LONG TERM RIDES
Russ delivers his verdict on the Gen 4 Bosch motor
The latest on our team bikes – where we’ve ridden, what we’ve changed and how desperate we are to ride gnarly trails again!
An important part of having the Habit Neo as my long-termer has been seeing what kind of experience the new Generation 4 Bosch Performance Line CX motor would deliver. The Gen 4 is half the size of previous models, weighs just 2kg and promises to deliver more responsive acceleration, smoother power transfer and improved control and handling. Having ridden just over 1,500km on the bike to date, it seems like a good time to reflect on those promises.
Something that was immediately apparent to me was that, as far as e-bike motors are concerned, size really does matter. The more compact proportions mean that the drive unit sits more comfortably in the frame, so there are fewer compromises in geometry to accommodate it. As a result, the Habit Neo feels like a bike with a motor, rather than one that’s been specifically designed around a motor. The ride feel and handling are closer to those of my regular bikes than on previous e-bikes I’ve ridden, and consequently, I find myself having to less obviously adapt my riding style – so that’s a big benefit.
While the motor isn’t silent, it’s noticeably quieter than the Gen 3 drive unit and, in terms of
both noise and ride feel, it gets a high approval rating from me. The acceleration is excellent – in fact, it’s almost too good. There are four modes – Eco, Tour, Turbo and e-MTB. Most of the time I ride in Eco, and that does the job for easy trails and fireroads. Once you start to climb properly, however, the weight of the bike calls for a touch more power – Tour mode is the next level up, and the acceleration smooths the effort required so efficiently that most of the time I’m barely breaking a sweat when climbing in this setting.
I appreciate that for many riders that’s a big plus right there, but having got used to the more nuanced power delivery that Specialized’s Mission Control app allows you to dial in on their Turbo Levo and Kenevo bikes, I’m finding the range of each motor mode on the Habit Neo relatively narrow. I’d love to have the option to personalise the settings in the same way that you can on the Levo, so that there doesn’t feel like such a sizeable jump in assistance between each mode. I’m crossing my fingers that a fully customisable power solution will be implemented into the next evolution of the Performance CX motor. www.cannondale.com