Cannondale Topstone Gravel Ebike

[Deacon Blues]

Did your bike come pre-wired for front and rear lights? I know that the Bosch motor unit has connection points for lighting, but was there wiring in place for lighting running up the seat tube and down tube?

I can't see any wiring.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I did a shake down 33km ride today with my wife on her ebike. I really like his bike!

The only off-roading I did was about 7km on a gravel pathway. When I ride this pathway on my Defy road bike it's not fun at all and I'll often ride on a busy highway that

runs parallel to the pathway just because it's so much smoother.

With the Lefty the pathway felt much, much smoother. Amazing!

This Gen 4 motor has tons of power. If I could, I'd like to be able to dial back the power a bit in 'eco' mode, so I could get a bit more of a workout. I ended up doing the 33km
in 'eco' or 'off' modes. I only used the 'tour' mode once, on a gradual hill, and even then I could have climbed the hill easily in 'eco'.

The bike feels very stable-kinda like riding a heavier version of my Defy, but with a much heavier feeling front end.

I said it in the opening sentence, but I'll say it again......I really like this bike!

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I did a shake down 33km ride today with my wife on her ebike. I really like his bike!

The only off-roading I did was about 7km on a gravel pathway. When I ride this pathway on my Defy road bike it's not fun at all and I'll often ride on a busy highway that

runs parallel to the pathway just because it's so much smoother.

With the Lefty the pathway felt much, much smoother. Amazing!

This Gen 4 motor has tons of power. If I could, I'd like to be able to dial back the power a bit in 'eco' mode, so I could get a bit more of a workout. I ended up doing the 33km
in 'eco' or 'off' modes. I only used the 'tour' mode once, on a gradual hill, and even then I could have climbed the hill easily in 'eco'.

The bike feels very stable-kinda like riding a heavier version of my Defy, but with a much heavier feeling front end.

I said it in the opening sentence, but I'll say it again......I really like this bike!

It's a very unique bike and quite capable too.
I think it will quickly become one of your fav bikes just because of the sheer versatility, agility and capability!

 

[Deacon Blues]

Took the bike for another ride today. This time I rode with a seniors group (all on ebikes). The group ride was 40km and rode 10km to the start of the ride and another 10km home, for a total of 60km.
The pace was on the slow side and I rode half the ride with the power in the 'off' position. Except for one short, steep hill I rode the other half of the ride in 'eco'. What really surprised me was when I got home the display was still showing 5 out of 5 bars on the battery scale!

I'm taking the bike trail riding next week. It will be interesting to see how she does off road.

 

[Blackvipergts]

The battery consumption is within the range reported by Bosch and estimated up to 160 km in ECO on flat road.
Here enclosed the statistics recorded by Garmin for my last three rides: all above 90 km , elevation gain between 900-1100 mt , average gradient 6% up to max 14%,
60% without assistance,30% Eco,10% Tour ....the display at the end shows 4 bars on 5
Regards
blackvipergts

 

[Deacon Blues]

The shop that sold me the bike said that the motor/battery combo gave the bike phenomenal range. I thought it was just salesmen hyperbole, but I'm starting to think he wasn't exaggerating.

 

[Blackvipergts]

The shop that sold me the bike said that the motor/battery combo gave the bike phenomenal range. I thought it was just salesmen hyperbole, but I'm starting to think he wasn't exaggerating.

Today updated the software to the new release for Gen IV up to 85Nm....I'm curious to check if any increase for ECO's support .
rgds
blackvipergts

 

[Deacon Blues]

I'm pretty sure the shop upgraded mine before I picked it up.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Just a quick question about the front shock: to lock the shock out the lever should be pointed towards the little red lock, right? To make the shock functional the lever should be pointed towards the little green lock.
One of the guys who works at the shop where I bought the bike said that to allow the shock to function as a shock the lever should be pointed to the little red lock diagram, but that seems backwards to me.

 

[SoCalDave]

Weight the handlebars to see which position is locked and which allows vertical movement. I also read that when the fork is locked, if you hit a really nasty pothole or rock, the fork will release to prevent damaging things. I certainly would think that red means locked and green means unlocked.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Finally got a chance to do some trail riding yesterday. It was mostly on fire roads and easier trails and the bike was a dream to ride.

The trails followed a small river/stream and then after about 10km rose up sharply to exit the small valley the river runs through. When I tried riding up the

hill on my Specialized Diverge gravel bike a couple of months ago I only made it up around 25 feet before I had to get off and walk.

To make sure I'd make it on my Lefty I put the motor in 'Turbo' mode and boy, did that bike fly up the hill. Damn, this motor has power!


One small flaw with the bike I've come across is the purion display, which reads fast. Using my GPS watch I found that when the GPS showed 23kph the

display showed 25kph. That's a real drag, since it means the motor will cut out at (real) 30kph, instead of 32kph.

That's a good reason to buy the speed delimiter when the warranty runs out.

 

[tolovan]

@Deacon Blues I wonder if that's something that can be retuned by the dealer. I remember reading somewhere that you need to do some recalibration when you switch your tire size etc. Maybe your specs were set slightly off during setup? Alas all I have is scattered theoretical knowledge right now (man this bike cannot come soon enough).

 

[Deacon Blues]

Contacting the dealer is a good idea. I think there's also a Bosch representative on one of the forum's threads too.

 

[SoCalDave]

Contacting the dealer is a good idea. I think there's also a Bosch representative on one of the forum's threads too.

I looked at the Purion user manual, and although it allows you to change some things, such as between miles and kilometers, it doesn’t allow you to change the wheel diameter/circumference. Presumably the dealer has to do it via the USB connection.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Yes, I downloaded the manual last night. It's a very basic display.

 

[tolovan]

Do you know what the stem length is on this bike? It's not listed anywhere. I'm planning to get a RedShift shock stem and have LBS install it when they build it.

 

[Deacon Blues]

Do you know what the stem length is on this bike? It's not listed anywhere. I'm planning to get a RedShift shock stem and have LBS install it when they build it.

Interesting you should ask, as I was trying to find the length on the stem, but couldn't see it. I was looking because I'm thinking of going with a shorter stem, to increase the bend in my arms slightly. I've already moved the seat forward, so the next step is a shorter stem.

I can measure my stem for you, but I'll have to do some research as to what point on the stem are used for measuring.

Edit: just measure the stem on my medium sized bike. It's 85mm.

 

[Deacon Blues]

I'm really enjoying this ebike. I've owned the bike for about a week and a half and already have 378km on the odometer.

The only thing about the bike I'm not happy with is the inaccurate speedometer.

 

[Bill Goldman]

I found out about the lights when REI called to tell me that I could either pick up the bike or wait a couple of weeks for the lights to arrive. I asked if they were sure it came with lights and they said it did. I didn't want to wait so I picked up the bike and they will call me when the lights arrive. They did put in the wiring for it and in the latest pics I posted you can see the wires for the lights under the seat as well as near the head tube where there is a yellow sticker on the wire for the front lights.

Has anyone else been able to confirm that any of the Topstone Neo Lefty bikes are supposed to be equipped with lights? My Lefty 3 is definitely wired for lights (see photo, with capped wires poking out of a front frame hole), and the Bosch Purion display has a button that will trigger lights on/off. However, my dealer (not REI) knew nothing about lights arriving later. I've been assuming that these wires -- like the included accessories for mounting a fender or converting to tubeless tires -- are to make it easier for me to make aftermarket mods, and so I've got a Lupine light on order.

By the way, I've now put nearly 300 miles on my bike, riding on paved roads and crushed gravel trails and Rocky Mountain inclines, and this bike is genuinely amazing. The carbon frame, suspension, and tires are so good at dealing with vibration that crushed gravel trails feel almost like pavement. The geometry is compact and allows me to maintain a very comfortable riding position, and steering is stable and responsive, not twitchy. There is something magical about Sport mode, which is the setting between Tour and Turbo and apparently a blend of both, as needed. Sport seems to allow better control going over rough sections of a gravel trail, perhaps because it is dynamically adjusting the thrust? And like others have commented, the motor and battery give you great range and power. It's not my first e-bike (I had a Specialized Turbo before this), but it is a major step up for me.

-- Bill

 

[Deacon Blues]

That Lupine light is very nice, but cheap it is not.

Mine doesn't have a wire shown like yours. I wonder if the shop stuffed it under the little rubber cover? I'll have to ask when I go in for its first servicing.