10k with Tenways - 1 year riding the CGO600 Pro

Created: 2025-06-21 Sat

OK. OK. The title is a little bit of a lie. I actually rode almost 12,000kms in 14 months. But this didn't rhyme at all.

TLDR: In my limited opinion the CGO600 Pro is the best (price to features and riding experience), low-maintenance, extremely agile, urban, commuter bike bar none.



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This is a review of the North American CGO600 Pro (350W motor, 32kph speed limit) belt drive bike. I posted an initial review of my purchasing experience and my opinion after the first 5,000kms here.

I rode the bike to work rain-or-shine (no ice) day-or-night for the last 14 months. To begin with here is a quick approximate summary of this riding period:
  • Total rides: 546
  • Total days of riding: 343
  • Total ride distance: 11,386 km
  • Total ride time: 542 hrs (23 days)
  • Total elevation: 91 km
  • Total energy bike: 260,000 kcal
  • Total energy rider: 115,000 kcal
  • Average ride distance: 21.5 km
  • Average ride time: 57 min
  • Average riding speed: 22.6 kph
  • Minimum range per full charge (PAS3): 32.8 km
  • Maximum range per full charge (PAS1): 84.0 km
  • Total battery cycles: 313
  • Total rain days: 68
  • Max temperature: 29
  • Min temperature: -2
  • Average heart rate: 123 bpm
  • Max heart rate: 195 bpm
I am still as excited to get on the bike as the first day I got it. The extremely quiet, efortless riding experience is - like I mentioned before - zen like. I don't know of any bike that can make someone feel as one with the bike as the Tenways CGO600 Pro belt drive.

In terms of performance the bike is not a speed demon. It tops out at 32 - 35 kph. I think this is ideal for city driving as cars drivers are not accustomed to bikes going much faster than this. Also riding much fast than this past parked cars would make me extremely anxious in case I get doored. Top speed not whitstanding this bike is an acceleration demon. In more or less few pedal strokes I am at top speed. I don't remember anybody (e-bike or road bike) passing me from a stop in the last 11,000 kms (maybe I have a poor memory). The assists are perfect for me. I can ride out of the saddle hills that are around 10% at 25 to 28 (30 if I push) kph. One car driver did mention I should join a bike team after following me up a hill without realizing I was riding an e-bike.

Which brings me to how simple this bike is. It is a minimalist design that fits like a glove the concept of urban commuter bike. It's weight is ideal for quick manouvers. In addition to being able to carry it up and down stairs I can track stand and wheely it easily. It is very fun to ride. This fun translates into consistent daily exercise which might or might not have resulted in a six-pack.

Anyway let me go over some numbers of my riding experience over the last year.

Here is a chart with most of the maintenance I put in over the last 10,000 kms of riding. In my opinion this is very little maintenance for this distance. It mostly consists of washing the bike and inflating tires. I changed disk brakes 3 times (2x front, 1x rear) The biggest advantage of the CGO600 Pro as a commuter bike is its belt drive. I never have to think about it. There are two major benefits to the belt drive:
  1. No maintenance. Each of my rides contains about 4 kms of riding on gravel and dirt - which means the bike is always muddy when it rains. I usually wash the bike when this happens - where the "washing" is a 2 minute process where I hose down the frame of the bike and wash the belt by spinning the pedal crank. This is the only "maintenance" I do on the drive train. And actually for a period of almost 3 months (from November to February about 2,500 kms) I didn't even wash the bike. This was because I disconnected my outdoors hose to prevent ice from damaging my water lines. After all this the belt drive looks to be in excellent shape. A chain drive would not only have required me to clean it but I would have had to lubricate it every 500 - 1,000 kms and even then I would have probably had to replace it a couple of times. I don't have time for this when I commute day in day out.
  2. No shifting of gears. This is another outstanding benefit when riding through narrow streets with stop and go traffic. I don't have to think about what gear I am in. I don't have to shift furiously up and down as I speed up and slow down at intersections. I just always know that if I stand on the pedals in 3 pedal strokes I will be riding at 30 kph. This allows me to focus 100% on tracking the vehicles around me. It also makes me more relaxed and decreases my cognitive load during my commute which makes me safer and less tired. I considered buying a 2nd bike with belt drive - the Trek District 4 - but because it has a gear shifter I decided it is not worth it. I now understand the appeal of single gear bikes.

The battery has maintained its range surprisingly well. Here is a plot of the estimated range after each ride. Once I start my ride I don't change the PAS level. For each ride I record the battery charge at the beginning and end of the ride. I then estimate the total kms the bike would have been able to ride in similar conditions using the entire battery.


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 might be about 5km range reduction in temperatures close to 0dC compared to 20dC.

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. To test the maximum range one day I decided to pedal very slowly in PAS 1 (average speed 18.5 kph). I got a range of over 80 kms - which is good enough for me.

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.
Commute Elevation Data
Commute Speed Data

The bike is very light for an e-bike. With all the equipment on it (bag with tools and ABUS lock included) it is around 21 kgs. This makes it very manouverable during the commute and also easy to carry up and down stairs.

10,000km pictures update

This is how the bike held up after a little over 11,000 kms. Press the blue button to toggle between 5,000 kms and 10,000 kms equivalent images.
Toggle Image Notes
Head Tube Some grease leaked from the head tube during the first 5,000 kms. But nothing else happened after that. I did scratch the paint on the bike by attaching flimsy signal lights. That was my fault. I learned my lesson not to put anything on the frame that would scratch the paint off.
Rack The aluminum rack continues to show signs of wear where the paneer bag rubbed on it. Minor esthetic issue. I am not concerned about this.
Rack The belt gear shows minor signs of wear - the black anode on the aluminum is peeling off. No worries from my end for that. However the crank axle has some rust on it. We'll see how long that lasts.
Rack The carbon belt is starting to show signs of wear. But it stills looks good. I am planning to test the "up to 30,000kms" quoted ride distance stated by the Gates Belt Drive company.
Rack I replaced the pedals with an old set of mountain bike pedals. These will last longer than the bike.
Rack My current dashboard. Ergotec Moon Cruiser handlebar, Busch-Muller 80mm mirror, Rockbros bicycle bell, Sofirn BS01 front headlight, ignore the watch (I'll replace it with a Casio), Airzound horn, electric horn. All easy to operate.
Rack Rear carrier. On the left you can see the spacer I made to keep the paneer in place. I placed the ABUS lock on top and added some rubber spacers to minimize rattling.
Rack Tenways CGO 600 Pro after 5,000 and 10,000kms. Almost as good as new.
Rack My current Tenways achievment board. The Tenways app suffered a downgrade in features being tracked last time it was updated.
Rear wheel thread Rear wheel after 11,000+ kms. It might be able to run for another 5,000kms.
Front wheel thread Front wheel after 11,000+ kms. Thread pattern still visible.

Issues Encountered

So far I required no parts to be replaced because they were deffective. The parts I replaced were to improve / tune the bike to my liking.

The only issue that stands out in my mind over the last 10,000 kms is that the left pedal started squeaking at around 9,800kms. This is an intermittent issue. Most of the times I ride for a few days without any noise and then I have a ride (mostly on my way back from work) where the pedal squeaks every time I go up a hill. Tenways provided instructions on how to do a deeper drive train troubleshoothing but I haven't had time to do it yet.

This squeaking issue is a different issue than pedal creaking that many owners complain about after riding for 500 - 800 kms. That issue is due to dirt getting trapped in between the belt ring and the pedal cranks frame. I encountered that too they sound very different. For this latter one I took the belt ring off, washed everything and put it back together and tightened appropriately. This type of creaking never returned.

To decrease the torque I apply on the crank set I decided to ride in PAS2. This, I hope, increses the longevity of the drive train. It also provides the right balance of workout to sweating for my commute.

Another minor issue I noticed is that the display is having some burn in because I always have it on the same screen. This does not affect any performance or readability.

These are the only issues I can think of for the bike. Some other issues I had were:
* Going through 2 pairs of Carhartt pants - the heavy duty cotton crotch / seat in are no match for the Tenways saddle.
* Saddle adjustments: riding 10 hours+ a week required me to really work on finding the right riding geometry.

MAJOR WARNING There have been multiple reports that the new CGO600 Pro has a different mapping of the assist settings. My understanding is that this new mapping is set too low for an enjoyable riding experience. I think Tenways is working on updating the firmware to use a more aggressive assist. Until then I recommend you purchase the older model of the CGO600 Pro.

Upgrades I made

As sold the bike requires a few upgrades. Here is a priority list of what I think needs to be upgraded:
Product Notes Pictures
MTB Bike Pedals $24 USD

The original plastic pedals are a liability in wet weather. The first item I would upgrade on the bike would be to install mountain bike pedals with anti-skid nails. They offer much better foot support and better power transfer during pedalling. 		CXWXC MTB Bike pedals
Ergotech Moon Cruiser 31.8mm 610mm $34.99CDN

Much better handlebars for more relaxed commuting experience. One note with the moustache handlebars is that the front brake hose is a little too short and there is some tension on it after installing the Moon Cruiser handle bar. 		Ergotec handlebars
Handlebar mounted front light $35.99USD

The integrated front light is useless for night riding. I found the BS01 to be an excellent front light riding in pitch black darkness through parks. 		SOFIRN BS01 front light
Rack mounted rear light $39.99USD

Similarly to the integrated front light the provided rear light is useless. I replaced it with a rack mounted light. 		Rack mount rear light

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