Whether you are a fan of e-bikes or not, they definitely aren't going away. This segment in mountain biking will continue to grow and the bikes and the technology is just going to get better. I for one am a huge fan of e-bikes. Mountain biking was invented purely out of people wanting to more fun on bikes by taking them off road and e-bikes are only enhancing the level of fun that can be had on a mountain bike. More miles and more laps equals more smiles. I'm not ready to get rid of my regular mountain bikes altogether yet though. There is something about getting on a bike and just pedaling under your own power, with no batteries, no electronic shifting or any other type of technology you have to worry about charging. And a lot of trails are just more fun on a completely normal bike.
The Nebo Peak is Ari's first SL e-bike and it's also the first SL e-bike that I have ridden. I have been riding a full size/power Specialized Turbo Levo over the past year and a half and it's been an absolute blast. I wasn't sure what to expect of the Ari Nebo Peak coming from my Turbo Levo. But what I found was a bike that was nothing but a good time. If Ari's goal with the Nebo Peak was making a lightweight e-bike that feels like a playful trail bike, that feels like a normal mountain bike and is intuitive to ride, then that goal has been met.
I'm sure weight has something to do with making it feel like you're on a regular trail bike, but geometry plays maybe an even more important role here. I feel like Ari absolutely nailed the geometry on this thing. I am 6'3 and a bit and the XL frame I was on felt dialed. The 505mm reach felt very comfortable along with the 77.5 degree seat angle. I'm not sure what was different about this bike but other bikes I've ridden with a 77-78 degree seat tube angle and around the same reach numbers have felt cramped and tight, but have also caused me to get hand and wrist fatigue due to feeling like my weight is pushing too far foward and down into the front end of the bike too much. The chain stays do not change with sizes on this bike but the 434.6 rear center on the Nebo Peak felt very balanced. More on that later. Standover stays pretty consistent across all sizes so you can pick your sizing based more off of reach preference. There is a flip chip you can change the geo with, however I rode the bike in the "short" setting the entire time and sets up the geometry to be a bit more on the trail side of things which I found to be perfect for the fast, flowy trails I was on for the majority of the riding I did on this bike.
The demo bike that Ari set me up with was essentially their Pro build however they did have a OneUp Carbon bar on it and the Maven Ultimates instead of the Silvers. Ari has done a great job speccing this bike. It's a nice feeling to spend a lot of money on something and know you don't have to change anything out immediately. They even spec'd this bike with my favorite Ergon saddle. There was only one complaint from me on this build and that was the Maxxis Dissector tire in the front and rear. I love the Dissector as a rear tire, but I feel like it tracks weird as a front tire. I would love to see a DHF II up front. Ari has done a good job with their pricing as well. While $8,000 is not cheap I did notice that there are other bikes out there with the same weight and motor/battery set up as the Nebo Peak that are nearly $2k more for a comparable spec.
RIDING THE NEBO PEAK
Uphill -
Climbing on the Nebo Peak instantly felt very natural to me. The Fazua Ride 60 motor delivered power in a very smooth and controlled way that felt more like I was in control rather than the motor being the one in charge. Where my Turbo Levo definitely had more power and torque, it felt like a car with a turbo in some ways where it would feel like the power would come on all at once in a very delayed manner. The Fazua motor just felt consistent with the power the entire time like a naturally aspirated car feels. The Fazua motor has three different modes, being Breeze, River and Rocket. I rode most of the time in Rocket mode. With the lower torque of the Fazua, I felt like I could finesse the bike through technical, loose sections of trail and the front end of the bike never struggled to stay down. It really felt like riding a normal trail bike but like I weighed 50 lbs less and was in really good shape. There are a lot of times on a full powered e-bike where the toruqe comes on too fast or all at once and causes a loss in traction or to wheelie over backwards. I feel like if I were riding up a lot of fire roads or self shuttling to get to downhill trails a full power e-bike would be the ticket, however if I were riding more cross country type trails with more single track that had some technical uphill sections, bikes like the Nebo Peak would be my first choice. The suspension stayed active through rocky, technical pieces of trail and traction was great. It wasn't quite that magic carpet level of traction that I have experienced on a few DW link bikes that I have ridden, but it was pretty freaking good. There was no sign of pedal bob while climbing, even the few times I got out of the saddle and really mashed a bit, the bike stayed very composed and efficient. It felt like all of my power was going directly into my pedal strokes no matter how I decided to pedal this bike. For reference I had the rear suspension set at right under 30% sag and I never changed it during my testing. The motor is also super quiet. I don't think most people would ever know you are on an e-bike for those of you that might be worried about getting heckled or don't want to hear the "cheater" comments.
Downhill -
Once pointed downhill this bike really wakes up and wants to play. If I could describe the Nebo Peak in one word it would be fun. There was never any "getting used to it" period with the Ari Nebo Peak. It was just super "normal" feeling as soon as I started riding it. The suspension platform has a nice supple feel right off the top, but I would say this is more of a supportive feeling suspension than plush. The bike holds a line pretty well through rocks and bumpy sections of trail but it does a better job of popping off those rocks or bumps and taking to the air. The Nebo Peak is super easy to manual and get the front wheel off the ground, but it's just as easy to bunny hop and get that rear wheel off the ground too. I didn't have a ton of big terrain to ride while out tesing but I did find some smaller drops and jumps to take it off. The bike ramps up quickly but very smooth and never felt like it was bottoming out. The bike feels really good through corners with berms but I had a lack of confidence on flatter loose corners with the Dissector tire up front. Maybe it's a mental thing for me, but if it were my bike I would throw a DHF or something similiar up front right away. This bike is quick to pick up speed and seems to feel better the harder you push it. I'll go ahead and say it, the Nebo Peak is confidence inspiring. The frame feels nice and stiff and I never felt any unwanted flex at any point in riding this thing. I feel like you could take this down some rowdier trails and not feel under biked. I would like to take this out again when some of the higher elevation trails are melted off and give the long setting a go.
Standout Components -
A couple of components that really stood out on this build was the XO Transmission Drivetrain and the Sram Maven brakes. I had never ridden either of these and I was super stoked on both.
I know I have heard people say they are not fans of the Transmission drivetrain but I loved it. It was super quiet and shifting under pressure was something I've never been able to do without feeling like the whole drivetrain was going to blow up.
The Maven brakes were amazing! Ian told me they sized the rotors down to 180mm front and rear on this bike and I was skeptical. I normally run 200-220 rotors with my Magura MT7 brakes and I still think I could use a bit more power. With the Mavens, the 180mm rotors stopped with plenty of power and performed perfectly throughout the entire test. The levers don't have quite that light, snappy feel that my Maguras have but they have solid feel once pulled in. There is plenty of modulation so you don't get any abrupt sudden bite, but when you need to stop quickly, you have all the power you can ask for.
Battery Life -
I rode the most of the time in Rocket mode and the limited window of time I had on the bike allowed for me to get in a couple 8 mile rides with around 1000 feet of vertical. I had 3 bars out of five left after each ride. I am guessing I could get in almost 20 miles of riding and 3000 feet of vertical riding in Rocket mode the whole time.
You can check out the video here, although I had some issues and half the time I thought I was filming the GoPro was actually off.
PROS
Light for an e-bike
Powerful motor for its size
Super playful
Motor is super quiet
Very well spec'd
Feels like a normal trail bike
Great climber (good traction and efficient)
CONS
Front tire choice
Fazua mode controller knob feels a bit cheap
CONCLUSION
If you are looking for an e-bike to ride at your local trails and want something that will give you some assistance but still feel like you are riding a normal trail bike, the Ari Bikes Nebo Peak is a great pick! You will not be robbed of a good time if you get this bike! Go give this bike a look here.