Hey 
I've just got back from my LBS and I didn't update!
They have actually upgraded their bikes, so I decided before I pay for an update, I'll test drive theirs
I agree with with what was mentioned above, the power delivery is indeed smoother and the bike feels like a manual bike, but it feels like you have 2 sets of legs instead.
Now this is actually reasonably nice to ride, except in a few circumstances (that affected me)
In the park there is a hill (just flat dirt/pebbles steep dirt hill) on my bike I could easily get up the hill by putting in a very small amount of effort (even in a high gear) as the motor tends to push out 540w as soon as you touch the pedals. So I can easily get up steep, unannounced, hills which is really useful.
On their bike I noticed that I had to input more Manual effort to get up the same hill.
They explained that it's now tuned to almost mimic what you do, which in Theory delivers more power as the 2 are now addictive now where as previously they went (technically) but only kind of were.
So now there are a few things that Are not there for me.
1, The bike no longer takes off as easily when you are sat on a hill at traffic lights for example. You now need to add more force to the bike to get it moving and up to speed (even in Turbo) that immediate power and that whoosh to get you moving just by touching the pedal (race mode) is gone.
2, Riding up a long steep hill. I took the bike to the park and drove my usual route that I took to the bike shop today. On my bike I usually sit in 9th or 10th gear and the bike literally pushes me up hills without hardly any physical exertion from my self (lazy I know). On the shops bike I had to pedal much harder (maybe what felt around twice as hard) to get he same level of power back. This made me feel like I was on a normal bike, but with stronger legs, unlike my bike that made me feel like someone was literally pushing me from behind as a laughed at how easy it was.
3, The battery on their bike after 2hrs riding was indeed hardly used. So with this new menthod and taking a little more energy from the rider, the battery life should be exponentially increased.
4, Motor cut off is slightly less prominent. But that's because you are adding more manual force so therefore notice it less (as assistance was reduced technically) "optimised"
5, The mission control app does have more flexibility and I I like the extra options. But I also would prefer the older options too.
6, The bike does feel more manual, therefore slightly more controllable as the power is delivered more conservatively.
My overall experience after a 2hr ride (thanks to my LBS)
I would say if you prefer the maximum POWER, speed, fast take off, rocket modes, easy riding modes stay with 22 and use a 3rd party app.
If you don't like the ebike feel and you would like to ride the bike and make it feel more manual, be more economical, require more input/effort from you, more reserved in how it delivers power, (calmer/slower/more delicate/puts out what you put in etc) then upgrade.
For me personally I will not be upgrading at this juncture. I will wait for the next update and the motor update to see what changes are made.
I personally really like the ebike feel. I like cruising on it, being pushed up hills, having the ability to stop on a steep hill in traffic at lights and just rest my foot on the pedal in 9th gear and be almost instantly accelerated to 15mph in 1 turn of the pedals
I hope they bring back the other modes, I hope they add a POWER mode (like we have now) and I hope everyone is able to stop fighting
But there we have it 2hrs on a 23FW bike riding the same route I just rode on my 22FW bike.
I hope that helps someone.
This is an update likely based on feedback from serious mountain bike riders who want to have it act like a Manual bike with more longevity on the batter at the sacrifice of additional power from themselves.
Me, I want a small little effort as possible and the trail to be fun
I've just got back from my LBS and I didn't update!
They have actually upgraded their bikes, so I decided before I pay for an update, I'll test drive theirs
I agree with with what was mentioned above, the power delivery is indeed smoother and the bike feels like a manual bike, but it feels like you have 2 sets of legs instead.
Now this is actually reasonably nice to ride, except in a few circumstances (that affected me)
In the park there is a hill (just flat dirt/pebbles steep dirt hill) on my bike I could easily get up the hill by putting in a very small amount of effort (even in a high gear) as the motor tends to push out 540w as soon as you touch the pedals. So I can easily get up steep, unannounced, hills which is really useful.
On their bike I noticed that I had to input more Manual effort to get up the same hill.
They explained that it's now tuned to almost mimic what you do, which in Theory delivers more power as the 2 are now addictive now where as previously they went (technically) but only kind of were.
So now there are a few things that Are not there for me.
1, The bike no longer takes off as easily when you are sat on a hill at traffic lights for example. You now need to add more force to the bike to get it moving and up to speed (even in Turbo) that immediate power and that whoosh to get you moving just by touching the pedal (race mode) is gone.
2, Riding up a long steep hill. I took the bike to the park and drove my usual route that I took to the bike shop today. On my bike I usually sit in 9th or 10th gear and the bike literally pushes me up hills without hardly any physical exertion from my self (lazy I know). On the shops bike I had to pedal much harder (maybe what felt around twice as hard) to get he same level of power back. This made me feel like I was on a normal bike, but with stronger legs, unlike my bike that made me feel like someone was literally pushing me from behind as a laughed at how easy it was.
3, The battery on their bike after 2hrs riding was indeed hardly used. So with this new menthod and taking a little more energy from the rider, the battery life should be exponentially increased.
4, Motor cut off is slightly less prominent. But that's because you are adding more manual force so therefore notice it less (as assistance was reduced technically) "optimised"
5, The mission control app does have more flexibility and I I like the extra options. But I also would prefer the older options too.
6, The bike does feel more manual, therefore slightly more controllable as the power is delivered more conservatively.
My overall experience after a 2hr ride (thanks to my LBS)
I would say if you prefer the maximum POWER, speed, fast take off, rocket modes, easy riding modes stay with 22 and use a 3rd party app.
If you don't like the ebike feel and you would like to ride the bike and make it feel more manual, be more economical, require more input/effort from you, more reserved in how it delivers power, (calmer/slower/more delicate/puts out what you put in etc) then upgrade.
For me personally I will not be upgrading at this juncture. I will wait for the next update and the motor update to see what changes are made.
I personally really like the ebike feel. I like cruising on it, being pushed up hills, having the ability to stop on a steep hill in traffic at lights and just rest my foot on the pedal in 9th gear and be almost instantly accelerated to 15mph in 1 turn of the pedals
I hope they bring back the other modes, I hope they add a POWER mode (like we have now) and I hope everyone is able to stop fighting
But there we have it 2hrs on a 23FW bike riding the same route I just rode on my 22FW bike.
I hope that helps someone.
This is an update likely based on feedback from serious mountain bike riders who want to have it act like a Manual bike with more longevity on the batter at the sacrifice of additional power from themselves.
Me, I want a small little effort as possible and the trail to be fun
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