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It's undeniable that multi gear e-bikes are, more often than not, better at hill climbing than single speeds. Our original review of Tenways' slick single-speed belt drive, the CGO600 Pro, praised it's smooth and quiet performance and economy around the city and over easier terrain. But just how steep can a single speed go? I put the lightweight single speed model through it's paces on a rolling ride around the Yorkshire Wolds to find out.
The bike
I remember testing a single speed e-bike around 10 years ago and whilst I loved the concept, I struggled to get a decent amount of power out of the small rear hub motor up anything more than a gentle incline, whilst the range proved impractically small.
Fast forward to the present day and hub motors are much more powerful - and lighter. The Mivice M070 rear hub motor used on the CGO600 Pro exemplifies just how the technology has come on.
In fact, micro-electronic advances over the past few years mean motors are now much better at delivering the bursts of amps at the right time for sophisticated torque-sensing systems like the Mivice.
Not only is the motor performance smooth, the torque curve is improved - i.e. you get good hill climbing torque over a wider range of speeds - traditionally a weak point of hub motors when compared to mid drives.
That's not to say small hub motors like this can equal the hill climbing ability of a powerful mid-drive, but compared to small hub motors of yesteryear, they are a huge improvement and mean not just that single-speed e-bikes are here to stay but that they may well be capable of more than you think.
It helps that the CGO600 Pro is a lightweight e-bike, weighing in at around 18kg (the rear rack adds a bit more and is optional). If you need to get the bike on and off a car rack - like we did - you can further reduce the weight by 2kg by taking out the battery, to make lifting it on and off a breeze.
That light weight also helps with hill climbing. Whilst the tiny weight savings sought by racing pros produce only marginal gains, if your e-bike weighs 18kg rather than the more typical 20+kg, then that kind of saving will certainly help get you up the hills quicker and more easily - especially if your e-bike is only packing relatively modest motor power and human input counts for a decent proportion of the power.
The riding
I chose to explore a stretch of the Yorkshire Wolds that lie just behind the Yorkshire coast at Bridlington. Here the gently rolling chalk hills are dotted with quaint brick-built villages, each with its own cluster of individual buildings.
The hills themselves rarely exceed a 5% gradient in these parts, but having said that you are normally either heading gradually up on long, long climbs, or cruising gently down.
The sporty geometry of the CGO600 Pro also helps you ride the bike in a fairly sporty way - if you so choose. It's a comfortable riding position but you can also move the adjustable handlebar stem forward a bit to give a roomier cockpit, so standing up out of the pedals is easier - necessary on the occasional steeper incline.
For the most part I left the power in level 1 of 3 and chose to stand up on steeper hills. The torque sensing responded superbly well and gave a nice amount of very quiet and smooth support, proportional to my pedal effort. As long as I kept above about 6-7mph, the bijou 1.7kg hub motor felt to be working at a very effective and efficient rate.
Descents felt fast yet controlled as the Tektro hydraulic disc brakes did their job perfectly and the 47mm-wide puncture resistant CST tyres felt plenty grippy, even where tractors had smeared mud and grit across the road.
So how good at climbing are single speeds?
I did a 36-mile (58km) loop with around 2,000ft (600m) of climbing and still had 17% battery left at the end of the ride, using power level 1 most of the time. It felt like a thorough workout but by no means exhausting. That's an impressive return from a modestly sized battery of 360Wh - especially given it was all done in a stiff, chilly December wind.
Of course, this route was specifically intended to show what a well-designed, high performance single speed can do. There were few, if any gradients over 10% - but having said that, 2,000ft of climbing is not to be sniffed at. It's clear that if your local terrain isn't super challenging, you could use a bike like the CGO600 Pro for modest tours and fitness riding in addition to its stated purpose as a city commuter. Its light weight might also appeal to motorhomers and others who regularly need to put their e-bike on the back of a motor vehicle.
If you want more climbing oomph courtesy of a a mid-drive, check out Tenways' AGO range - now available via the recently launched UK-specific website. This comprises the SUV style AGO X and the city step-thru AGO T.
