Tenways CGO800S review: More utility than bike, but maybe that’s OK

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I enjoyed riding the Tenways CGO800S far more once I stopped thinking of it as a bike, and more like the e-bike version of a reasonable four-door sedan.

It is a bike, to be sure. It has two wheels, handlebars, pedals, and a drivetrain between feet and rear cog. It's just not the kind of bike I'm used to. There are no gears to shift between, just a belt drive and five power modes. The ride is intentionally "Dutch-style" (from a Dutch company, no less), with a wide saddle and upright posture, and kept fairly smooth by suspension on the front fork. It ships with puncture-proof tires, sensible mud guards, and integrated lights. And its 350 W motor is just enough to make pedaling feel effortless, but you'll never quite feel like you're winning a race.

I also didn't feel like I was conquering the road when I was on the CGO800S so much as borrowing my aunt's car for an errand. The "Sky Blue" color helped cement the image of a modern-day Mercury Sable in my head. It's not meant for no-power riding, and its battery isn't a long-hauler, with a stated 53-mile range. It's comfortable, it's capable, and maybe we've long since reached the stage of the e-bike market where some bikes are just capital-F Fine, instead of them all being quirky experiments.

All this is to say I didn't have any real issues with the CGO800S itself, beyond some notable matters of build quality and wonky display software. There are e-bikes in the same $1,700 price range that look far more slick, have more traditional bike shapes and postures, or have a lot more range or power. But here's this package of comfort, convenience, and capability, and once you get it assembled and tuned up, it's quite handy.

Not the smoothest setup experience

Tenways has a lot of work to do in shipping the CGO800S to customers and helping them get it set up. The bike ships with both wheels, handlebar, cabling, rack, and battery separate from the frame. That would be fine if everything went to plan. The instructions are not the worst I've seen ship with an e-bike, but they're not easy if you don't have experience.

The whole of the front cabling setup is a sentence repeated twice on one page: "Insert the connectors into the outlet hole at the lower part of the handlebars, and organize the outlet." There are icons and illustrations vaguely indicating that you should match the colors of each connector end. There is no suggestion of which cables should be taut, which should have some slack to them, or what a good look for a finished "organized outlet" should be. Another page described the setup of the front headlight, mudguard, and front fork in a similarly vague fashion, leaving me to wrench and re-wrench the same nuts three times.

The front wheel I received was also significantly out of true (not properly rounded), such that I couldn't use its disc brake until it was fixed. I'm not being hyperbolic about a perceived imperfection: I've built my own bike wheels, I've trued dozens of wheels for guests at a bike-fix clinic, and this wheel was pretty rough. I was able to get it close enough with a zip tie on the frame, but given that I'm a reviewer receiving this wheel, it seems like some inspection steps are missing.

Spec sheet for the CGO800S. Credit: Tenways

An almost too-easy ride

I'm used to bikes with a top tube, no shocks, and either flat or drop handlebars. The CGO800S, with its angled handlebars, step-through frame, and suspended front fork took some getting used to. I've ridden an e-bike without gears before, but this bike seemed designed around that experience. The torque sensor is sensitive, so there's no need to step hard to get going from a dead stop. You pedal, you brake, and when it feels too hard or too easy, you switch up modes.

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.

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.

Tenways CGO800S, locked to a rack, on a street. — The Tenways CGO800S in its natural environment: Locked up outside a post office while its owner runs in and hopes he found the one hour with no line. Credit: Kevin Purdy

Expectations set, mostly met

The 53-mile range is probably true, but only if you ride like a miser. On my 26-mile trip, I alternated between levels two ("Normal") and three ("Tour"), with stops at four ("Power") and one ("Eco") on steep hills or bike path traffic, respectively, with the lights on for the second half. I arrived home with a 22 percent battery, which suggested maybe 10 miles or less left if I kept riding that way. If you're going to do a daily commute with this bike and you'll be pushing the mileage, I'd invest in a second charger for work, a spare battery, or a more juiced-up ride.

It's a comfortable, capable ride for around $1,700 right now, plus whatever you pay your local bike shop to assemble and/or give it a once-over. Once I reset my expectations for what "an e-bike ride" should feel like, and what purpose it had, I found myself enjoying the casual power and comfort of the CGO800S. I'm not sure I'd take to a non-electric bike in this shape and style so readily, but batteries are changing all kinds of things about how we ride these days.

Listing image: Tenways

Kevin Purdy Senior Technology Reporter

Kevin is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering open-source software, PC gaming, home automation, repairability, e-bikes, and tech history. He has previously worked at Lifehacker, Wirecutter, iFixit, and Carbon Switch.

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