I would highly appreciate Bosch full-power bikes with slimmer downtubes. I’m honestly a bit tired of these oversized “stove pipe” downtubes - as we tend to call them in Germany.
I recently spoke with a Bosch representative. While he couldn’t share any technical details, he also didn’t deny when I mentioned figures like 120 Nm and 820-850 W peak. That would make a lot of sense in my view, as it gives more flexibility, better momentum, and a smoother flow on steep climbs.
For context, I currently ride Gen4 CX, Gen5, and an Avinox PL Pro -and I genuinely like all of them. That said, I could definitely do without the rattle of the Gen4. The Gen5 and especially the Avinox bike are impressively quiet on descents.
So yes, it’s good to see Bosch evolving their power specs. It’s simply the reality of the market they need to address.
However, I think we are focusing on the wrong issue when discussing 750 W limits in Europe. That Train has left Station a while ago.
What I’ve been observing over the past one to two years- especially in Austria, South Tyrol, Trentino, and Ticino - is a massive increase in Surron, electric trials, and even motocross bikes on alpine trails and summits.
Last year alone, during two months in Southern Italy, I saw more of these vehicles on mountain trails than in my entire 30 years of mountain biking.
In the Tyrolean Ötztal, I encountered a group of Surron riders climbing a well-known trail - one I’ve been riding for over 20 years -with complete ease, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Fifteen years ago, hunters would have figuratively shot you off your MTB if they had encountered you there. Now: Surrons - no problem.
I’ve also come across motocross riders on highly technical S3 trails leading to peaks in the Vinschgau region, with over 1000 vertical meters - terrain where even experienced alpine riders are fully challenged on the descent. Yet somehow, they ride up. And when you ride down a trail they’ve climbed, it looks like a motocross track.
You can clearly see it on the trails: the damage patterns have changed as have the use cases. The impact from these types of bikes has increased significantly over the last two years.
To me, this is the real challenge we are facing in alpine regions like Austria, Italy, and Switzerland – not whether eMTBs have 750 W or slightly more.
At least from what I’ve seen, local authorities are currently not addressing this development at all. And in some cases, you can probably guess why – especially if the mayor’s son or local farmers’ kids are riding Surrons.