Arrived complete in perfect condition. Good midrange emtb and great value at the heavily discounted price. I think it is overpriced at full price by at least £500, but at a £1650 discount is great value. The orange colour thankfully refers to a couple of small flashes as the pictures showed, which was a relief.
Assembly and Setup
It does take some knowledge to complete the assembly, so if you’re not mechanically minded, go and collect built and setup from the shop, or get your local shop to build it for you.
First Impressions
It rides very smoothly, it’s relatively powerful, and the suspension works well after setup for rider’s weight. Very stable. Steering feels heavy at first with 29 inch front wheel, but is easy to get used to.
Gear change and switchgear is faultless.
Brakes
The brakes are probably better overall, but not as sharp as the smaller two pot caliper Shimano brakes on my old bike.
Info
It would be better if the web links for the manuals needed for the bike were included in the packaging, rather than having to trawl the web to find them, which is a Cannondale issue. You need the Shimano info to set up the bluetooth link for the Edrive. Finding the correct model is a faff as the instructions vary by type. It’s actually very simple when you know how. Techies will no doubt love fiddling with the settings.
Power settings
I think the fixed 5 power settings of my old bike is better for me and most riders. No faffing needed – but technology marches on. The standard assistance profiles make it hard work in ‘Trail’ mode for me, but give a huge 80 mile range, but easy to tweek once you know how.
Range
Range is good even with the Trail setting tweeked up a couple of notches – probably over 40 miles over mixed terrain with good assistance. I’m sure I will be able to get it just right.
Comfort
Saddle however is a crippler so I’ve had to change it. Might suit others better with more meat. Otherwise quite plush
Concerns
Just hope it’s more waterproof than my old bike which died suddenly and terminally when I washed it. I’ll be even more careful with this one, but it remains a concern for all ebikes I think. This one looks far better sealed by design.
British Superbike School 