Bosch & Bafang Review – the Bafang Vs Bosch Showdown [2019]

Bosch & Bafang Review – The Bafang vs Bosch Showdown [2019]

By Mark

When you are looking for a new electric bike there is nothing more important than the motor, right?

After you have looked around a bit you usually end up between two powerhouses, Bafang vs Bosch.

We will take a closer look and find out which is the best ebike motor for you.

Bafang vs Bosch Reviews

In the left corner we have Bafang, a leading manufacturer of electric motors. Bafang is a multinational company based in China with offices in both Europe and America.

They have for produced electrical motors for over 10 years. The past few years they have started to manufacture control units as well as batteries and sensors too.

They now offer the whole portfolio of products to build a complete ebike. Many large Ebike producers now exclusively use Bafang products in their builds.

What they are most famous for though is that they unlike most others sell their motors separately as conversion kits. That means you can install your new motor on almost any standard bicycle to get your custom build ebike.

In the right corner we have Bosch, a “German Giant” that has been around since 1886. Bosch produces almost everything in home electronics, transportation and industry equipment.

The last few years Bosch began producing ebike motors with the same German quality people are used to seeing from them.

With their already established industry connections they got many large ebike brands to use their products. And I can tell you, costumers have not been disappointed.

Bosch & Bafang Review – Bafang vs Bosch The Ultimate Showdown

Bafang Review (BBSHD, BBS02, 8fun)

I have built two electric bikes with Bafang motors before writing this bafang review. The first was an ebike I built for commuting to and from work. Since I still like some power I decided on the 750 W Bafang BBSHD motor for that build.

The second one was when I helped a friend build an electric mountain bike. He wanted a super powerful bike so we went with the 1000 W Bafang BBSHD to be able to get up those steep mountain bike tracks.

To be totaly truthful in my bafang review it was a little bit tricky building my first bike, but after a few hours I got the motor working properly. If i had a bike-stand it would probably have been easier and a lot faster.

The second time around we bought a cheap bike-stand and it was so much easier having space to work on without breaking my back. And as you can imagine it took a lot less time. We finished the build in about 2 hours.

So how was the performance?

It was great, it felt incredibly powerful compared to other ebikes with hub motors I have tried. And it also felt like you had access to a higher percentage of the available power.

These motors power is rated in nominal wattage, this means that it can put out more power for a short amount of time.

For example the BBSHD 1000 W motor can actually peak at 1500 Watts. This function kicks in when it feels you need that extra kick, like in a quick start or a steep hill. This is one of the strongest features in this bafang review.

The thing is that true power does not always work to your advantage which my good friend unfortunately found out. When riding on asphalt his bike performed like a beast. On the dirty and muddy mountain bike tracks however he experienced how difficult it was to maintain traction.

You can’t get up a hill if your tires are spinning in the same place.

My ebike on the other hand was working great. I felt like it hade a powerful punch when taking off and a really good responsiveness when I was riding in a busy bike lane.

A rather funny thing is that when we were riding together my bike actually handled the dirt roads better than his bike. When we were riding in the streets he beat me on accelerating and speed.

So the lesson of the story was that power isn’t always the way to go in contrary to what many believe. We should both have bought the other motor.

At a later time we fixed this by simply switching motors so we both became really happy with our ebikes.

Anyways, if you are not a speed maniac like me anywhere between 500 and 1000 watts will work just fine as long as you don’t ride in extreme conditions.

I am super satisfied with my 1000 W BBSHD and strongly recommend it to anyone who want to build a quality electric bike.

So don’t deprive yourself of your dream bike, it is readily available here on Amazon.

Pros:

• Powerful
• Durable
• Waterproof
• Removable speed limit
• Super quiet
• Really affordable

Cons:

• Can be some what tricky to install
• Could have “anti-spinn” system (smart power distribution)
• Don’t fit on fat-bikes (without special solutions)

Bosch & Bafang Review – Bafang vs Bosch The Ultimate Showdown

Bosch Review (Active Line, Performance Line)

I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to test ride the Haibike Xduro Fullife 5.0 electric mountain bike before writing this Bosch vs Bafang review.

This is one of the more reasonably priced bikes from Haibike. Although staying under $3000 it has the best available Bosch motor, the Bosch Performance CX integrated in the frame.

The bike itself is an outstanding mountain bike with both front and mid suspension to smooth out the ride as much as possible.

As for the motor, just as you would expect from their powerhouse model it takes off with power and responsiveness like I haven’t experienced before.

It is not strange that Bosch motors are often called the Rolls-Royce of electric motors. But you certainly have to pay to get this kind of German quality.

Riding this bike on the streets is everything you would expect from an ebike in this price range. It was smooth with great acceleration. Unfortunately (in my opinion) the bike was street legal so I couldn’t go above 25 mph.

If that is what you are looking for and you have that kind of money waiting to be spent there is no question about it, go for it. It is a great bike!

I also got to try it out on a short dirt trail on a small hill. That, however, was not just great it was absolutely incredible.

Apparently the more high-end Bosch motors have an MTB-mode where the motor senses how much power you need to get better traction on dirt roads.

This feature actually works amazingly well. It is only a matter of time until most ebike motors have similar features.

And as if that wasn’t enough it has a walk-mode to help you get the bike up steep hills in heavy terrain to get to that downhill track you want to conquer.

This motor is great, and many people might consider it quite expensive to put that much money on an ebike. That is why it is only on rather pricey mid to high-tier bikes.

If you feel like you have $3000 or more to spare, then you should go for it!

The Haibike Xduro Fullife 5.0 is one of the more affordable bikes equipped with the Bosch Performance motor. If you want a great pre-built ebike it is available from Amazon, check it out here.

Pros:

• Powerful
• Durable
• Waterproof
• integrated in the frame
• Great responsiveness
• MTB and Walk-mode

Cons:

• Difficult to remove speed limit
• Difficult to repair yourself
• Expensive

Bosch & Bafang Review – Bafang vs Bosch The Ultimate Showdown

Conclusion

After reading both the Bosch and Bafang review you realize both motors are great.

In the clash between Bafang vs Bosch, Bosch edged the winning round with features like the MTB-mode and the Walk-mode.

It all comes down to money, convert your bike with a Bafang motor or buy a completely new bike. The choice is up to your wallet.

I truly hope this review was helpful and if you are wondering about something please leave a comment below.

No matter which option you choose I believe you will be really satisfied with your new electric bike.

Bosch & Bafang Review – Bafang vs Bosch The Ultimate Showdown