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ebiketips - and indeed many others throughout Europe and the US - has given Tenways' CGO range of e-bikes glowing reviews. This is in no small part due to the brand's lightweight, torque sensing drive technology, which is usually only found on much pricier e-bikes. 

We've reviewed all three Tenways bikes that use this system, the CGO600, the 600 Pro and the step-through CGO800S - all three reviews highlighting the smoothness, quality and responsivity of the power delivery.

Ease of use and extreme low maintenance are other features that have also come to the fore in reviews.

So what's the secret behind this super-smooth and super-responsive ride (with hassle-free use mixed in for very good measure)? Let's take a deeper look into the tech behind these bikes.

Lightweight, high tech motor

Tenways' CGO600 and CGO800 models all use the same Mivice M070 drive with a claimed weight of only 1.7kg - which is pretty light for a rear hub motor. Whilst it boasts a relatively humble sounding 40Nm torque rating, it's important to put this in perspective. Due to its size, the Tenways bikes that feature it remain light and well-balanced, unlike those with much larger hub motors which can feel front or rear heavy (depending on where they are placed). 

Whilst larger mid-drives are typically more powerful than smaller hub motors, the most powerful having torque ratings of 80Nm and upwards, you should note that mid-drive torque ratings and hub motor torque ratings measure different things. The former is measured on the motor shaft, around which the hub motor rotates, whilst mid-drive torque is measured on the crankshaft. In other words they are not directly comparable.

Things get more interesting when we delve into how many watts the Mivice M070 can actually deliver. Whilst all UK legal e-bikes are rated at 250W, that figure refers to continuous power (i.e. what the motor can sustain over a very long period). The regulations permit higher peak power and that is therefore often a more useful figure to know. 

I couldn't actually find this peak power figure stated anywhere, but it's easy enough to figure out given Mivice tells us its motor controller for the M070 allows a peak current limit of 14 amps on this 36V system. Multiply the two and you get a peak power of 504 watts. When we learn that Bosch's latest SX mid-drive outputs 600W at peak and claims to be one of the most power dense motors on the market, we can see the output of the M070 is hugely impressive for its weight.

I've ridden quite a few smaller hub motor e-bikes and those that have shown the power on the display rarely get much above 400W - indeed often their peak is a fair bit less than this. Add this quality to the super-responsive and smooth power delivery and you get a wonderfully nippy, light and fast city ride.

That brings us onto the final piece in the Tenways tech jigsaw. Along with the Mivice lightweight motor and controller, the CGO bikes we've reviewed also feature Mivice's own-brand torque sensor. 

Torque sensors are known for giving smoother power delivery, as they respond not just to the bike pedals turning round to fire up the motor, but to the pressure you put on the pedals. Tenways also uses a double-sided design (some torque sensors only measure pressure output from one pedal) which results in slick, proportional and consistent motor power that responds instantly to changes in your riding style. 

Single speed Gates Carbon Drive

The three CGO models all have only a single gear and all use the Gates CDN Carbon Belt Drive. This is simply one of the easiest-to-use and care for drive systems out there.

There are no gears to change. Get on the bike, turn on, set your power level and ride off. In effect, all you have to do is steer and brake. The belt needs only periodic washing and as it doesn't rust, this amounts to sloshing some very mildly soapy water over it. If cleaned it should last upwards of 20,000 miles. Gates claims its belts last twice as long as a chain drive under equivalent conditions.

What's more, they are oil-free - indeed free of all lubricants, so the dreaded oily chain imprint on your clothes or leg is a thing of the past. This makes bikes that make use of a belt drive ideal for getting around town in work clothes or smarter togs. 

I have actually removed a rear wheel from a Tenways CGO e-bike and it's done easily enough by just slackening off the axle nuts. To get the belt back to its correct tension, there are small allen screws built into the frame's rear dropouts which make the process pretty straightforward. All Tenways CGO e-bikes also feature some form of puncture protection so you have to be unlucky to get a flat in any event. 

In all my testing of many Gates Belt Drive systems over the years I've not had a single problem. The centre track has done a perfect job of keeping the belt on the sprockets under any amount of load and any conditions and I've used them in wet and even muddy conditions without any adverse effects.

Tech heads might be interested to learn that the patented Gates Belt Drive construction involves sandwiching high tensile carbon fibre cords between nylon teeth and a tough polyurethane backing. Whilst the CDN version used by Tenways is for urban and light off-road use only, there is a CDX version especially for gravel and mountain bike use.

The ultimate urban riding experience

What this all adds up to is a range of e-bikes that can fairly claim to offer the ultimate urban riding experience: light and easy to carry (the CGO 600 and 600 Pro in particular are true e-bike lightweights at around 16kg and 18kg respectively), fast, responsive and virtually maintenance free.

The bikes come with lights and mudguards ready to fit if you want to, and the diamond-framed models are ready to have a rear rack mounted, whilst the step-through CGO800S comes with a rack and mudguards fitted and even rear indicator lights. There's also a Tenways app that, amongst much else, has a route-finding capability that could be handy in an unfamiliar part of town.

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