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ebiketips has already reviewed three of the models in Tenways' easy-to-use and maintain CGO single speed range of belt drive e-bikes: the sporty and lightweight 600, the 600 Pro and the more comfort orientated 800S with a review of the very latest 009 smart-connected model on the way. We also recently looked at the motor and belt drive technology at the heart of the CGO range. Whilst the bikes and technology may already be quite well known to those who follow the e-bike media, Tenways own Power Bank battery may be less familiar.

The Power Bank is an optional extra that not only allows you to charge your main Tenways e-bike battery whilst riding, it also provides on-the-go charging for your smartphone or any other device that can take power from a USB style connection.

The Power Bank is compatible with all Tenways e-bikes and perhaps deserves to be better known. 
 

Tenways Power Bank - the spec

Tenways CGO range features battery sizes between 252Wh and 374Wh. While that's on the face of it relatively small, with the extremely efficient torque sensing drive system most e-bikers should get 20-40 miles of range on a typical charge (depending on the battery size and the usual plethora of other factors).

Nevertheless, ride hard all day without the chance to plug in the mains charger and you might want a bit more than that, which is where the 180Wh of the strap-on range extender comes in. 

The Power Bank weighs 1.25kg and at 212 x 138 x 57mm it fits  snugly into the bottom of the diamond frame. The hard cased battery is enclosed in a semi-flexible case that allows you to firmly attach the battery to the frame using three velcro straps. That also makes it easily removable if you want to take it away to charge devices elsewhere or if you want to charge the Power Bank itself.

There are three connection ports. A six core lead allows for charging the main on-bike battery (the Power Bank actually comes with a shorter lead and a longer lead - the latter presumably for models other than the CGO 600 Pro that we rode).

There are also two USB ports, which can be used simultaneously if you have two cables. The USB A port (shown on the right in the above picture) will supply about 10W of power, which is enough for slow charging of a modern smartphone or other low power device.

The USB C socket can be used for fast charging a smartphone or similar device up to a limit of around 40W providing the device supports the USB C Power Delivery Standard.

The USB C socket can also accept charge through connecting it directly to a standard USB outlet - however, charging is so glacially slow as to be impractical. Better to invest in a 21V 3A fast charger that will fully charge from empty in around 4-5 hours. 

There are three light bars on the Power Bank that tell you when it is turned on (three solid bars) and when it is charging the main battery (bars flash).

To charge a device from the Power Bank, you just connect your device with a USB A or USB C lead and press the Power Bank 'on' button. The device will show itself as charging and will stay charging until you choose to turn it off. 
 

Tenways Power Bank - in use

Initially we used the Power Bank whilst riding the CGO 600 Pro on a 30-mile day ride west of Oxford, taking in the stiff climb up and over Shotover Plain to the east of the centre.

Incredibly, this ride only used about half of the 360Wh battery, so we didn't utilise it for recharging the battery but rather for keeping a power hungry combo of smartphone and action cam topped up.

  
We only had one cable, carefully routed around the frame on this ride, but swapping it between the two devices kept both at around 70-80% charge most of the time throughout the whole ride.

Without it, heavy use of the smartphone's GPS would have led to a flat battery before the end of the day as well as several changes of battery for the action cam. Using the Tenways Power Bank was next to effortless; all we had to do was remember to swap between the two devices occasionally.

Once the Power Bank was turned on, it was left charging whilst riding and off the bike, whether that was while picking up food from a local market or just having a nap and escaping the midday heat.

Outside of the sunniest UK days, it's difficult to make a case for mobile solar power on an e-bike in this country. However, we do believe there is potential to solar charge the power bank whilst you are riding along.

On more powerful e-bikes a setup with a meaningful amount of solar power would need what would be for most an unfeasibly large solar panel, not easily carried. In contrast, as the Tenways CGO 600 Pro merely sips power, a small low voltage panel, perhaps on the rear rack, might be a good setup for light off-grid use - lightweight weekend camping, say. This would require carefully selected and compatible kit though, so it's really the subject for another article. 

The Power Bank is also easy to remove and use off the bike. For example, we used it to quickly and easily charge a Samsung Galaxy tablet. This makes it handy for charging on the go or just whenever you are away from a mains connection. 

Although charging advice - especially for higher powered modern USB cable charging - is to use good quality cables, we were also glad to see that the Power Bank charged an ancient smartphone through a well-used and very cheap USB A to micro-USB cable. 

Did we have any quibbles? It would be nice if Tenways included a mains to USB charging unit for the Power Bank - though as many device users might have this already, we can understand why they didn't. Unlike chargers for e-bike batteries, USB charging has its own set of standards compatible across devices of similar ages, which is most definitely a good thing for the end user. 

We also wouldn't recommend use of the Power Bank in anything other than dry weather - especially if using the USB charging ports to charge devices. Once the rubber cap over the USB ports is off, they are somewhat open to the elements. 

Tenways' Power Bank is currently selling for £289 in the UK, which is certainly competitive when compared to Bosch's 250Wh PowerMore range extender which retails at around £400. Mahle's range extenders are similarly expensive and whilst Specialized's plug and play frame-mounted battery may be found at a more reasonable price, none of these three other competitors appears to have the ability to charge your devices via USB connections.

In short, the Tenways Power Bank is a tremendously useful, versatile and well-thought out product. 

Tenways Electric Bikes UK - EcoMove Bristol (eco-move.co.uk)