ARI Bikes just released the Bonneville, an electric do everything adventure road bike. Last month we visited their HQ in Utah and they told me I had to take it out. It wasn’t a by force thing, it was more of a “we are very curious what you will think about something like this” thing. Anyone who knows me knows I am not an e-bike guy. I have done a lot of testing and the eMTB thing has never stuck with me. I think eMTB’s have come a long ways and I have my favorites, however I love type 2 suffering fun. So when I saw the bike they wanted me to test was the new ARI Bonneville, an electric road bike, I was very confused.
I have never ridden an electric road bike, and that is something I don’t get to say very often about different categories of bikes! So after gearing up and taking off with Hannah, we set out on a test jaunt on the new Bonnevilles. First impressions after a couple of pedal strokes were “is this thing on”. That is the craziest thing I noticed about the Bonneville. It doesn’t feel like a road bike when you get it up to speed. Sure from a standstill you can notice the power as you get up to your cruising speed, however when you reach that speed the bike feels like a traditional road bike, just slightly heavier.
The weight is not as noticeable though as it is on mountain bikes because the bike never really leaves the ground. Instead the power remains subtle at speeds leading to a faster pace. We cruised the bike path for a good distance before making our way to the canyons. One thing I noticed was that the speeds we were going were not uncomfortable. Oftentimes on eMTB’s there are certain trails out there where I don’t want to climb them at the speed the motor allows me too. With the Bonneville, the pace I was able to set never felt uncomfortable leading me to feel more at home on the bike.
We climbed a bit longer and I was able to play with the new SRAM Red, something that will 100% be going on a future road bike of mine as the ergonomics of the hoods is amazing as are the one finger stopping brakes levers. With a few more climbs we made it to our waterfall viewpoint, way faster and less fatigued than we would have obviously on our own.
Now the ride home is where I really started to understand that this would be the e-bike for me. On the bike path the headwind we encountered was enough to make you feel like it was a good day to fly a kite and that we might become one soon! However with the power assist of the Bonneville as well as slightly heavier weight in comparison to a lightweight road bike with no motor, we kept chugging along with no issues. I started to see myself commuting to and from work or running errands. I also started to see rides where my dad could join Hannah and I and keep up with our pace on Sunday coffee rides. A couple of times at red lightsI really appreciated the power to get up to speed from a standstill stop, especially at intersections where drivers were a bit less enthusiastic to wait for cyclists to cross. So many things were going on in my mind, and I started to see a future with this bike.
And before I knew it we were back at ARI and I was a bit more confused. Do I like e-bikes now? Am I sold? All I can say is that if anything came from that test ride, it is that if I am ever looking for a do it all road bike and I have to commute in headwinds, this is 100% the bike you would see me on! Electric road bikes are awesome and dare I say you might see an ARI Bonneville in my quiver before an e-MTB!
Check out the ARI Bonneville here: https://aribikes.com/products/bonneville
