Is Bosch the most reliable motor?

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Sophie777

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As the title says, everyone seems to say Bosch is the noisiest motor. But is it also the most reliable?

Having perused these forums, it seems people have had problems with their Brose, Shimano, Yamaha/Giant motors.
I don't think I have come across posts where people say they had to replace their Bosch motors.
I think I recall posts where 1 person at least had to replace his Brose motor 3 times!

Is my perception correct? Is Bosch is the best in terms of reliability (though the noisiest)?
 
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The jury is still out on the new generation, of course.
Apart from that, in my opinion:
- electronic problems are quite rare with the Bosch
- so are electrical problems - no significant issues it seems
- a weakish point are the bearings, that do not seem to cope well with water ingress. Then again, all other manufacturers seem to have issues with this as well.
Of course, anyone who had an incident, might disagree. Exceptions prove the point.
One of the reasons I chose Bosch is the experience they have in many major areas I felt important in EMTB- application (motors, drives, electronics, and batteries).
 
I'm on my third Bosch motor is 1600 miles.
 
I'm on my second Bosch motor at 2000miles. Bearings failed in the first one
 
My Brose motor has done 6845km trouble free. It’s quiet, has more power than I need, is totally user tuneable and rides so nice.
Sure, if I was to Submerge it in water or totally drench the thing with little regard whilst washing it, I’d probably fark it totally.
I don’t think one brand is more reliable than others. I’d certainly be able to junk any of the popular brands on the market if I took little care.
 
Regardless of reliability, the bosch might be best because it has a rolling 2 year warranty on the motor.
 
jerry said:
don't they all? (It's the law?)
Click to expand...

I thought specilized and shimano have a 2 year warranty on the bike, which covers motor replacement, but then the warranty on the motor stops at the end of the two years?
 
All shimano parts have a 2 year warranty from original purchase.
 
It is my belief (please correct me as appropriate) that the Bosch motor originally was a windscreen wiper motor in trucks (EDIT: It wasn't it was a power steering motor TX Bearing Man). This would have meant that Bosch had many years of experience of how the motor worked. Admittedly not on an e-Bike, but still, there were thousands of them out there for years. It was Bosch that first took the initiative and converted the motor to work as an e-Bike motor. Also why they had that small output gear as they couldn't change too much of the original design. Being first to the market enabled them to gain market share, such that Bosch is now the most common e-Bike motor in Europe.

Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor. As long as they aren't launching their Beta version, then it will probably be an excellent motor. :unsure:
 
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steve_sordy said:
It is my belief (please correct me as appropriate) that the Bosch motor originally was a windscreen wiper motor in trucks. This would have meant that Bosch had many years of experience of how the motor worked. Admittedly not on an e-Bike, but still, there were thousands of them out there for years. It was Bosch that first took the initiative and converted the motor to work as an e-Bike motor. Also why they had that small output gear as they couldn't change too much of the original design. Being first to the market enabled them to gain market share, such that Bosch is now the most common e-Bike motor in Europe.

Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor. As long as they aren't launching their Beta version, then it will probably be an excellent motor. :unsure:
Click to expand...
It was actually a power steering motor that Bosch adapted :)
 
Their "no questions asked" replacement policy mirrored that of Sram's Rockshox and led to masses of failure mode data. This informed the redesign and launch of their new motor.
[/QUOTE]

How enlightened! I can think of quite a few other manufacturers that could benefit from this.
 
From my limited experience of just 2 ebikes both Cubes the first being a 2017 hard tail and the present one is a 2019 stereo 160 sl both of course with Bosch Motors.
The first motor failed at 2140 miles and was replaced without any problems and with a new 2 year warranty. This was the usual bearing noise in fact people used to turn around to see what was approaching they became so noisy. The new motor was perfectly quiet up to the time i sold it. The present bike has done 2800 miles and is very quiet but there are variations in the slight noise depending on assistance mode, cadence etc.
Looking forward to the new motor in whatever bike i can purchase but more than likely another Cube or perhaps an Orbea wild both are non existant in my size and spec. I have been quoted March at the earliest for a Cube an even later for the Orbea.
 
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