How Far Can An E-Bike Go?

You’ve bought your shiny new bike, and now you want to plan some big rides. But how far can you go, really? Is the manufacturer ’s range estimate accurate? Jon Minster borrowed a Cannondale Synapse NEO and did a totally unscientific test to see how far he would get on a single charge. Who would give up first – man or bike?

- Jon Minster

I’ve ridden 60km – a solid morning out so far. I left the southern suburbs of Cape Town in the dark, and rode to Cape Point. And not just to the reserve entrance gate, which you go past on the Cape Town Cycle Tour – all the way to the point itself.

I feel like I’ve achieved something! It’s still early, and I’m the only one here. The parking lot, usually bustling, is empty. A baboon stares at me from his vantage point on top of the bathroom block, and a seagull squawks from somewhere over the misty Atlantic.

There’s just one problem: the battery on the Cannondale is still full. Each of the five little indicator blocks on the Bosch Purion display is still there, a digital mob that seems to be mocking me: “You think you can beat us, buddy? We’ll see about that!”

Sure, the Synapse is an e-bike, but Eco mode gives you just enough assistance to make it feel like a normal bike; which means that I feel as if I have actually pedalled that 60km. If this carries on, I’ll have to ride 200km – or more! – to have any hope of picking off all five members of the mob. That’s like doing the Double Century, on a random Thursday morning. Alone. People train for that kind of thing!

Spitefully, I eat a banana right in front of the baboon, suddenly worried that I’ve underestimated the capacity of this machine. Then I turn the bike around, climb back on, and start pedalling. As I approach the first rise in the road, I casually change the mode from Eco to Tour. Take that, battery. Let’s see how you cope now!

Learning The Ropes