What's the best lightweight e-bike motor? Bosch SX vs TQ HPR50 vs Fazua Ride 60 vs Specialized SL

We've seen a slew of new mid-power/lightweight e-bikes hit the market recently, making it arguably the hottest segment in mountain biking.

But with several motors out there, all offering different advantages and disadvantages, how do you choose the best option for your local trails and riding style?

Do you crave the smallest, lightest package that's invisible to other riders? The most power to keep up with mates on full-power e-bikes? Or the biggest range to let you get as many laps in as possible?

To answer these questions and more, we assembled four of the latest lightweight models, fitted with the four benchmark mid-power motors: the TQ HPR50; the Bosch Performance SX; the Fazua Ride 60; and the Specialized SL 1.2.

With four test riders, all around the same weight, and Maxxis Max Terra control tyres set to exactly the same pressures, we set about three different challenges – a drag race, a hillclimb, and a range test to see how many metres of climbing we could achieve.

We used the maximum power mode on each motor for the duration of the test, and we excluded range extenders.

For the range test we concentrated on elevation rather than distance, as lots of flat terrain will reduce drain on the battery and can produce unrealistic expectations. As mountain bikers generally ride for the descents, we wanted to know how much descending we could get out of a full battery.

The four bikes on test are:
Mondraker Neat RR (TQ)
Specialized Turbo Kenevo SL 2 Expert (Specialized)
Haibike Lyke CF 11 (Fazua)
Whyte E-Lyte 150 Works (Bosch SX)

The specs of the motors are:

TQ HPR 50
Weight 1.85kg
Power 300w
Torque 50Nm
Battery 360wh plus 160wh range extender (520wh)

Fazua Ride 60
Weight: 1.96kg
Power 450w
Torque 60nm
Battery 430wh but no range extender

Specialized 1.2 motor
Weight 1.95kg
Peak power 320w
Peak torque 50Nm
Battery 320Wh plus 160wh range extender (480wh)

Bosch Performance SX
Weight 2kg
Power 600w
Torque 55nm
Battery 400wh plus 250wh range extender (650wh)

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[FritzPhoto]

Good comparison filmed at my local riding spot. Today did discover the new lines you carved in there

[aliancemd]

I don’t ride motorbikes but I like TQ because of how hidden it is and makes it look like a regular bike.

[joehoeper]

Loving this eMTB content. Please review a 2024 Santa Cruz Bullit!

[amir_mtb]

Thanks for the comparison, we need more reviews on ebikes for sure. I'd love for future comparisons to be more scientific or apples-to-apples - I think that having different riders on different bikes really increases the impact of factors external to the motor. At the very least it could be same rider riding same trails with (close to) identical rider power via powermeter. But every content is helpful, thanks!!

[premyslkavan]

Hi, I chose Specialized Turbo Creo 2, Thanks for video

[andyarchitect]

Great video 👍 Its interesting to see how these compare. It does feel like a lot of motors are moving towards the middle ground of around 60nm. Don't think that there is really any right or wrong approach to emtbs though... just different styles, weights and powers of bikes for different tasks. Its great we have so many options now.

[mtzroberto]

Could be interesting to ee de Shimano and Giant motor too vs Fazua and Boch in that challenge

[darcos]

I'm impressed with the video. I'm able to get about 1300 m in cold weather in eco (that is upped). It's easy to customise the power to increase range.

[ultimatist]

Interesting how much of a difference the wattage makes on the hill climb. It's not the torque - those numbers are quite similar - but the torque at high cadence. Guess it allowed the rider to easily carry momentum over slick leaves. Well done test!

[andrewvickers]

A great comparison video that was bound to happen sooner or later!! Can you comment on which drive system has the most & least drag over the assistance threshold and how does the amount of drag compare with the full powered systems?

[charlesaeneas]

Glad that I've got a Riese and Muller with Fazua 60. Always run it on the lowest power setting though 🙂

[Stockfish]

TQ because its light and its the quitest and it does not even give away that you ride an ebike.

[stephenbarnes]

Really enjoyed the video thanks for the hard work producing these videos, would really like know which off these motors is easiest to peddle past the cut off speed and with the motor turned off, I'm hoping to get the kenevo sl2 currently on the orbea rise but peddling past the cut of speed on the flat is hard work wondering if any of the SL motors are any better than the ep8

[marcinzdzieblowski]

Forgot to complements drone footage of London's
(Squamish)😉👌👌👍

[edavis]

My next bike will be an ebike with Fazua motor. If Orbea makes a bike with Fazua, it would be a no-brainer.

[yspegel]

I'm kind of missing some information about how the different motors feel in terms of engaging, how smooth do they deliver power?
Edit: how much noise do they make (Bosch used to be loud).

[JoJo-yrio]

Fun video to watch, but will never be accurate. You would need 4 robots putting out exactly the same pedal power that weigh exactly the same ect ect... Never the less fun to watch 🍻

[islandaerial]

The BEST one is the one that doesn't break down and, has decent warranty support.

[link]

Using some maths and the the relationships between power, torque and cadence its fairly easy to calculate what cadence you need to ride at to get max motor power. For exanple you need to pedal at 104 rpm to get 600 from the Bosch (near enough impossible for any length of time), at a normal 80-85 cadence you are only getting 460-480 watts, so the headline numbers often mean very little. That motor is really a 450 watts 55NM unit based on real world usage. The TQ will give you all 300 watts at below 80 cadence, and the Fazua will give you all 450wats at just below 80. The Bosch 600 number is a marketing gimmick, unless you can pedal at 100+ rpm, and then expect a flat battery pretty quickly !

[iannorris]

I have a levo sl v1 which is way less on power.
For me it's spot on except for the whine of the motor but I just can't see reason enough to spend another 4-5k just to update the bike.
Gonna go for a full fat then got the best of both World's & maybe swap out the Levi in 5 years when the bikes are completely different again !