Hi Gary
It seems to me that my old Levo from 2019 had the power profiles and adjustabilty that meant ample power was on tap at almost any cadence and any gear. Once the power comes in its very constant and consistent with how "hard" you are pedalling. With my EP8 the power is very variable and only really seems reliable within a narrow cadence range.
Best way to illustrate it is; When im in Trail (7 & 75nm) climbing a steep hill, then select Turbo (10 & 75nm) there is no dicernable increase in assitance from my EP8. On my Levo you could always feel the Turbo giving you more assistance at the same peadlling input.
For me there is a huge gulf between the way i felt I could trust the power delivery on my Levo in response to my pedal effort but I cant on my EP8. I rather hope my EP8 is broken but I fear its just that Soecialised are way ahead on the software side compared to Shimano and they seem to understand what Mountain Bikers need better than Shimano do. Id like to try another EP8 that the owner says is perfect so I can get an idea of how "normal" my EP8 is.
PS I'm 6 foot, 75kg and I think not too bad fitness wise
(hope this isnt a dating site.) I usually ride analog 3 times a week & ebike once a week, average ride is 20-30 miles and 3,000ft not sure if that's viewed as fit or if its even relevant to how my EP8 motor feels.
Id be interested in others opnion of how EP8 in the Bullit compares to Brose in Gen 2 Levo, for me its chalk & cheese.
Fair enough — this is your experience and you ask for others’ - and mine’s above already.
Concerning your settings, you may not have them set up best for your style. For example, with torque set the same for trail and boost, you are already setting yourself up for the sensation that both modes feel similar whether up hill or down.
You describe a test going up hill with the power settings fairly close and the torque the same. I wouldn’t expect many to notice much difference between the two on any eeb when riding up a decent hill. On a stiff hill, you’re at your most likely to push the motor most quickly to whatever torque you set in the App. Whatever power is set. If the torque is the same, then they’ll more likely feel the same when most effort is demanded by the trail and your intended pace.
I’ve not ridden de-restricted - I’m not saying you do - but I can see that another factor might be that since I quite quickly exceed 25kph on the flat or down hill (if the opportunity’s there), then if derestricted to, say, 38 kph, then I can see that some of what applies under 25 kph up hill for me might apply on the flat too derestricted.
I think of power as the proportion of effort I put in vs the proportion the motor puts in. The maximum support available is limited by the torque set.
So, I think it would be easier to detect a difference on the flat or going down hill with your settings if your bike isn’t derestricted.
With my style, strength (not much at 65yrs), fitness, trails I ride, I need there to be very little difference in the power settings between Eco/Trail/Boost: I simply need whatever torque I’ve set to just kick in.
But, for the same reasons, I have a large difference in torque between Eco/Trail/Boost. Currently it‘s 27/63/85 Nm.
This means it feels like I quickly get the torque I’ve set in each mode as power is set at nearly max in each mode. It also means there’s a big perceived difference in support from the motor WITH MY STYLE between each mode.
And, crucially concerning battery endurance, it means that if I keep in Eco most of the time and switch off when sensible, I get good endurance. Compared to the Levo (as already said), with similarly sticky tyres in the same conditions, the main difference in endurance is the bigger battery in the Spec when I rode that (lots).
Riders that Turbo/Boost around the place to get back up to the top efficiently — a very reasonable riding style, but I don’t know yours — then I agree the Brose is better suited to that. It’s a well behaved brute. If you ride with greater reliance on your own strength both up and down, then I’d argue the Bosch (and to a lesser extent the EP8 which I have now) is better suited to this rider. There’ll be better progress made over longer distances.
This year’s EWS-E results support my proposition for the Bosch.
