Tenways may not be the biggest name in the e-bike world, but it’s gaining ground. The Chinese e-bike firm started with primarily lightweight pedal-assist bikes that got popular in Europe, but has now expanded to the larger, commuter-oriented, high-power e-bike segment with the Wayfarer.
Can it hang with the established options in this hotly contested segment? I rode over a hundred miles on a Wayfarer to find out.
After hours on the bike in urban environments, up in the mountains, along the beach, and on main roads, I’ve fallen in love. The Wayfarer is a comfortable, long-range multi-tool that feels worth its $1,999 price tag.
Gallery: Tenways Wayfarer Review Gallery
Key Specs
The Tenways Wayfarer is a departure for the brand, with a powerful motor and a thumb throttle. The motor is a 500-watt unit that peaks at 750W, plenty for the bike’s 66-pound weight. The Wayfarer uses a Shimano Altus eight-speed drivetrain, which is a mid-grade but solid option, and comes standard with beefy 203 mm brake rotors clamped by hydraulic pistons.
Power comes from a removable 720-watt-hour battery with LG cells, with UL 2580 certification. Tenways claims it can go up to 80 miles on a charge, but if you know e-bikes you know claimed range and realistic range are never that close together. More on that later. Power is managed by a Bafang controller with a 4.3-inch TFT display and a USB-C slot to charge your phone.
It rides on 27.5 x 2.6 inch Kenda all-terrain tires, with an air fork up front and seat-post suspension. The cargo rack, mud guards, and kickstand are supposed to be part of a $277 option package, but the Tenways site currently has them included so long as you sign up for the company’s newsletter. It also says the bike is supposed to cost $2,199, but is marked down to $1,999. I’ve never seen it at full price, and every other review says that $1,999 is the price, so we’re going with that. Mine came in a lovely shade of blue, but there’s also a light gray option if you have worse taste.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
Build Quality & Accessories
Assembling the Wayfarer from its mega-sized box was no problem at all. I found the instructions clear and easy, and setting up the app wasn’t hard, either, though I haven’t used it since. The Bafang controller supports a four-digit PIN for start-up security, but because you have to input it with up/down arrows on the tiny control pad, I do find it quite annoying. It’s also worth noting that the controller has frozen on me a handful of times while riding. Power still works in that scenario, but I couldn’t see my speed or change my mode.
The good news is that the display is ultra-clear and uncluttered. Controls are mostly intuitive, with easy swapping between five levels of power assist. They range from ECO to BOOST. There’s also a walk mode, which is nice, though you have to hold the down arrow to enable it, then press it rather than the throttle to engage the motor at walking pace.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
The Wayfarer also comes with a built-in coin-battery-powered Apple Find My capable tag hidden in the bell. That’s a neat feature, and I’m glad they put it in. I also appreciate the quality of the cargo rack, mud guards, and the kickstand, though I don’t think you should need to sign up for a newsletter to get them included. With a 66-pound bike, you’re going to want a kickstand. And with a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h), you need splash guards.
Riding Experience
If you’re like me, you’re going to spend quite a bit of time at that 28-mph top speed. That’s partially because I’m a speed freak and partially because the Tenways is just so comfortable. The air fork and seat post suspension make even major bumps and divots a non-issue, and the 66-pound frame is remarkably well-balanced. Despite being a step-through bike clearly designed for cruising and commuting, I found it extremely stable at high speeds and easy to maneuver.
The bike supports Class 1, Class 2, Class 3, and Unlimited modes. It defaults to Class 2 mode, where you get pedal assist and a throttle, but assist cuts above 20 mph (32 km/h). Its Class 3 mode uses a strict interpretation of the anti-throttle rules in places like California, which means that if you want to raise your limiter to 28 mph, you lose the ability to use the throttle at any speed.
Beefy hydraulic brakes do a great job of slowing down the 66-pound bike. Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
Luckily, there’s an unlimited mode that allows a more blinding twenty-nine mph and keeps the throttle active the entire time. It’s the best mode, or at least I would say that if I had tested the mode. But since I live in California, I definitely didn’t, as it does not comply with local regulations. You shouldn’t use it either, especially if you hate fun.
Regardless of what pedal assist level you prefer and what class you select, the Tenways is a powerful and capable commuter. On a tight section of road with a 30 mph limit and no easy place for a bike to get out of the way, I found it incredibly reassuring to be able to maintain 28 mph in Sport Mode using pedal assist. In fact, the ability to actually keep up with traffic made me feel far safer than I do on my road bike. So too did the excellent brakes, which arrested me from 25 mph going down a steep hill with no noticeable drama. A 66-pound bike going that fast could easily feel sketchy, but with great brakes, it feels a whole lot better.
It was easy to roll away from a stop, too, as long as I was in the correct gear. The torque-sensor pedal assist is the best I’ve used—though I’ve admittedly only ridden five or so e-bikes—but still prone to occasional oddities. If you’re in too low a gear and a high assist setting, you can accidentally assist the pedals right out from under yourself. All in, though, if you ride it well, you shouldn’t feel anything surprising. It’s extremely good at correctly judging your effort and assisting accordingly.
The Wayfarer also comes with blinkers, though I didn’t use them too much.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
You can really play around with it, too, as even if you ride like a lunatic in Sport mode, you can go far. Riding in only Sport mode or Sport+ mode and using the throttle with abandon, I did a 25-mile ride through hilly San Diego and still returned with 35% battery. My fiancé did her 24-mile commute on the Tenways, primarily in Eco mode with a bit of Tour sprinkled in, and she used less than 40% of the battery. That means you can get over 50 miles of real-world range without much effort.
That’s enough that I’d never worry about it. After 24 miles of ripping around the hills, I was ready to get off the bike anyway. I’d never do more than 50 miles in a day, as at that distance it’s more a problem of time and mental endurance than battery life. But if you do somehow want to ride 50 miles there and 50 miles back, you can do so with a 4-5 hour charge stop on the included charger.
What I’d Fix
Like I said above, I’m no e-bike maestro. I don’t have deep experience reviewing these, though I’ve ridden a handful and I do at least keep up with the market. Value and design wise, I find it hard to fault the Tenways. I’m sure the pedal-by-wire setup in the Also TM-B is better, but at $3,500 to start that thing should be better. For the price, I have no major complaints.
But I do have some minor ones. First, I found the control pad to be a little frustrating. It was a slow way to enter a four-digit start-up code. That became all the more annoying on the four or five occasions where it froze, requiring me to input it on the side of the road to get my speed info back. The control pad was also too far inboard to be easily reached with my thumb, which means I almost never used the included blinker function. Between the switch being tough to reach, the lights being visible only from the rear, and them being understandably incapable of self-canceling, it was easier to just point when I was about to make a turn.
The thumb controller is standard e-bike fare, but I found it a bit annoying to use to input my PIN code on start-up.
Photo by: Mack Hogan/InsideEVs
The headlight, too, was just ok. To be clear, this is the first e-bike I’ve ridden in a city at night, but I found it was hard to find a way to aim it where I could see potholes and road imperfections but was also clearly visible to cars at intersections ahead. I settled on prioritizing visibility. I think most people who frequently use their e-bikes at night are going to go for an aftermarket upgrade over most of the standard-issue lights, but I wanted to call this out.
Finally, a small but important one: There’s nowhere on the Wayfarer to mount a water bottle cage. I settled for a handlebar-mounted cupholder, but it’s an inelegant solution. I hope they introduce a better one.
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Verdict
I loved riding this bike. Part of it, to be sure, is that I love riding e-bikes in general. But the other part is how well-considered the whole package is. The Wayfarer looks great in its matte blue paint, and is easy to maneuver with a step-through design and a balanced chassis. It uses components that feel durable and well-suited to their tasks, with powerful brakes and a big motor. It goes as far as you’d ever need on a charge, and feels comfortable enough for multi-hour rides.
And at $1,999, it’s in the pricing sweet spot. Is it the best value on sale? I can’t possibly say, as I haven’t tested its closest rivals. Surely it’s a hotly contested title. But if I owned one of these, I certainly wouldn’t be jealous of any e-bike that rode past me. In Boost mode, in fact, I’d really love to see them try.
Contact the author: Mack.Hogan@insideevs.com
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