Unboxing

Tuesday the 30th April the bike was supposed to be ready around the noon. I packed a small backpack with some rain gear, couple of different riding gloves (weather really was not that warm around 6 deg C), a scarf and helmet. After that I bummed a ride from my brother and off to the Bike store...

I just left my backpack to car and in we went. There it was standing. Battery charged and ready to roll. Time to take a close look of the bike and get it ready to be ridden out.

Alfine hub dynamo with Trelock LS 865 light. This model has been meant for German markets. 

Intuvia control unit and Magura brakes. Headshock locking lever.

Drive unit is visible under the bottom bracket Battery pack can be seen in the rack. Same lock works for battery pack and to bike lock. That is major convenience factor. Rack mounted battery will also leave the frame free for bottles. Tail light takes its energy from the dynamo not from the battery pack.

Pretty heavy to be scaled with a tool that is meant to be attached to carbon fibre frame - not to an unbalanced piece of aluminum like this. The battery and electric drive unit make the bike tail heavy.

After that couple of bottle holders were attached to the bike. Some tools and spare tires packed as well. I also got ready and picked spiked winter tires. Unfortunately I could not find panniers that I liked. Time to settle the bill and head out. Correct tire pressure was set.  Helmet to the head, final adjustments to the seat. I wanted to make some changes to settings of  intuvia as well. Cannondale had not send the Intuvia manual with the bike, but the older manual. Fortunately I had downloaded right manual from Cannondale web site and checked it before. So it was not too hard to change the language and do other set ups to the computer.

Next stop was in Olari to North-West imports to check out the panniers. I had never ridden there by bike.  Fired up Google maps and checked where I should ride. One must just like applications like that in modern phones. It was nice to do a first ride with some purpose. Great way of getting used the the bike.
The weight of the bike can be felt. Especially when you are riding without assistance. Once you get the motor assist climbing in head wind goes with ease.

Anyhow I got to the pannier store. Talked about my needs with the staff. I had thought of getting Ortlieb Bike-Tourers, but after chatting in the store I ended up getting Ortlieb Bike-Packer Plus in black of course. Main argument being the soft pannier can be tightened so the contents do not shake during the ride. That makes a lot of sense. I also got a saddle bag. Panniers were installed to my bike at the store and it was time to head home.

I ended up riding close to 38 km in one hour and 40 minutes during the 1st day. First impression about Cannondale E-series. It is not "fun ride" like my Trek Fuel.

Trek Fuel 90: My other bike

Then again it should not be anything like Fuel. After all other is full suspension mountain bike and Cannondale is trekking pedelec. Climbing uphill in headwind  at good speed makes you smile. With the Fuel that kind of climb would have send my heart bumping really hard, filled the legs with lactic acid and I could not have done it as fast.

Also worth noting: I had no aches or pains after the  first ride. Riding was comfortable, even after only quick adjustments were made to the bike at the start. As I started to compare apples and oranges it is certain that with Fuel I would not have done that distance in hour and 40 minutes. Yet I felt I had enjoyed healthy exercise in fresh air. I like this Bike!