Shimano, Brose, Bosch upgrade path?

[Fivetones]

We’re on the verge of a new Bosch motor, Brose was last/this year with the Levo etc and Shimano might go to E9000 (XTR?) soon.

Would an upgrade path for the motor make a bike more attractive to you when buying?

If so, which company would you say is more likely to do this?

I think yes, and Shimano (based on e7000/e8000 compatibility) but I’m interested in views. Particularly whether you think this is a good thing or not.

 

[R120]

I think its a good thing, but I can only really see Shimano going down this route. The E7000 and E8000 motor use the same mounts, and are interchangeable AFAIK - Would be amazing to see the E9000 or whatever it may be called as an aftermarket option as well as OEM.

 

[Jamsxr]

I think this would be a great selling point for motor manufacturers. It would result in more sales at a higher price for the likes of Shimano, seeing as the OEM bike manufacturers pay significantly less.

The CEO of YT sort of indicated this with the new Decoy but nothing is confirmed. The same way we can currently upgrade most of the components today, I hope that will be true of motors.

 

[MattyB]

It’s a nice thought, but the economic drivers are not really there for the manufacturers - they’d much rather increase the integration and sell you a new bike!

 

[Fivetones]

It’s a nice thought, but the economic drivers are not there for the manufacturers - they’d much rather increase the integration and sell you a new bike!

Yes, absolutely. It depends whether the motor manufacturer wants to take the lead or not. Arguably if fully integrated (Di2 for example) you could see a Shimano want to take a platform lead. That ignores the economics of the bike manufacturer and key supplier relationship though.

 

[Jamsxr]

It’s a nice thought, but the economic drivers are not really there for the manufacturers - they’d much rather increase the integration and sell you a new bike!

Shimano don’t sell bikes and you can already do it with their motors from what I understand

 

[Fivetones]

Aside from E7000/E8000 compatibility Shimano have a recent leaning toward backward compatibility in their 1x products:

Shimano’s massive 10spd cassette is backwards compatibility done right

 

[Jamsxr]

Yeah, the motor is just another component, it’s the frame that stitches the bike together. The motors won’t be cheap and it will be the same situation we have now, upgrad a couple of top notch components or get a new bike with more progressive geometry, suspension linkage etc...

 

[Gary]

I think its a good thing, but I can only really see Shimano going down this route. The E7000 and E8000 motor use the same mounts, and are interchangeable AFAIK - Would be amazing to see the E9000 or whatever it may be called as an aftermarket option as well as OEM.

E8020 please.

ie. E-SAINT

Saint crank arms
stronger axle
larger more durable replaceable main bearings
100-160g ish heavier

 

[Gary]

Aside from E7000/E8000 compatibility Shimano have a recent leaning toward backward compatibility in their 1x products:

Shimano’s massive 10spd cassette is backwards compatibility done right

er... what?

all they've done is release a slightly wider range cassette for an older groupset.
Shimano have done exactly that after a few years for pretty much every groupset they've ever produced including Acera/altus back in the 90s. Their "Megarange" cassettes even went down to non series 5 and 6 speed freewheels.

folk were fitting 42t expander sprockets (and removing the 15t and 17t sprockets and replacing them with a 16t (closing the jump from just removing one sprocket to fit the 42 but still creating a shitty progression). you can still get them.
OneUp Components Expander Sprocket + Cog Kit | Chain Reaction Cycles
it's taken 4+ years for Shimano to respond.

That 10 speed Deore 11-42 has the annoying 15t-18t jump (a terrible place to put a 3t difference on an Emtb where you're in the higher gears a lot more)
If running 10speed I'd honestly rather have an 11-36 with the 15-17t jump and just have to pedal harder on climbs.
Infact that's what i just fitted to a non-E bike I built for my GF. (albeit with a 30t chainring and 26" wheels so similarly low gearing to the new 11-42 Shimano Deore cassette with a 32t and 27.5 wheel). also meant a short cage Zee mech could be fitted keeping it neat and out of the way of impacts. and because the chain is far shorter no top chain guide is required