Two new e-bikes from Cannondale revealed today!
Lots of neeeeow New Bosch motor allows shorter chainstays than the previous version. Here’s the £4499 Neo 3.
Cannondale’s new ebikes have landed! The completely revamped all-mountain Moterra and the more trail-focussed Habit Neo have been announced and they’re bikes that Cannondale seems very proud of. Both bikes sport new Bosch Performance CX motors, and Cannondale was a development partner with Bosch in the creation of the new motor and battery system.
Previously, the Moterra had been well received, although its bold and, er ‘challenging’ or ‘quirky’ looks weren’t for everyone. It seems that the collaboration with Bosch has allowed a ground-up redesign, with batteries now integrated into straight downtubes and hidden from sight. The new motor too has allowed much shorter chainstays and on the whole a more manoeuverable bike.
There has been a lot of focus from Cannondale in getting the Habit Neo and the Moterra to ride well and to be as fun as the ‘acoustic’ bikes that Cannondale makes. Comparisons to the regular (and popular) Cannondale Habit will be natural, so it was in Cannondale’s interest to do a good job. Not to mention that trail e-bikes are one of the fastest growing sectors of our sport.
Let’s have a look at the two bikes in some more detail.
Cannondale Habit Neo
Obviously, this bike is based on the meat-power bike of the same name that we had a look at last autumn. The Habit Neo is a 29er bike, running 2.6in tyres and featuring a 140mm fork and 130mm rear travel. Angles are a pretty tasty 66.5°/75° and brakes are a massive 220mm/200mm for bringing that not insubstantial mass to a controlled stop.
Designed to ride well and to be as fun as the ‘acoustic’ bikes that Cannondale makes. The Habit Neo 1 – Is £6999,99 and is that a front light?
The new ebikes seem to have already found favour with Cannondale’s enduro riders, who can use them for repeated lap runs, trail exploration, or just for blatting around on when their legs are shot from weeks of back to back racing. Here’s just one, ridden by a Mr Clementz:
Cannondale Moterra
Numbers on the Moterra are a little more agressive and a little slacker than the Habit Neo. There’s 160/160mm of travel through a Proportional Response frame design. There are still 29 x 2.6in tyres on wide rims. The head angle is a degree slacker than the Habit Neo, coming in at 65.5° while the motor is the same Bosch Performance CX motor with its clever ‘E-MTB’ mode that works out how much effort you’re putting in. There are other shared components, like the steel skid plate and the chunky battery in the downtube. There’s even a model with a triple-clamp fork(!)
While the bikes look pretty similar, the Moterra has a more open front triangle, with the shock closer to the top tube. Full black on black looks pretty sleek. This model, the Moterra SE with triple clamps and piggyback really stands out. The top flight Moterra 1 will set you back £6,999.99
Cannondale has big hopes for both bikes and, though prices are similar for both, it sees the Habit Neo as more of a ‘my first full sus e-bike’ and it’s looking to lure hardtail and trail bike riders with pretty familiar trail performance for those big days on the hills. The Moterra bike is likely to appeal to riders who are after more of a self-uplift kind of e-bike, where the motor is purely to get you to the top of the next banging descent. We’ll see how that pans out in the next year.
The bikes should be coming into stock very shortly and details can be found on cannondale.com
Prices go something like this:
Cannondale Habit Neo
Top end Habit Neo 1 – £6999.99
Entry level Habit Neo 4 – £3999.
Cannondale Moterra
Moterra 1 £6999.99
Funky Moterra SE with Boxxer forks £6,199
Down to Moterra 3 – £4,499.
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