Cannondale Supersix Evo road bike general usage

Ronski

New Member
I am a 72 year old racer who still loves to ride his bike but can no longer keep up with his younger friends on climbing hills. The legs are still there, however the lungs are not! So I purchased a Supersix Evo to give me a little boost going up hills. Being that I have purchased one of the first e-bikes the bike shop has sold, they have not been much help in helping me figure out the bike. What I have found is that the bike does help on the hills but offers little or no help on the flats, whereas our group pushes 30 mph at times. What I have encountered is that the bike sometimes seams to hold me back and at at other times it offers no resistance what so ever? Am I doing something wrong, as it doesn't seem to matter what assist level I'm in. Just this morning I was riding along on a flat and could barely keep up a 20 mph pace then just around the corner the road went slightly up hill and I was pushing 25 mph. What gives?
 
The Supersix Evo Neo, as far as I can tell from various reports, is a Class 1 ebike, and only provides electric motor assist up to 20 mph in the US. (The Cannondale site does not mention what class the bike is.) On the flats, if you are exceeding 20 mph, the motor shuts off, and you are supplying all of the power to keep the bike moving. The part about being assisted uphill at 25 mph doesn't make sense, unless the bike is not a class 1 ebike. Which model of the Evo Neo do you have, 1, 2 or 3?

I think that the Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon (specifically the model 2), would be a better choice for your needs, as it is class 3 (motor assist up to 28 mph in the US), and has the powerful Bosch mid-drive system which will allow you to feel much younger on hills. Mid drive motors have the advantage of benefitting from the derailleur gearing system, while hub drives do not benefit from the gearing, but can be built lighter.

I have a Cannondale 2019 Quick Neo (flat instead of drop bars), and the Bosch mid-drive on it feels like a very natural extension of your body, if you have done a lot of non-ebike riding in the past. You might also want to consider the Trek Domane+HP models which use Bosch mid-drive.

Hopefully someone who is familiar with the Mahle ebikemotion X35 hub motor used in the Supersix Evo Neo will write in and comments.
 
Take a look at this review and watch the video:


It is a heavier flat bar Cannondale bike that uses the same hub-motor as your bike. You can get some details of what to expect from the motor assist.
 
I ride the Synapse Neo 1 (2020) which uses the Bosch Activeline Plus and find occasionally that if I change assist modes on the head unit and the bike doesn't respond well, a simple gear shift down and then back up seems to do the trick. Not particularly helpful in explaining what's going on, but it may be a workaround that helps.
 
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