Frey Bike recently announced a new series of pedal-assist mountain bikes aimed at finding the perfect balance between high-end specs and an affordable price tag. The first ebikes in the range are the full-suspension Neo and Neo Pro.
Frey's Voyager line of e-MTBs start at around US$4,500, and for that kind of money riders get a 500-W (900 watts peak) Bafang mid-mount motor, a 672-Wh downtube-integrated battery, Rockshox suspension front and back, 27.5-inch alloy rims with chunky Maxxis tires, Magura four-piston brakes and a SRAM gearset. The roughly $7,500 Beast model bumps motor power up to a peak of 1,800 watts and has enough battery for up to 120 km (74.5 miles) on the trails.
For the Evolve Neo bikes, the company has opted for a 250-W (580-W peak) Bafang M510 mid-mount for 95 Nm (70 lb.ft) of torque, cadence support up to 120 RPM and a top pedal-assist speed of 40 km/h (25 mph), plus the ability to tune the riding experience using a companion mobile app running on a Bluetooth-paired smartphone. A rectangular downtube is home to a 672-Wh battery for up to 100 km (62 miles) of per-charge range.
They're built around a 6061 aluminum alloy frame in e-MTB geometry, which contributes to an overall bike weight of 26 kg (57 lb), while the ebike has a maximum payload capacity of 120 kg (264.5 lb). They both ride on 27.7-inch double-wall alloy rims wrapped in Maxxis IKON 2.8-inch-wide mountainbike tires, but sport slightly different suspension, brakes and mechanical drivetrain.
The Neo model comes with a Rockshox Recon air-suspension fork offering 150 mm of travel that's paired with a Rockshox Monarch RL 200x57 rear shock. Stopping power is provided by Tektro HD E730 hydraulic disc brakes with 203-mm rotors front and back. And there's a SRAM X5 nine-speed gearset.
The Neo Pro features a Rockshox Yari air-suspension fork with 160 mm of travel and the same Rockshox rear shock as its series sibling. Braking is upgraded to Magura MT5e and riders get treated to two more gears courtesy of the SRAM NX drivetrain.
The Evolve Neo e-MTBs are available now in blue, white or pink. The Neo is priced at $2,980, while the Pro model comes in at $3,580.
Product page: Evolve Neo/Neo Pro
Price: $3,000-3,500. The authors and editors at New Atlas clearly live in an entirely different demographic than I.
Simply because a company happens to offer an eBike at $7,500… very definitely does not make this model “affordable” in the average consumer sense.