Greg's Weekly eMTB Briefing - 08 June 2026The eMTB world this week is having one of those moments where several slow-burning fuses all decide to reach their powder kegs simultaneously. Bosch's Performance Update 2.0 has dropped — and 120Nm from a firmware update is the kind of thing that makes you wonder what the motor was doing before. Meanwhile, the curtain has finally come down on FAZUA, Porsche has confirmed it's shutting down eBike Performance, and the industry has spent the week oscillating between eulogising a genuinely clever motor and pointing out this was entirely predictable. Normal week, really.
The End of FAZUA: Porsche Pulls the Plug on eBike PerformanceIt's over. Porsche eBike Performance — the Stuttgart money that acquired FAZUA back in 2022 and was supposed to take the lightweight motor brand to the masses — is being shut down. The FAZUA Ride 60, which sat at 60Nm and a manufacturer-claimed 450Nm peak (with independent measurements actually exceeding that at ~525W, which doesn't happen often), was one of the genuinely interesting motors in the segment: lightweight at under 2kg, impressively quiet, and with a character that rewarded riders who could actually pedal. It was never going to trouble the Avinox M2S on a spec sheet, but that was rather the point.
What makes this sting is that FAZUA wasn't failing on merit. The motor worked. The problem, as it so often is, was a corporate parent with priorities that shifted. Porsche acquired FAZUA with the stated ambition of building a proper eBike ecosystem — and then discovered, presumably, that selling 911s is considerably easier and more profitable. The shutdown leaves a gap in the lightweight, performance-oriented segment that is genuinely hard to fill: the TQ HPR60 (60Nm, 1.92kg) is the closest analogue, but it's built into Trek's own ecosystem and not freely available to OEMs the way FAZUA was. Maxon's BIKEDRIVE AIR remains, but at 40Nm it's a different proposition entirely.
For the brands that built their identity around FAZUA — Cannondale, Orbea on some models, various boutique builders — this is a significant headache. Existing bikes will presumably continue to receive support for a defined period, but nobody's announcing a FAZUA-powered 2027 lineup, are they. The Ride 60 will go down as one of those motors the industry didn't quite know what to do with while it was alive and will probably spend years missing once it's gone. Classic corporate move.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Bosch Performance Update 2.0: 120Nm via OTA — Yes, ReallyCast your mind back to September 2024. Bosch launched the CX Gen 5 at 85Nm, which was widely met with the kind of polite enthusiasm usually reserved for a slightly better biscuit at a meeting. Then May 2025 came along and an OTA update quietly nudged it to 100Nm. Now Performance Update 2.0, arriving May 2026, takes both the CX Gen 5 and the CX-R Gen 5 to 120Nm — the same headline figure as the Avinox M2S, which Bosch quote at 1,500W peak against Bosch's 750W. Which is corporate speak for "the number rhymes but the context is quite different." The CX Gen 5 also gains a new Extended Boost mode, longer sustained high-output windows, and revised eMTB+ mapping. E-Mountainbike has a full first-ride review of the software update worth reading before you form any opinions based purely on the torque number.
What's genuinely significant here isn't just the headline torque — it's that Bosch are demonstrating a clear strategy of launching hardware with room to grow, then drip-feeding performance via firmware as competitive pressure demands. At this rate, the CX Gen 6 will ship at 60Nm and reach 200Nm by 2028. More seriously though: independent measurements had the CX Gen 5 at ~685W. Whether PU2.0 changes that real-world figure is the question the dyno operators will answer in the coming weeks.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Thömus Lightrider E_MAX: Best eMTB of 2026?E-Mountainbike have put the Thömus Lightrider E_MAX through their full test process and, based on the headline, they're not being shy about the conclusion. Thömus are a Swiss brand that most people outside mainland Europe will pronounce wrong on the first attempt, but they build bikes with the sort of obsessive attention to detail that comes from being small enough to care. Whether this is the best eMTB of 2026 or merely a very good one rather depends on your definition of "best" and your relationship with Swiss pricing — but it's worth your attention either way.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
TQ: The Freedom to Simply Build ThingsE-Mountainbike's profile of Toni Rossberger and TQ Systems is a quietly fascinating read about what happens when a motor company decides its job is to make a very good motor rather than an ecosystem, a platform, a connectivity suite, and a subscription service. The HPR60 — 60Nm, 1.924kg, 350W claimed peak — is the current flagship, and TQ's approach of selling it to OEMs without demanding they adopt a particular display, app, or connectivity standard is either admirable independence or a commercial liability depending on who you ask. Recommended reading for when you want something more considered than another spec comparison.
Full story on E-Mountainbike
Troxus Mobility Lands in CanadaTroxus Mobility has announced a Canadian expansion via a partnership with the Trailhead Axis Group. Troxus sit in the direct-to-consumer value segment — not a brand currently troubling the podium at Pinkbike shootouts, but part of a broader trend of sub-premium brands professionalising their distribution rather than just shipping containers of bikes and hoping for the best. Whether Trailhead Axis can give them the retail credibility they need in a market that's increasingly competitive is a question the next eighteen months will answer.
Full story on Bicycle Retailer
Garmin: Still Printing MoneyGarmin posted record revenue for 2025 and 17% growth in Q4. Nothing says "the cycling tech market is fine actually" like Garmin continuing to sell GPS devices to people who already own GPS devices. Their fitness and outdoor segments — which include cycling computers — remain a core driver. For eMTB riders: the Edge ecosystem continues to be the benchmark for third-party head unit integration, even as motor brands push their own displays harder.
Full story on Bicycle Retailer
FROM YOUR FORUM THIS WEEK
Brake Upgrades: The Age-Old Rotor and Pad Rabbit HoleA pleasingly practical thread this week, kicked off by @RipGroove who is looking to upgrade the front end of their '24 Cube Stereo Hybrid SLX beyond the stock Shimano Deore M6120 setup — already running a Shimano SM-RT64-L 203mm rotor and D03S resin pads on the rear. The question: go XT Ice Tech and sintered up front? Sensible instinct. @Bndit came in early with the classic opening gambit: Galfer purple pads before you spend anything else — which is the brake equivalent of "have you tried turning it off and on again," except it actually works. @RipGroove then asked whether the purple Galfers would pair acceptably with an XT Ice Tech rotor, which is a reasonable follow-up and the thread was still going from there. If you're running M6120s and wondering where your money goes furthest, worth a read.
Join the discussion Worst Value eMTB on the Market — A Light-Hearted Bloodbath@Sparkomatic opened what might be the most enjoyable thread of the week, asking the community to identify the worst value eMTB currently on sale — specifically in the spirit of good fun, not a vendetta. Researching replacements for a 2022 Reign E+ will do that to a person. @Trek-Rail-eBike immediately produced a £17,000 S-Works Levo, which is one for the lottery winners and dentists — and apparently not even the dentists. @Sparkomatic had been side-eyeing the Giant Reign E+0 at £10,000 and thinking it looked thin on value, though the S-Works Levo made it look like a Friday afternoon special at Aldi. Sixteen replies in and the community appears to be having a thoroughly good time. As a rule of thumb: if you have to ask whether something is good value, it probably isn't.
Join the discussion Authorities Are Waking Up — 95 Replies and CountingThe access and regulation thread has blown up this week with 95 replies, which suggests the community has Opinions. The title says it all, really. Whether your local trail centre is getting more attention from enforcement, or you've had a run-in with signage that definitely wasn't there last year, this is the thread to commiserate in — or, ideally, to share constructive approaches to engagement with the authorities in question.
Join the discussion Why Is PX £1,100 More Than PR Pro? — 44 Replies of JustificationThe Avinox pricing thread has generated 44 replies of riders doing the mental gymnastics required to reconcile two bikes with the same M2S motor and different price tags. The M2S, for reference, puts out 150Nm and 1,500W manufacturer-claimed peak regardless of which battery configuration it's running. The PR Carbon Pro gets the RS800 removable 800Wh battery; the PX Carbon gets the FP700 internal 700Wh. Whether the frame, geometry, build kit, and carbon grade justify the gap is the question. Forty-four replies suggests no consensus has been reached, which is about right.
Join the discussion I Destroyed My Motor Attempting an Out-of-Warranty Home ServiceThe thread title is doing a lot of work here and @Greg Watts respects the honesty. The OP knows. We know they know. The value of the thread is not in the cautionary tale — we've all heard it — but in the community's response, which presumably includes at least three people who have done the same thing and one person who got away with it and is being insufferably smug about it. Twenty-two replies of catharsis and hard-won wisdom.
Join the discussion Flipping Your eMTB Upside Down for Maintenance: A Controller's Worst Enemy?This is a more technically interesting question than it might appear. Flipping a bike BMX-style for home wrenching is second nature to anyone who learned to work on bikes before eMTBs existed — but some motor and controller setups are not fans of being inverted, particularly if there's any residual moisture, or if the controller's thermal management makes assumptions about orientation. Forty-one replies suggests this has touched a nerve with the home-mechanic contingent.
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ONGOING DEBATES
MrFixit's CEF52 EP801 Build — CompletedThe Shenzhen Zhaosheng Carbon CEF52 thread got its payoff moment this week: @MrFixit confirmed the build is done — 23kg, Shimano EP801 motor, a mix of used and new-old-stock components, and a bike that rides well but requires effort to get the best from. The EP801 runs 85Nm and a manufacturer-claimed 600W peak (independently measured at ~562W), so it's a proper motor in what sounds like a characterful frameset. Notably, @MrFixit found it considerably noisier than either of his Bafang motors — the M510 and M820 — which will interest anyone who's wondered how Shimano's drive quality translates to a budget frame build. @jbc came in to ask about the battery mounting situation on the CEF52, and @MrFixit confirmed it brackets off the frame rather than a direct bottle cage interface. If you're eyeing a budget Chinese carbon frame build with a quality motor, this thread is about as close to due diligence as the internet offers.
Join the discussion Cube AMS Hybrid One44 — The SL Life, ValidatedA quiet thread, but a warm one. @Gazzaaitken picked up the Cube AMS Hybrid One44 C:68X for £5,300 from Wheelbase — coming off a full-fat eMTB and specifically not wanting mega-power or mega-weight. @MarkB — running the SLX variant — has clicked past 2,200 miles in 15 months and reports it as the ideal trail and XC companion, augmented by a Powermore 250 range extender for the big days. @Gazzaaitken then posted his first ride impressions from Carron Valley: light, fast-feeling, and with almost no noticeable drag past the assist cut-off — which on a 400Wh battery for a five-mile loop with 400m of elevation suggests he's got the pacing figured out. Good to see the lightweight eMTB contingent thriving quietly while everyone else argues about 150Nm motors.
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BIG THREAD UPDATES
SZZS CEF50 Megathread — Still the Forum's HeartbeatThe CEF50 megathread remains the undisputed centre of gravity for budget carbon frame builders on this forum, and it's showing no signs of slowing down. Five thousand-plus posts worth of community knowledge, 131 documented rider setups, and an answer to almost every question you could have about Chinese carbon eMTB frames — if you're prepared to read far enough to find it. If you're new here and considering a budget carbon build, start here before you start a new thread. Seriously.
Join the megathread Levo Gen 4 Rumours — The Thread That Outlasted the WaitOver a thousand community facts and 3,500-plus posts of speculation, sightings, denials, and the occasional actual information. At this stage the thread has taken on a life of its own somewhat independent of the actual bike. Still active, still the place to be if you're tracking where Specialized takes the Levo next — particularly relevant given the 3.1's current standing (105Nm, manufacturer-claimed 810W, measured ~725W on Velomotion's dyno) and what a Gen 4 might do to those numbers.
Join the discussion Official BLEvo Thread — Bosch Software Update 2.0 has arrived at exactly the right moment for this thread. Expect 120Nm discussion to be eating the replies. Join the discussion Trek Fuel EXe Megathread — The FAZUA shutdown will have landed here with mixed feelings; the EXe runs TQ HPR50 (50Nm, 1.85kg), not FAZUA, but the lightweight motor conversation is very much alive. Join the discussion Official Levo SL Thread — TQ HPR60 and the SL 1.2 both getting scrutiny post-FAZUA. Lightweight motor discourse incoming. Join the discussionStay muddy,
Greg
Got news I missed or spotted something good on the forum? Tag me @Greg Watts or drop it in my forum.
