With its wide tires and your relatively wide upper-body stance over the handlebars, road aberrations and moments of lost grip are easier to handle. Whatever else might jostle you on the ride, the shocks seem poised to pick up. The SR Suntour fork felt slightly stiffer than another e-bike I’ve recently reviewed, but mostly unnoticeable, minus a few moments of my grip feeling slightly wibbly over a pothole. You’re creating more wind resistance when you ride sitting up like this, but worrying about aerodynamics and optimal timings with this bike means you didn’t read the memo.
Tenways
The handlebars and screen.
Tenways
Tenways
Rear-wheel view of the Tenways CGO800S.
Tenways
The handlebars and screen.
Tenways
Rear-wheel view of the Tenways CGO800S.
Tenways
Tenways
Closer look at the hub, belt drive, and rear triangle of the CGO800S.
Tenways
Tenways
Profile pic of the CGO800S.
Tenways
Closer look at the hub, belt drive, and rear triangle of the CGO800S.
Tenways
Profile pic of the CGO800S.
Tenways
I rode this bike on a 26-mile excursion over streets and trails, but I mostly rode it to the post office, the grocery store, a FedEx Office, and other such errands. It’s an easy bike to hop on, ride, hop off, and ride back home, at least after you get used to its electronic details. A passcode “unlocks” the motor assist, entered with up/down and “M” buttons on the left handlebar. There are turn signals for the rear light on the right handlebar, which don’t seem too visible in daylight, so I’d still stick out a hand. Powered lights on the front fender and rear rack are handy and functional, based on the 10 pm portion of that long ride. My one real ding on this bike’s capacity for pleasant rides is the lack of a bottle cage, or mounts for one, forcing either Velcro solutions or backpack duty.
The actual riding components of this bike—suspension fork, wheels (once trued), brakes, seat, motor, torque sensor—did their job well, to the point I didn’t really notice them. The phone app and on-bike display were more noticeable, in that they were quirky and sometimes outright confusing. You can use the Tenways app to map your rides and record your journeys, though your default mapping and exercise apps will almost certainly be easier to use. There is no security or tracking on the CGO800S beyond the standard lock on the downtube battery, the handlebar passcode, and app registration of the bike. The on-bike display has settings for the speed limit, passcode lock and odometer, and that’s about it. You’ll want to use some other apps for ride tracking, and you’ll want a really good lock (or two) if you lock it up in public.
