In essence, Bosch has revised the motor's sensor technology. As a result, the drive system not only offers slightly more dynamic and less aggressive support, it now even enables "wild" riding maneuvers for experts. The power delivery is smoother and the motor "pushes" you less than before. This is a little unfamiliar at first. When pedaling briskly, you reach 25 km/h in no time, but it feels like you have less thrust. This is despite the fact that the key data of 84 Newton meters and 600 watts of maximum power have remained the same.

Bosch has also optimized the pushing aid, which now adapts better to the walking speed. If you stop on steep terrain, the bike does not roll backwards for ten seconds thanks to the "Hill Hold" function. This is ideal when you are pushing over hill and dale and need to take a short breather. Thanks to "Hill Hold", climbing uphill is effortless when the ride is resumed.

Another new feature is the hill start assist: regardless of the mode or gear in which the bike is started, the sensors detect how steep the terrain is and the motor provides optimum support.

Thanks to new inertial sensors, the Bosch system better recognizes the surface on which the bike is riding, how steep it is and even what manoeuvres are being made with the bike. If you have trial skills, you can even hop on the rear wheel and the motor does not accelerate despite pedal pressure. At the launch event, brand ambassador Stefan Schlie shows how this works. If he hops up on the rear wheel, the bike spins briefly in the air. The sensors register the landing immediately and do not trigger any propulsion. Even when Stefan touches down on a wet root, the rear wheel does not turn, he simply stops in a wheelie. Impressive!

Another highlight is the revised "Extended Boost", which is only available in E-MTB mode. With a kick on the pedals, the motor "pushes" you two meters forward without you having to pedal. This makes it easy to get over steps, wet roots or even obstacles that would otherwise be impossible to ride over.

The latest version of the CX motor also introduces an automatic shifting function. However, only those who purchase a bike with the corresponding groupset from Shimano (Cues) or TRP (A12) will benefit from this. The first ride with the TRP version was surprisingly good. It is important to set the individual cadence in the "Smart System", as this controls the shifting processes. If you don't know your cadence, you will have to experiment a little with the settings. The cadence can be stored while riding via the display and the control unit. Even when riding aggressively in turbo mode, the system provides the appropriate gear in most situations. If not, it can be overridden manually - simply select the desired gear with the gearshift. Shifting is somewhat more passive in E-MTB mode. If you don't want to be fooled here, simply switch off the automatic mode at the push of a button.

And the best thing at the end: the annoying rattling of the motor on the descent is history, the Bosch engineers have done a good job here They have also been able to reduce the noise development, the motor is now consistently quieter. Even when pushing uphill at maximum speed and with high power, the CX now hums modestly.

Conclusion

What could be better than optimizing the tried and tested? The slightly smoother and more dynamic support is appealing. Anyone who likes to hop around on the rear wheel can now do so. And if you love your bike and enjoy pushing it, you can do so in a relaxed manner. It remains to be seen how the automatic gearshift will perform in alpine terrain. The short test on moderate terrain was not very conclusive. However, it could be a game changer that puts Bosch one step ahead. The competition has not yet been able to fully convince us.