The Priority Embark made me a believer in electric bikes

If you spend enough time riding bikes in New York or San Francisco, you’ll probably notice a growing trend: electric bikes, otherwise known as “e-bikes,” are starting to pop up everywhere. 

E-bikes are known for reducing some of the hard work required to ride a traditional bike. They make it much easier to climb hills, pedal against strong gusts of wind, and travel long distances without completely exhausting yourself — or worse — showing up to your final destination a sweaty mess.

The Priority Embark is basically a next-generation electric bike built for daily commuters. It’s made of several extremely durable components, all chosen for one reason: they can take a beating and last thousands of miles without requiring maintenance.

You’ll find many of the same components on the Embark that you’ll find across many popular e-bikes on the market: a battery, transmission, motor, and brakes. In this review, we’ll go over the benefits of each component used on the Embark, and why they tend to perform better than any e-bike rentals currently available in major cities — and most others you can purchase.

But before we get started, let’s get one thing out of the way: why should you buy an electric bike if you can just rent one in most major cities? 

The answer is twofold: First, it’s the same reason that you’d buy a regular bicycle over renting one. When you own a bike, you can literally travel door-to-door, which is inherently more convenient. Plus, the bikes you can buy generally perform better than the ones you can rent from a bike-share program.

The second part of this equation is that e-bikes are still incredibly new to most cities and usually difficult to find. In San Francisco, the Uber-owned Jump bike rental program has only 500 electric bikes available to rent. Similarly, New York’s Citi bike rental program recently grounded all 1,000 e-bikes due to brake problems. So, even if you prefer to join a bike-rental program, you will most likely have a hard time finding an e-bike when you need it. 

With all of this in mind, here’s exactly how the Priority Embark performed during about six months of use, and why, considering its hefty price tag, we consider it a phenomenal addition to almost any bike collection.

Virtually indestructible

The Priority Embark is thoughtfully crafted using some of the most reliable components on the market. It’s made to take a beating in all weather conditions (yes, including rain and snow), and all of the components should last for thousands of miles and several years to come. Everything is sealed on the bike, and it uses materials that don’t rust.

The ultra-durability of the components really starts with the Gates Carbon Drive belt drive, which replaces the metal chain you’d find on a typical bike. Unlike a traditional chain, the rubber belt does not move. Instead, it stays in a fixed position on the cogs, similar to a single-speed bike. This ultimately means that there are fewer moving parts, and thus, it requires less maintenance over time.

To make this point more clear: Most of the bikes you  can buy at Walmart or other major retailers include a big, heavy piece of metal near the rear wheel called a “chain derailleur” that moves the metal chain to different cogs when you shift gears. That’s what causes the kerplunk! sound whenever you shift.

Unlike a metal chain, the belt drive does not move. It stays in one position, regardless of the gear you’re in. Its ability to remain stationary is enabled by another critical component on the bike: the NuVinci gearless hub in the rear wheel.

This is another area the Priority Embark really shines. The gears are controlled by a system called a continuous variable transmission (CVT), or a “gearless” transmission, which is the same type of system you’ll find in newer, fuel-efficient cars like a Honda Civic, Nissan Maxima, or Toyota Corolla. It ultimately means that the bike doesn’t have a fixed number of gears, but instead offers a continuous range of gear ratios — meaning when you shift, its a smooth range of resistance.

In simple terms, it means that you don’t have to choose one of the gears like you would on, say, a 21-speed bike. Instead, you can select precisely the amount of resistance you want at any moment.

The upside is that you can shift smoothly uphill, without feeling the jolt of a metal chain jumping off the rail and into a new gear. You simply move the shifter until you feel comfortable.

Of course, as with all large mechanical systems like this, there’s a small tradeoff. The downside of a CVT is that it’s heavier than a normal rear wheel hub, weighing about 7 pounds. But since this happens to be an electric bike, with an electric motor that does all the hard work for you, the added weight makes almost no difference to the performance.

Powerful motor and battery

We’ve talked about the belt drive and CVT used on the Priority Embark — but none of these components would matter much if the bike weren’t powered by an excellent motor. For that, the Priority Embark uses the Bosch Active Line Plus, one of the best available electric bike motors for daily commuters. 

Bosch is known in the e-bike community for having repurposed its Mercedes-Benz power steering systems for use on pedal-assist electric bikes (i.e. ones without throttles that measure the amount of force applied by your legs and make it easier for you to pedal). Now, after several generations and many refinements, the motors have been optimized specifically for long-distance bike rides and better responsiveness to pedaling.

The main point on the development of this motor is that it’s extremely rugged, durable, and includes a torque sensor that is good enough to run on a high-end car. This means that as a pedal-assist motor, it’s about as good as it gets. Plus, and maybe most importantly, the motor is backed by over 1,000 certified support centers — so if anything were to go wrong, you could easily get help.

The Bosch Active Line Plus is a mid-drive motor, meaning that it’s positioned in the center the bike, connected to the pedals, rather than in the rear or front wheel. This ultimately gives riders more control because it measures the amount of torque (energy from your legs) directly at the point of contact. What it allows you to do is have an incredibly precise control over your bike — gently nudging you along in traffic or moving quickly when you need to accelerate fast.

Keeping control of the bike is super easy: To move fast, you pedal faster. To move slowly, you easy off the pedals. You essentially control it like a normal bike — but without needing to exert as much energy when it’s time to accelerate. The motor is honestly incredible, and I have no doubt that more major bike-makers will adopt similar systems in the near future.

Final thoughts 

The Priority Embark has quickly become one of the most beloved and prized possessions in my home. 

In previous years, I’d bike to work maybe once a week during a good month. but more often than not, I was dissuaded by the hassle and the amount of energy it would take to trek to work. It’s almost always been easier to take the subway. Since the Priority Embark entered my life, it’s been much different. Now, it’s the first mode of transportation I go to when I need to get  somewhere fast.