Cannondale's brand new Trail Neo 1 is a hardtail e-MTB that adopts Bosch's Smart System, offering up to 175km of range on a single charge. Paired with a trail-ready geometry, the Trail Neo 1 is likely to become a worthy contender in the best electric mountain bike segment.

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The Trail Neo 1 is built with Bosch's Performance Line CX motor with a chunky 750Wh battery and Kiox 300 display. With this, Cannondale promises a huge range of 175km on a single charge.

In the name of responsive handling, the motor and battery are nestled as low as possible in the frame, much like what we saw on the Whyte E-160 RSX 29. The brand has given the bike a responsive rear end and what's said to be a slack head angle to offer a balance of stability and agility.

To put the geometry into numbers, a Large Trail Neo 1 gets a 68-degree head tube, a 74-degree seat tube, and a 433mm reach. The bike's wheelbase then measures 1191mm.

2022 cannondale trail neo 1 rear.jpg, by Liam Mercer

As for the wheel sizes, on the small frame, you'll get 650b hoops and anything larger gets 29-inch wheels. All sizes have 2.6in tyres and forks with 100mm of suspension.

The Trail Neo 1 is built with a SmartForm C1 alloy frame, a RockShox 35 Silver fork and a Shimano Deore M6100 12-speed drivetrain. The bike rolls on a pair of WTB STX i30 rims laced to Shimano hubs and wrapped with Maxxis Rekon tyres. The cockpit is nice and modern with the 780mm bar and 35mm stem with Fabric FunGuy grips. The bike is slowed by a pair of Tektro M807 four-piston hydraulic brakes.

2022 cannondale trail neo 1 front triang.jpg, by Liam Mercer

Handy if you want to take this trail bike onto the road, the Trail Neo 1 comes sorted with a running light that's integrated into the head tube. There's also wiring already built in so you can add more lights and run them off of the bike's battery.

The Cannondale Trail Neo 1 is available in four sizes and will set you back £4,300.

• www.cannondale.com

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