After 92 years away, Ariel is back in the world of cycling with the Dash e-bike

Automotive brand Ariel, which is behind cars such as the Atom and Nomad has released the Dash, a titanium/carbon fibre hybrid electric bicycle.

The Dash is not the brand’s first foray into the world of cycling, with the Ariel name steeped in cycling heritage. Back in 1871, Ariel released the ‘Ordinary’ which at the time was the world’s first mass-production vehicle in the shape of a 48-inch front-wheeled penny-farthing.

The brand continued its bicycle manufacturing for over 60 years until it made the move to switch to solely automotive production in 1932.

After a 92-year hiatus, Ariel is back with an all-new e-bike that builds on the brand’s automotive engineering expertise. Using a cocktail of titanium and carbon fibre, the Dash comes in at a claimed 10.9 kilos, putting it firmly at the lighter end of the e-bike spectrum.

The dash is available in two distinct builds, with urban and adventure builds catering to the individual needs of different riders. Although the bikes both use the same titanium chassis, they sport different frame geometry, drivetrain, and specifications that the brand says are “aimed to suit the handling characteristics, riding positions and use scenarios of each model”.

Mahle X20 and X35+ Motors

The Dash Urban is a city-focused road bike that uses single-speed, belt-drive technology to deliver a simple and easy riding experience with a power-assisted range of up to 45 miles (72 kilometres), or 80 miles (129 kilometres) with the range extender.

The Dash Adventure is an all-road/gravel bike fitted with a 1×12 drivetrain. The Adventure build is claimed to be able to provide up to 50 miles (80 kilometres) of power-assisted riding and 95 miles (153 kilometres) with the range extender.

Powering the bike is taken care of by Mahle, with the Urban using the X35+ that offers 250 watts of power and 40Nm of torque, whilst the Adventure gets the higher torque X20 motor that can provide 55Nm of torque, making it more suited to off-road riding.

Interestingly, as far as battery capacity is concerned, the Urban has the upper hand over the Adventure with a 250Wh battery, whereas the Adventure has a slightly smaller 236Wh battery. Both bikes can be fitted with a 173Wh range extender that can be bought as an optional extra with the bike.

Build kits and pricing

Much like the brand’s automotive catalogue, the Dash can be configured to the customer’s requirements through a series of optional extras including the finish of the bike, brakes, handlebars, mudguards and integrated lights. If you are interested in specifying the bike to your exact taste, then this can be done directly with Ariel upon order.

As standard, the Dash Urban comes with a Gates single-speed belt drive transmission pairing a 50-tooth chainring with a 20-tooth sprocket. This comes after the brand evaluated 20 different gearing combinations in respect to different city topographies.

With the assistance of the motor, getting away and up to speed at traffic lights and junctions should mean that needing a low enough gear to accelerate is less of a consideration, allowing a slightly larger gear to be used.

Belt drives are becoming increasingly popular on commuter-style bikes, offering up to 50,000 miles of service-free riding.

The Dash Adventure uses a more traditional gearing setup, with Shimano’s 12-speed GRX820 groupset being called upon. As standard, the bike comes with a 40-tooth chainring and a 10-45-tooth cassette aiming to provide ample gearing for both road and gravel adventures, with the motor able to help if riders find themselves running out of gears.

The bikes are available in four frame sizes with the Urban retailing for £8,320 + VAT and the Adventure retailing for £9,160 + VAT. For more information on the bikes and the optional extras that can be specified check out the bike on Ariel’s website.

What do you make of this return to cycling from Ariel, is it hot or not? Let us know in the comments below. For all the latest from the world of bike tech make sure to check out the tech news section of the GCN website.