Tenways CGO600 PRO

Tenways CGO600 PRO - first 5,000kms - a workout on my commute

Created: 2024-03-17 Sun

Can I commute on this bike year round?

I updated this post at around 5,000kms (see heading at the end) and will continue updating it with small details.

Next post at 10,000kms.

If you found this review useful and want to order a Tenways please use this link.

TLDR: This is the best bike I have owned and would buy another one without a hesitation.

Purchasing experience

I purchased this bike from Tenways US as part of a Black Friday deal. The bike came with the panier medium bag, rear carrier, fenders and kick stand for free for which I paid $1,468.00USD ($2,081.75CAD). I then shipped the bike to a post office in the US next to the Canadian border. I picked up the bike in person and I had to pay $95.99CAD import fees (I believe as the bike is not fully assembled it has a much lower duty fee when imported into Canada). The total price of the bike was $1,535.69USD ($2,177.74CAD).

I ordered the bike on Nov 14, the bike shipped more or less the same day. I then picked it up from the border on Nov 18th. So I received the bike 4 days after I ordered it. The panier bag, rear carrier and kick stand came as separate shipments at about the same time.

All in all the purchasing experience was extremely smooth, fast and I had visibility into all the tracking information for all the items throughout the transit process. From my point of view any Canadian living close to the border can purchase one of these bikes very easily.

NOTE: The bike gets shipped in a sturdy triple ply cardboard box. Just in case you want to know if it will fit in your car, the dimensions of the box are 25 x 90 x 145 cms (9.9 x 35.5 x 57 in) and the box weights 28 kg (62 lbs). I didn't have any issues single handidly loading it into an SUV.

Assembly process

The assembly was very smooth. I followed the set-up YouTube video Tenways provided without any issues. All the tools needed for assembly are provided with the bike. And it took me about 1 hour to get the bike together.

The rear carrier took a little fidgeting to get fixed on the bike but it wasn't more than 10 minutes.

Riding experience

I might still be in my honeymoon period (riding it every workday for about 5 months now and clocking in at over 5,000kms) but I still love riding on this bike. It doesn't matter what the the weather is like - I look forward to getting on the bike at the beggining and end of the day.

My ride is a little over 40kms a day crossing the entire city. I ride 90% on pavement and 10% on gravel through a couple of large parks. And the bike is doing flawlessly in both conditions.

If I don't push like an animal and set it on Pedal Assiste (PAS) level 3 I arrive at work with with minimal sweating. Though this is very rearly the case. I use the bike to work out ... and I work out a sweat.

When I arrive at work I am left with about 50% battery. I charge the battery close to full for my return trip home. Depending on the weather conditions the return trip can use up to 65% of the battery (on cold, rainy days with lots of traffic-light stop and go and PAS 3). At home I recharge the battery for my way back in to work in the morning.

I store the bike indoors and charge the battery while it is on the bike so I don't remove it from the frame. I use the BN-Link digital timer outlet to stop charging after 2 hours. This usually gets the charge to over 90% charged and keeps the battery slightly healthier by not charging it to 100%.

The range varies depending on the type of ride I have. For the stop and go I encounter during my commute the range of the bike is 40km. When I first started riding I used mostly pedal assist level 2 or 3. More recently, as I got fitter, I switched to using PAS level 1. Once I start my ride I don't change the PAS level. After every ride I estimate the total kms the bike would have been able to ride in similar conditions using the entire battery. I added a plot of these values below.

Here is another plot showing the range vs temperature during the ride. As a note the bike is stored indoors so the battery temperature is between 15dC to 20dC at the beginning of the ride. This plot indicates there is no range reduction in temperatures close to 0dC.

Finally here is a plot of the range vs average speed. This is inidcative of the effort I put into the bike. There seems to be a small decrease in range at higher average speeds.

As a reference below is how the elevation and speed of my commute look like. I have a couple of hills on my way. Highest inclination is about 10% for 300m and depending on how I feel I climb it between 18kph to 28kph.

From my experience riding into the wind has the largest reduction in range. My normal 40-50km range drops to below 30kms when riding in windy conditions. This might be related to how the controller delivers power to the motor based on sensed torqued and bike speed.

I appreciate having the medium sized paneer bag - it fits my lunch, laptop, a fresh t-shirt, my rain gear and a small repair kit. The rain gear I keep in two packing cubes and the repair kit is in one bicycle tool "capsule".

I noticed though that the paneer bag slides a little on the rear carrier. This resulted in the retaining clamp that keeps it vertical sometimes coming off the frame (especially when I ride like a wild animal over speed bumps). I added a small plastic tab to prevent the bag from moving too far back and this fixed the problem.

Bicycle Specs

Feature	Value
Tire size	700x45C or 47-622 or 28inx1.75inx2in
Tire pressure	50 - 75 PSI / 3.4 - 5.1 bar
Power	350W
Weight	16kg
Operating temperature	0 - 30 dC
Range	60 - 100kms (40kms for my use)
Battery	36V Li-ion (42V max)
Top speed assisted	32kph

Pros and Cons

Pros

Extremely light (16kg) for an ebike. This means not only it is easy for me to cary the bike upstairs but there is also less wear on the parts (break pads, belt drive, etc).
Excellent to get one in shape. Start riding with PAS3 throughout the ride. After a month switch to PAS2 and then depending on progress PAS1. PAS2 cutting-off at 32kph is not perceptible, it's excellent for training.
Belt driven. This means there is no chain to maintain. And no chain to catch your trousers while biking. And it is also very, very quiet.
Single speed - I am one with the bike at all times. I don't need to change gears at intersections or on hills. I can stay focused on my surroundings. The top speed I cruise at is around 30kph which I find optimal from a safety point of view.
Fast! Maybe I pedal like a monster (not really) but in 5,000+ kms I rode the bike there were only 3 riders that passed me on my commute route. I find the bike shines climbing inclines. On 7-8% I can mostly stay above 25kph without sitting up from the saddle.
Customer support is outstanding (so far).

Cons

Rear light is uselesss for this bike. I installed my own.
Front light is not that good either. I use it to make myself seen rather than illuminate the road in front so I can see. I added my own.
Single speed (maybe). At close to my max cadence I ride at around 34 kph (21 mph). So this is the top speed on flat sections of the road. I sometimes find this slow... but at the same time realize that it is a safer speed than 40 kph or above.

Accompanying items

Since I bought the bike I purchased a few different items that made my life easier. Here is a list of the most useful ones.

Product	Notes	Pictures
Additional battery charger	$13.99USD Need one more bike charger so I can charge at work.
BN-LINK smart outlet timer	$11.99USD I want to prevent charging the battery to 100% so I use a timer to stop charging after about 2 hours.
Air Claxon	$29 Sometimes drivers in cars need to be made aware of a bike's presence. This Airzound is the best invention for that. I need to inflate the bottle every now and then using my bike pump.
Ergotech Moon Cruiser 31.8mm 610mm	$34.99CDN Much better handlebars for more relaxed commuting experience.
Rack mounted rear light	$39.99USD Replace the useless rear light with a rack mounted light.
Handlebar mounted front light	$35.99USD Front light addition
Handlebar bag	$19.79USD I keep keys, wallet and phone in front bag in case I need quick access to them.
Tools bag	$9.99USD I store all the tools and the pump in this bag inside the mid sized paneer bag.
Full size bike pump	$28.99 A full size bike pump inflates the tires much faster than a travel pump.
Cycling Glasses	$26.99 I tried a variety of glasses. I came to like the ones that have no rim for better visibility.
Rain/Winter Bike Helmet	$67.49USD In the winter and when it is raining I like to use this helmet as it is slightly warmer, doesn't fog up as quickly and can be wiped off more easily. It also has more illumination.
4K bicycle camera	$114.49USD There are many times when I witness bad drivers either pushing me off the road, driving dangerously or disobeying traffic signs. This camera is to record these events.
Handlebar mirror	$17.99USD Riding in traffic requires more situational awarness. These mirrors help with that.
Spoke lights	$10.79USD Need to make myself more visible at night. These lights help.
Rainproof bell	$13.99USD Riding through parks when it's rainy I need to make my presence known without scaring passerbys. This bell works well when wet.
ABUS lock	$72.53USD I don't trust bike locks. It's too easy to cut through with battery driven power tools but in a pinch I'll use them.
Bike Hand Repair Stand	$89USD Repair stand - when I need to clean-up or fix a part on the bike.

5,000km update

This is how the bike held up after a little over 5,000 kms

Image	Notes
	Some grease leaked from the head tube. But it doesn't worry me right now.
	The aluminum rack shows some signs of wear where the paneer bag rubbed on it. Minor esthetic issue. No sign of rust anywhere.
	The belt gear shows minor signs of wear - the black anode on the aluminum is peeling off. No worries from my end.
	The carbon belt looks good.
	The pedals show some signs of wear. I guess I didn't keep my feet just on the plastic part. No worries from my end.
	My current dashboard. Ergotec Moon Cruiser handlebar, handlebar mirror, Rockbros bicycle bell, Sofirn BS01 front headlight, Casio watch, Airzound horn. All easy to operate.
	Rear carrier. On the left you can see the spacer I made to keep the paneer in place. On the right I made a mount for the ABUS lock. I didn't like it being close to the ground - it got dirty while riding through the rain.
	Tenways CGO 600 Pro after 5,000kms in about 5 months.
	My current Tenways achievment board.

Issues encountered

Date	Milage	Issue / Resolution
2023-11-19	6 kms	Issue: Need additional battery charger. Resolution: Using Tenways app I reached out to customer service for charger specifications. Within less than a day Tenways got back to me with charger specifications and I purchased an additional charger.
2024-02-XX	20 kms	Issue: On my first commute ride into work I slipped on black ice and slightly damaged the left brake lever and twisted the handle bars. Resolution: I picked myself up, straightened the handle bars and kept riding. The battery came lose from its holder and I realized this about 10kms later when the power started cutting out. I unlocked the battery and placed it back in its holder without any further issues.
2024-02-22	380 kms	Issue: Maintenance check. Resolution: Tightened most bolts - there weren't any that were too loose.
2024-03-15	820 kms	Issue: Right pedal is squeaking when I press down close to the top of the travel. Resolution: Tightened belt ring bolts (they were a little loose). I actually forgot to tighten them when I did my maintenance in February. Also washed the belt and chain ring. Squeaking is gone.
2024-04-10	1,403 kms	Issue: Handlebars are too far forward. Bike position is tireding. Resolution: Replaced handlebars with more curved ones from an old Kona bike. This took about 20 minutes as the grips come off very easily.
2024-04-17	1,610 kms	Issue: Kick stand extensions fell off while riding. I didn't tighten the retaining screw well enough when I installed it. And I forgot to retighten it when I did the maintanance at 400 kms. Resolution: Reinstall the kick stand extension and tighten it more this time.
2024-06-19	3,200 kms	Issue: Front brake made a lot of noise when I squeezed the lever. Resolution: Replaced front brake with Jagwire DCA016 Sport Semi-Metallic. The original pads are: Tektro E10.11 Dual Piston Organic Brake Pads
2024-06-21	3,304kms	Issue: Front brakes were squeaking. Resolution: Cleaned up front brake calipers using instructions from this Park Tool tutorial
2024-07-12	3,883kms	Issue: finger numbness and hunched riding position. Resolution: Installed Ergotech Moon Cruiser 31.8mm 610mm handlebars.
2024-07-12	3,883kms	Issue: flat rear tire. Small tree needle punctured rear tire. Resolution: Patched rear tire.
2024-09-13	5,674kms	Issue: My shoes are slipping off the pedal flats in the wet. Resolution: Replaced pedal flats with a used Axiom set with pins I had from an old mountain bike. These are similar to RaceFace Chesters.
2024-10-25	6,546kms	Issue: Rear brake started making a clacking noise when I applied it. Resolution: Replaced rear brake pads with Tektro E10.11 Dual Piston Organic Brake Pads.

My current riding gear:

Image	Notes
	My rain gear. Sugoi jacket, MEC pants and MEC helmet cover.
	Toolbag stores all the hex keys and wrenches Tenways sent, the Tenways pump and a few tire repair kits.
	The paneer bag stores a spare tube, my tool bag and my rain gear.

If you found this review useful and want to order a Tenways please use this link.

Resources

Tenways CGO 600 Pro User Manual

Other bikes in the same category as CGO600 Pro
I don't think these are as good in terms of price/(performance or quality) as Tenways.

Rose bikes

GEOS bike

Momentum - European version is belt drive (Giant e-bike division)

Rize bikes Fixie