Unless you are really abusing the assist, you should get at least 15 miles of hard trail riding in on a charge. At 13 miles off-road with nearly 2000 feet of climbing, the battery level had just dropped to one bar. We tended to ride the Peak in level 3 or 4 most of the time, but even so, the basic 8.7 amp-hour battery has excellent range at these higher levels of assist. The steeper the hills, the more impressive the Peak is. Thanks to the high-torque design of the assist motor, the harder you load it, the stronger it feels. We do like the simplicity of a single shifter, and the lack of a front derailleur surely helps with the attractive price point. Still, a lower first gear and the option of a larger front ring would be nice. Since the Peak only has a single ring in front, the gear selections are limited, but there is nevertheless a nice range between high and low. When you shift gears in level 4 you can hear the power snatch at the drive chain. For straight climbs, the 350-watt motor offers outstanding support. When you hit level 3, the assist is strong enough to be significant on level ground or on mild to strenuous climbs. It is a good setting for level terrain or even mild climbs. At level 2 the assist is a little more energetic. Basically, it makes up for the Peak being heavier than a pedal bicycle. The Peak has a throttle, but unlike many machines with a throttle (where a no-assist setting allows the throttle to provide assist on demand), the Peak throttle works at any level of assist and elevates the support to the absolute maximum, but only up to 8 mph.
All four levels of assist sense pedaling and add assist automatically. The handlebar control allows you to toggle the assist level between one and four, turn on the display screen, and select information screens. There is a soft-button on switch on the battery case, and you start the system and activate the display with an on button that is part of the handlebar-mounted control unit.
Many riders remove the battery when parking the bike as added security to assist a lock. The battery can be charged on the bike or removed with a key for charging. The battery case attaches to the frame tube where a bottle cage would normally reside. The brains of the outfit are all tucked in with the drive unit or in the battery case, so there is no external controller. The idea is the same: mount the assist unit in the middle of the chassis and allow it to use the derailleur and cassette to essentially give the drive unit a nine-speed transmission. The look is somewhat close, but this is not a Bosch drive. Most of the other e-bikes in the Currie Technologies IZIP line have hub motors of one sort or another, but the Peak has a Currie-spec, 350-watt, TransX, mid-drive, high-torque assist unit with proprietary software. This is an e-bike tailor-made for climbing, so it is more than aptly named. In this case we were happy to find that the rest of the bike fully deserves an assist package this impressive. When an e-bike is destined to spend its time on pavement, the advantages of a mid-drive are not so pronounced, but the Peak is a mountain bike with plenty of dirt in its future, and the benefits in handling off-road make the mid drive a huge deal for a bike that retails for $2999. Strong assist combined with stellar handling and a natural riding position at a reasonable price makes the Peak a winner.ĭedicated mid-drive e-bikes are the absolute latest in production models. An upgraded fork would be nice, and so would rear suspension, but that simply will not happen at this price point. Our test unit was no virgin, and we put a great deal of time on it.
The performance is muscular and civilized compared to any, but is most impressive at this price level. This entire bike costs what some mid-drive assist units cost without the bicycle. Being in the correct gear and not completely coasting or braking right before the turn helps you keep effective assist. This steep trail had a variety of steep switchbacks, but the Peak had the power to handle them all.
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