Performance Line CX Race
The Gen 4 race-tuned Bosch CX — the same 85 Nm / 600 W hardware as the standard Performance Line CX, but unlocked to a flat 400% Race mode and a double dose of Extended Boost for riders who want everything the motor has, all the time.
No independent dyno exists for the Race tune; the curve shown is the shared Gen 4/Gen 5 CX-family shape — power climbs hard to its plateau by around 60 rpm, then holds almost dead flat far up the rev range, with the Race tune extending usable support past 120 rpm. Treat it as the family signature, not a measurement of this unit.
Bosch Performance Line CX Race is not a new motor so much as a sharper edit of one you already know. Physically it is the BDU376Y Gen 4 drive unit — the same 85 Nm, 600 W peak hardware that sits in half the eMTBs on the trail — shaved by 150 g and re-flashed with a dedicated Race mode. The difference is in the tune: where the standard CX tops out at 340% support, the Race variant gives a flat 400%, arrives without the half-beat of lag the normal motor leaves in, and roughly doubles the Extended Boost overrun so the unit keeps shoving for a couple of metres after you stop pedalling.
No lab has put a dyno on the Race tune specifically, so there is no independent power curve for this exact variant. What it inherits is the CX family's signature delivery: power builds to its plateau early and then holds remarkably flat far up the rev range — the shared CX-family shape Velomotion later mapped on the Gen 5 hardware, which held within a few watts from roughly 60 rpm out past 140 rpm. The Race tune leans into that high-cadence reach, still feeding support at 120 rpm and beyond where most rivals are already tapering. That makes it brilliant for spinning a light gear up a technical climb, but it also means the motor rewards a high, smooth cadence and punishes lazy, low-rpm mashing. Treat the curve shown here as that family shape, not a measurement of this unit.
The honest caveat is that this is a 2022 motor. Bosch's Performance Update 2.0 (4 May 2026) adds 600% support up to 15 km/h and eMTB+ to the Gen 4 Race, but it does not touch the hardware ceiling: the torque stays at 85 Nm and peak power at 600 W. Meanwhile the same update took the Gen 5 CX and CX-R to 120 Nm at 600% support (peak power held at 750 W), so the bar the Race now sits below is 120 Nm, not the 100 Nm it launched against. As a race weapon it has been superseded; as a sorted, proven, full-fat trail motor on a legacy build it still delivers.
Character
The case for and against
Strengths
- Flat 400% Race-mode support — the strongest Gen 4 CX tune
- CX-family flat power plateau holds support far up the rev range
- Immediate, lag-free response
- Double Extended Boost overrun
- 150 g lighter than the standard CX, proven reliable hardware
Compromises
- 85 Nm / 600 W — out-muscled by the 120 Nm Gen 5 CX-R and 120–150 Nm Avinox M-series
- Performance Update 2.0 adds modes but not torque/power; hardware ceiling unchanged
- Rewards high cadence; punishes low-rpm mashing
- Gen 4 coast rattle and gearbox whirr remain; no quoted dBA
