Bicycles

Hard-edged ebike brings beefy MTB specs to your daily urban commute

Hard-edged ebike brings beefy MTB specs to your daily urban commute
Enjoy a commuter on weekdays and an adventure ebike on weekends
Enjoy a commuter on weekdays and an adventure ebike on weekends
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For daily commutes that involve more than just smooth pavement, Åska presents a burlier ebike
1/5
For daily commutes that involve more than just smooth pavement, Åska presents a burlier ebike
Åska will offer its bike in three different colors on launch
2/5
Åska will offer its bike in three different colors on launch
Åska builds a rugged frame out of 7020 high-strength aluminum
3/5
Åska builds a rugged frame out of 7020 high-strength aluminum
Enjoy a commuter on weekdays and an adventure ebike on weekends
4/5
Enjoy a commuter on weekdays and an adventure ebike on weekends
With its 29-in wheels, enduro front and rear suspension and hydraulic discs, the Åska bike is a speedy commuter built for rough road and dirt
5/5
With its 29-in wheels, enduro front and rear suspension and hydraulic discs, the Åska bike is a speedy commuter built for rough road and dirt
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A full-suspension electric 29er built for the urban jungle, the Belgian-designed Åska may look like the latest electric light motorcycle, but a Gates carbon belt drive and Pinion gearbox keep your feet and calves engaged. The rugged, mountain bike-inspired build is designed to eat up anything the city and surrounds can throw at it, while the modular design lets you gear up for your day and swap in new components as old ones wear down and become obsolete.

Powering straight through manhole steam, leaping a pothole, weaving through the early-morning bumper-to-bumper and hard-turning onto a loose dirt shortcut that leads right to the back of your office – if your commute has any elements even vaguely similar to that, the Åska ebike was built for you. The 29 x 2.4-in Schwalbe knobby road/off-road tires, full-suspension setup, hydraulic disc brakes and burly, sharp-angled aluminum frame just scream "high-powered e-mountain bike," but the bike isn't built so much for full-throttle off-roading as taking on the potholes, curbs, stairs, out-of-repair concrete, park paths and other rough obstacles of city living. In the words of its creators, it's a "super-commuter all-road adventurer."

For daily commutes that involve more than just smooth pavement, Åska presents a burlier ebike
For daily commutes that involve more than just smooth pavement, Åska presents a burlier ebike

In terms of drivetrain, Åska splits up the motor and transmission, tasking the 1,200-W Neodrives hub motor with driving the rear wheel directly and installing the Pinion C 1.6 internal gearbox in the meaty mid-frame to blend in pedal input through a Gates Carbon belt drive with spring-loaded tensioner. Pinion designed the C 1.6 for use with a rear motor, which it says cuts down on powertrain wear and tear while delivering optimal power by converting pedal force through the transmission ahead of motor boost. The 950-Wh battery block in the down tube keeps the motor running for over 60 km (37 miles) of full-blown 45-km/h (28-mph) top-speed commuting and much more when dialed back to more modest pedal-assist levels.

As for the suspension, the Åska packs in 130 mm of front travel by way of a Formula Selva C enduro mountain bike fork and 70 mm of rear cushion through a single-pivot dual-bearing setup with Öhlins TTX1 Air trunnion shock. The rugged Schwalbe tires clinging to 29-in enduro rims roll over smaller obstacles with ease, while the Formula four-piston enduro hydraulic disc brakes provide confident stopping. Fenders over top each wheel prevent unidentified road muck from becoming breakfast.

With its 29-in wheels, enduro front and rear suspension and hydraulic discs, the Åska bike is a speedy commuter built for rough road and dirt
With its 29-in wheels, enduro front and rear suspension and hydraulic discs, the Åska bike is a speedy commuter built for rough road and dirt

The bike shines through winter and extra-early/late commutes with a dual-lamp Busch & Müller light system that throws 100 Lux per lamp out in front of the bike. The available luggage rack on the other end lets riders secure briefcases, messenger bags, panniers or whatever else needs to come along on the ride ahead.

Åska says that while its aluminum frame is built to be the hard-wearing dual-wheel tank it looks like, the components are meant to be swapped and upgraded as needed or desired. It imagines that as technology advances and better, more modern components become available, buyers can upgrade with the latest parts rather than having to replace the entire bike to keep up. In particular, it notes improving battery technology that could lead to more powerful packs of the same weight delivering much better range and performance down the line.

Åska builds a rugged frame out of 7020 high-strength aluminum
Åska builds a rugged frame out of 7020 high-strength aluminum

Åska plans to build its frames and assemble its bikes in Europe, sourcing European-made components wherever possible. It is only offering the single spec with aforementioned components at launch, along with three color options and the optional rear rack. Preorders for the €8,999 (approx. US$10,525) bike are available now, and Åska intends to begin delivering the first bikes in the second quarter of 2022 through a European network of speed-pedelec dealers. It does offer test rides but currently only in home country cities of Flanders and Brussels.

Source: Åska

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4 comments
4 comments
gonk
Look, I get that this is a fancy ebike, and we're mostly in the early stages of e-bikes, so things are expensive, but this is ridiculous. I could literally buy 3-5 motorcycles for this price.
Lucky2BHere
Conceptually, a total home run. Realistically, this is only for those who are looking for ways to spend more money than they need. I really, really like this thing, but would consider myself an idiot for buying it regardless of how financially comfortable I was, considering all the other $10K alternatives for personal, low-impact transportation.
PAV
For 10k I would want it to have a front window, doors, and a sunroof.
WB
10k 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣