Purchased a new Cannondale Synapse Neo 1 with the 2020 Activeline Plus Bosch system. Also brand new to ebikes. I have a few comments / suggestions that come to mind after about one week with the bike...
- The km/hr readings on the Purion are 3-4 km above what I'm measuring with my Wahoo Roam and Wahoo speed sensor (accurate actual speed). I'm also comparing the Purion readout to what other riders in my club are measuring for speed on group rides and they're matching up with my Wahoo speeds. This means the assistance is cutting out early which is very frustrating. It's fair to say that the Purion speed measurement is out of whack and I'd love to be able to resolve this without having to take it up to the bike shop (45 min drive away). How about releasing a customer version of the diagnostic software?
- When riding uphill and shifting down in the gearing, there's a jerking feeling in the pedals. Would love for this to be much smoother. Other than that, the system is super smooth and a pleasure to ride.
- Would love to see an external usb port via the Bosch battery system that can be used for charging phones, etc. This would be great in an emergency situation where a phone battery has died and a rider needs to call for assistance.
- Would love to see the head units (Purion in my case) use power from the main battery to charge an internal rechargeable battery. This way we'd never really have to concern ourselves with losing power on the head unit.
Thanks for the feedback!
If you feel your assistance is cutting out early, it may be worth a visit to a Bosch Certified shop. It could be that the "cosmetic" speed readout is off (adjustable by 5%), or it could be a more rare situation where the OEM assembler programmed the wrong wheel circumference accidentally. If the 5% adjustment is different than the OEM circumference, the actual cut-out speed may differ from the displayed speed.
That jerking feeling you experience is Bosch's gear shift detection. As you likely know... shifting under load (ie: uphill) is not good for a drive train, especially on an eBike. It can cause premature wear, and even chain breakage. The Bosch Drive Unit senses gear shifting, and temporarily reduces assistance until the shift is completed. That being said, best practice is to "lighten-up" on the pedals when shifting under load, even on a non-eBike.
The Intuvia, Kiox, Smartphonehub, and new Nyon have charging options for smartphones. Since Purion is a very simple, "bare-bones" display, not a lot of extra options. Inconvenient for sure.
All displays except for Purion use internal batteries that are automatically charged by the Drive Unit during riding. The (2) replaceable CR2016 batteries in your Purion have a single function... send a momentary "wake-up"signal to the Drive Unit to turn the eBike on. While the eBike is being ridden, the Purion is being powered by the eBike battery, via the Drive Unit. In other words, whether your ride lasts 30 minutes or 3 hours, those Purion batteries are only being used for a split second, assuming the eBike stays in the "on" position. In the event you wound up with depleted batteries in your display at an inconvenient time, the eBike can still be turned on using the power button on the Bosch PowerTube battery on your Neo (assuming Cannondale allowed for access, results vary based on OEM.)
The Purion is definitely lacking in some more advanced features and options, but it is intended as a simple, cost effective integration. I replaced mine with a Kiox.
Enjoy the bike!!!