as well

But its a case of stopping and moving chain between chainrings by hand.

 

[soundwave]

you can change from the outer sprocket to the smaller one just nudge the chain with ur foot.

 

[Fat Rat]

Dual up front
Thing of the past these days in the mtb world

 

[STEVEMANFA]

Dual up front
Thing of the past these days in the mtb world

Sorry but I don't agree with you on that one, I use both chainrings all the time on my bike

 

[Fat Rat]

Sorry but I don't agree with you on that one, I use both chainrings all the time on my bike

Your definitely in the minority
Most people mtb riding have been using 1x10 1x11 And now 1x12 with bash rings for years
Hey it’s horse for courses but especially now with wide range rear cassettes dual up front is not necessary more to go wrong worse to clean and maintain and more bar clutter

 

[chris_n]

Just had a quick look on the local Intersport website, every mountain bike has a front mech. Very few people ride here with 1X setups, only the very lightest and fittest.

 

[Planemo]

I still use triple so I must be really old haha! I find I use them all as well, mainly because I have one bike to do everything. I am often on the biggest ring (and mine is a 48t) when road riding with full assist, I use the 2nd ring for trails and use the granny ring for some of the stuff in Morzine or at bike parks like Hadleigh. The bike goes everywhere and does everything. I did consider going 1x12 but the loss of high speed ability when road riding just wasnt worth it for me. That said I do prefer low cadences. If someone can suggest a 1x setup which would cover all the above then I might be interested.

 

[Fat Rat]

Just had a quick look on the local Intersport website, every mountain bike has a front mech. Very few people ride here with 1X setups, only the very lightest and fittest.

Interesting what part of the U.K. are you from and what rear speed are they running ?
I ask as most if not all I ride with run singles with chain guides and bash guards as we hate putting chains back on
I suppose it depends how hard your locals ride or how rough the trails are .

 

[Fat Rat]

I still use triple so I must be really old haha! I find I use them all as well, mainly because I have one bike to do everything. I am often on the biggest ring (and mine is a 48t) when road riding with full assist, I use the 2nd ring for trails and use the granny ring for some of the stuff in Morzine or at bike parks like Hadleigh. The bike goes everywhere and does everything. I did consider going 1x12 but the loss of high speed ability when road riding just wasnt worth it for me. That said I do prefer low cadences. If someone can suggest a 1x setup which would cover all the above then I might be interested.

You must be old lol
Only kidding
I understand why your running a triple
Because your making an off road machine do 2 jobs
But for mtb work only with the right rear cassette you could easily run a single , bash ring and chain guide

 

[chris_n]

Interesting what part of the U.K. are you from and what rear speed are they running ?
I ask as most if not all I ride with run singles with chain guides and bash guards as we hate putting chains back on
I suppose it depends how hard your locals ride or how rough the trails are .

I'm in the Alps, 10% average over 10km is one of my local hills (with a down in the middle). Most of my rides are somewhere between 1 and 2 thousand meters of climbing with occasional outings over 3000. We are allowed 600W motors here.

 

[Fat Rat]

I'm in the Alps, 10% average over 10km is one of my local hills (with a down in the middle). Most of my rides are somewhere between 1 and 2 thousand meters of climbing with occasional outings over 3000. We are allowed 600W motors here.

To be fair to both of us i live in the uk ride in the uk and was talking about the uk
We obviously don't have as many aggressive hills for big distances
Surely thou with 600w motors you definitely dont need a dual up front just a wide range rear .

 

[Trevormonty]

Sorry but I don't agree with you on that one, I use both chainrings all the time on my bike

What is gear range of your cassette?

 

[chris_n]

To be fair to both of us i live in the uk ride in the uk and was talking about the uk
We obviously don't have as many aggressive hills for big distances
Surely thou with 600w motors you definitely dont need a dual up front just a wide range rear .

I knew that I was just teasing or maybe bringing a different point of view to the table. Very few around here actually have 600W motors, the vast majority here are Bosch / Yamaha crank drives. Very few hub drives in the mountains though you do see plenty in the Inn valley. I think the 600W thing predates the popularity of geared hubs and crank drives.

 

[STEVEMANFA]

What is gear range of your cassette?

It's a 36x11

 

[georgehenry]

I run a de restrricted 9 speed/single chainring set up with Yamaha PW and have managed to get it to perform the dual role of predominantly off route to work using some demanding single track sections and a return journey on the road where I try to average around 20mph for my 10 mile journey.

I currently have a garbaruk 42 tooth narrow wide chainring which is a thing of beauty in engineering terms and removes the need for a bash ring or chain guide. This is paired with a cheap Shimano Alivio HG400 MTB 12-36t:12-14-16-18-21-24-28-32-36 cassette.

I use eco as near as dummit all the time off road and can get up around and over the most demanding sections in my lowest gear (just)

To achieve my 20mph average on the road trip home I use the standard middle assistance level to either get me over the top of longer hills without loosing too much speed or get me up the steeper hills quicker. For all the slightly down / slightly up / level sections I use eco and steep downhills switch the motor off.

I have stuck with this set up as it seems to work really well for me with a wide enough gear range (just) for what I need it to do taking into account, my fitness, my weight, the 5kg panniers I carry etc etc etc.

However If I wanted to go faster on the road and climb steeper hills off road I would definitely look at converting to a double chainring set up. For the dual role I ask my bike to achieve if I changed to a double chain ring set up I would effectively over gear with the larger front chain ring so that even at 22/25+ mph I would want to be in no higher than 16 tooth gear seven to give more rear cassette wear resistance and a straighter chain run for the higher speed cruising using more power. The smaller inner chain ring would be for off road use and be sized to give me a low enough bottom gear for any hill I needed to climb.

If I did this I would probably also change the rear cassette to the sunrace wide range 11/40 rear cassette.

The trouble with changing your gearing is that there is really no substitute (me for him) to gradually changing the size of your chain ring and seeing how it works in practice. For me this meant going from a 38 tooth (standard) chainring to 40 and then to 42 which is time consuming and costs money but worth it when you get it just right.

I do like the simplicity of my single chainring set up but like all things in life it is a compromise and I can see the benefit of a wider range of gears.

Perhaps the next step for me is to keep the single speed set up and add the wide range cassette and start experimenting with larger chainrings. However I really love that garbaruk 42 tooth narrow wide chainring and they don't make them any bigger than that.

 

[georgehenry]

I guess another issue trying to go quicker using more power on the road with higher gearing is that wind resistance would be a much greater factor and you would be hammering your battery a lot more.