• Lightweight titanium and carbon fibre e-bike available as Urban or Adventure model
• Engineered ground up by Ariel to exacting automotive and aerospace standards
• Celebrates the world’s first series production vehicle, built in 1871 – the Ariel Ordinary
• Marks a return to bicycle manufacturing for Ariel after 92 years
• Only 10.9 kilogrammes overall weight
• Ultra clean design with in-frame battery and no visible hoses or cables
• Multi material frame made from 3D printed titanium, titanium tube, and carbon fibre
• Carbon fibre forks
• 250W 55Nm Mahle hub motor
• ‘My Smartbike’ app integrates Dash functions, navigation, and performance log
• Integrated battery with up to 50-mile range
• Battery range extender provides up to 95-mile range
• Hand assembled and signed-off by a single Ariel technician
• Priced from £8,320 + VAT

Images: Download Ariel Dash images here

The result of five years’ research & development, intensive design and automotive-level engineering, the Dash was developed by the same in-house Ariel team responsible for the iconic Atom and Nomad cars, the Ace motorcycle and the HIPERCAR EV. Drawing on 25 years of high-performance automotive expertise and utilising technologies that evolved from Ariel’s engineering innovation, the Dash is a completely new, ground up design. The bike showcases ultra-lightweight materials, state-of-the-art technology, and reflects Ariel’s obsessive attention to detail in every part of the design.

With an ethos and history of delivering deeply involving driving experiences on four wheels and two, the Ariel Dash embodies Ariel’s core principles of functionality, performance, and hand-built quality to give the best and most enjoyable riding experience possible. As with all Ariels, the Dash reflects the company’s core values of SERIOUS FUN.

Ariel Dash – Summary
The Ariel Dash is designed, engineered and tested to automotive standards. Available in two distinct forms – the Dash Urban and the Dash Adventure – both feature titanium / carbon frames. Different frame geometry, drivetrain, and specifications are employed to suit the handling characteristics, riding positions and use scenarios of each model.

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, or 80 miles with the range extender.

The Dash Adventure is a go-anywhere road / trail / gravel bike fitted with chain-drive and 12 gears to enable riders to tackle any terrain. The Adventure will deliver around 50 miles of power-assisted riding and 95 miles with the range extender.

The frame weighs just 1.3 kilos and is made from a mix of titanium tube and carbon fibre with 3D-printed titanium nodes at every joint. Hand-welded and chemically-bonded, the frame exemplifies the unique Ariel mix of cutting-edge technology coupled with handmade skills and craftsmanship.

Ariel’s ‘Less is More’ approach is underlined by there being no visible wiring, hydraulic hoses, or cables on the bike. All brake, gear and control systems are routed through the frame internally, as well as through the forks and handlebars, resulting in an ultra-clean and efficient design. The multi-material frame is coupled with carbon fibre forks and lightweight components throughout.

The Dash Urban and Dash Adventure both use Mahle powertrains, of different specification, with 250W rear hub motors, internally mounted 36-volt battery packs and the option of additional range extender batteries.

The Dash will be made to order for each individual customer. Built alongside the Atom and Nomad cars at the Ariel factory in Crewkerne, Somerset, each bike – as with the cars – will be made by a single technician, who will place their nameplate on the bike only when they are satisfied with the build. This tailored and hand-made approach enables Ariel to focus on skilled craftmanship and personalised service, staying true to the company’s reputation as the ‘Savile Row of the Automotive World’.

At just 10.9 kilos and with an almost 100-mile range the Ariel Dash sets new standards in usability, comfort and performance for e-bikes.

Ariel Bicycles – the world’s first production vehicles
The Ariel Dash e-bike celebrates not only the first Ariel, but the very first series production vehicle in the world – the Ariel Ordinary – introduced more than 150 years ago in 1871.

Known now as a Penny-Farthing or High Wheel, the Ordinary was designed by engineer and entrepreneur James Starley and had a 48-inch front wheel, revolutionary tensioned wire spoked wheels, a lightweight hollow steel tube frame, and was the first to use rubber tyres. At just 23 kilos the Ariel was both fast and light.

Acknowledged as the father of the bicycle industry, Starley went on to develop and patent the tangentially spoked wheel still used today, the differential and rack and pinion steering, as well as developing and perfecting chain drive.

The Ariel Ordinary was at the very beginning of a revolution in transport that quickly developed through bicycles, powered tricycles, quadricycles and into early cars.

Simon Saunders, Director of Ariel: “The importance of the Ariel Ordinary cannot be underestimated. It is essentially the first mass production vehicle of any kind and marked the very beginning of the automotive industry. We’re lucky to have Ordinary number 47 in our collection, from the first year of production in 1871, and I think Starley would be impressed by the technology used in making the Dash, particularly printing titanium from a computer.”

From the very first Ordinary, Ariel continued bicycle production for more than 60 years with gents, ladies and racing cycles, breaking many records along the way.

In 1873, the first ever hour speed record, possibly the first speed record, was set by James Moore riding an Ariel Ordinary 14½ miles (23.33 kilometres) in an hour at the Molineux Grounds (now the Molineux Stadium) in Wolverhampton. By 1893 Ariel factory rider J W Stocks had become the first rider to exceed 25 miles in one hour on an Ariel, then increasing the world record to 32½ miles in an hour in 1897, as well as winning the Catford Gold Vase with a score of 296 miles 1,715 yards in 12 hours averaging nearly 25mph.

The last Ariel bicycles were manufactured in 1932 when Ariel turned their attention solely to motorcycle production. Today, the return by Ariel to bicycle manufacture after a break of 92 years marks the completion of an engineering circle that stretches back more than a century and a half. Despite the passing of time the same principles of innovation, engineering, and lightweight manufacturing remain, bringing one of the most revered and historic names in cycling back into production.

Ariel Dash – Frame
At the heart of the Dash is the unique titanium and carbon fibre frame weighing only 1.3kg.

Taking an engineering-first approach to creating the Dash, along with the concept of ‘a Bike for Life’, Ariel selected the optimum material for each part of the frame to maximise benefits to the rider. Theoretical principals were painstakingly and rigorously tested through both simulation, FEA (Finite Element Analysis) and many physical prototypes to arrive at the perfect combination. The final result comprises a mixture of 3D printed titanium nodes, titanium tube, and carbon fibre mouldings that allow Ariel to exactly specify the characteristics for each part of the frame. The result is the very best balance of strength, responsiveness and comfort, while minimising weight in every frame member.

With learning from the Atom Ti project, with its titanium chassis, titanium was chosen as the main frame material due to its strength to weight density – the highest of any metal – coupled with compliance for a supple ride quality. The vibration damping qualities of the frame significantly reduce fatigue for the rider, particularly when compared to aluminium or full carbon frames. As with any Ariel vehicle, lightness results in an improved power-to-weight ratio, which is key to performance, handling and usability.

With no paint, lacquer, or finish of any kind required, titanium automatically forms a layer of Titanium Oxide on its surface around 4 nanometres thick (0.0000001mm) and will never rust or degrade.

The titanium nodes, where frame tubes join at the steering head, bottom bracket, seat post bracket, seat topper and rear dropouts are all made by Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) using SLM (Selective Laser Melting) from Ti-6AL-4V Grade 5 Titanium. Manufactured by RAM3D, the same process is used – on the same Renishaw machines – for printing complex combustion chamber components for space rockets and thrusters for satellites. With the internal cable runs and structural elements required for the Dash these aerospace grade, printed parts allow Ariel to manufacture components that could not be made in any other way. Internal mesh structure means wall thicknesses can be decreased to less than 1mm while maintaining the necessary strength and structural qualities for each component.

Nodes carry torque values, printed in the node, to ensure easy and correct tightening of components when working on or servicing the bike. The Ariel and Dash logos are similarly printed in the nodes. Titanium bolts and fasteners are used throughout the Dash and it is this level of detail that reflects the care that has gone into the design, engineering and build of every Dash.

The titanium nodes are welded, meticulously by hand, in an oxygen free, inert environment to Reynolds 6-4Ti Seamless ELI titanium tubing. Synonymous with bicycle frames since 1897, Reynolds association with Ariel bicycles, as well as Ariel motorcycles, goes back over 120 years during which time Reynolds tubed frames have carried 27 winners of the Tour de France.

The Grade 9 titanium tube is made by Reynolds specifically for the Dash and to lighten the tube further it is ‘butted’, meaning the wall thickness is varied through the length of each tube – thicker where stresses are higher, thinner where they are less. This seemingly small attention to detail, with wall thicknesses varying from 0.90mm to 0.75mm within a single tube can on its own deliver a 24% mass reduction in each tube.

Henry Siebert-Saunders, Managing Director of Ariel: “In our cars, we obsess about every kilogram we can save to produce the most dynamic, communicative, and exciting vehicles. But on the Dash that obsession quickly changed to saving grammes anywhere we could.”

The carbon fibre seat tube and seat post allowed Ariel to ‘tune’ the parts with directional quasi-isotropic layers of material for a combination of lightness, stiffness and comfort between the seat and bottom bracket. The seat tube, which is chemically bonded to the titanium nodes, thus aids power delivery and control while saving further weight. Carbon fibre is also used for the forks, delivering an excellent combination of light weight, stiffness and vibration damping with exceptional torsional rigidity to give better steering feel and quicker turning.

This multi material approach, with a mix of cutting-edge production processes and hand craftsmanship, gave Ariel complete control over every element of the structure and produced the ultimate solution for strength, lightness, comfort, durability, performance and aesthetics. Tested to ISO4210 Standard through multiple cycles the Dash is certified for fatigue and impact as well as overall brake performance.

The frame geometry for the Dash Urban and Dash Adventure differs in a number of fundamental ways and the two models have been carefully designed with each specific use and size of person in mind. Differences in head, seat, and down tube angles as well as chain-stay lengths give the agility and responsiveness required for each model and frame size – quicker turning and agility at low speeds together with ergonomics to suit town and street use on the Dash Urban, and stability at high speed and assured responsiveness to rider inputs both on and off-road from the Dash Adventure.

All cables, hydraulic hoses and wiring are routed internally through the frame, handlebars and forks. This not only results in a unique design and very pure aesthetic, highlighting the materials used, but makes the bike easy to clean, particularly after off-road use.

Ariel Dash – Drive System

Motor
A hub motor was chosen to minimise weight, for better weight distribution and to give direct power delivery to the rear wheel. At only 100mm diameter the Mahle motor is discreet and at just 1,399 grammes is the lightest production e-bike motor available. The motor uses a thru-axle interface giving easy wheel removal for servicing, or in the event of a puncture.

Motor power is the legal maximum at 250w on both models, with the Urban using the Mahle X35+ system and the Adventure featuring the X20 system, giving 40Nm and 55Nm torque respectively.

Battery
Housed in the downtube, the Dash 36V battery (236Wh in the Adventure Mahle X20 system, 250Wh in the Urban Mahle X35+ system) has integral BMS (Battery Management System) and motor control, to minimise wiring, and uses CAN bus digital communication with the rest of the drive and charging system. The 18650 lithium cells, in a 10S/2P formation, reflect those used in the Ariel HIPERCAR. Range extender batteries are available as an option giving a total of 458Wh (Urban) and 407Wh (Adventure) with an 80-mile Urban range and 95-mile Adventure range. The integrated main battery also powers the LED lights, eliminating the need for further batteries and again minimising complication and weight.

Charging
The charger, which plugs into a standard household socket, connects to the Dash above the bottom bracket on the carbon seat tube via a built in charge point. By communicating over the CAN bus network the battery can be charged at different intensities to make charging more efficient and faster. Charge time, from 0 – 100% is just 2.5 hours and to 75% in less than 2 hours. The optional range extender charges to 80% in less than an hour and is connected to the bike via the same charge point, saving weight and avoiding duplication.

Transmission
The Dash Urban features a single speed, Gates polymer toothed belt drive with a 50T front sprocket and 20T rear sprocket, giving a 2.5:1 ratio. Having evaluated some 20 combinations of sprockets, and cross refenced performance against city topographies, Ariel is confident the ratio gives the best performance for on road and town riding. The one-piece belt is very light, silent, completely maintenance free and extremely durable lasting up to 50,000 miles.

The Dash Adventure uses a 12-speed Shimano GRX gearset as standard with a FC – RX820 170mm 40T chainset and CS-M8100 XT cassette. For mixed terrain use the transmission offers optimal gearing for both on and off-road riding. Shift ramp design provides faster smoother shifting and lightweight cassette construction saves weight.

Ariel Dash – Controls

Controls – Manual
Assistance level control, which enables the rider to easily alter power delivery from the motor, is via a single button on the bike or by a Smartphone App. The control button, located on the top tube of the frame, allows for changes in the four levels of motor assistance from none to Level 3 with the highest assistance. Assistance level is shown by a different colour light in the control button. When riding, the control button functions as a charge indicator, changing through four colours then flashing red when battery charge is below 15%. This single button also controls the front and rear lights, or they can be set to come on automatically.

The Dash Adventure additionally has ‘SmartBike’ technology which, with a further level of ‘Smart Mode’, will automatically adjust the assistance to suit road gradient and power requirements to give the optimum level of assistance. A torque and cadence sensor in the bottom bracket feeds information to the drive system, which increases or decreases power automatically as necessary with no need to manually change assistance levels. The efficiencies of Smart Mode also improve the range of the Adventure up to a 95-mile total.

Controls – App
The ’My Smartbike’ App can be used on Android or Apple devices, via Bluetooth, to control power delivery as well as a range of additional functions and displays, including navigation and riding statistics log. The system will also automatically update the Dash to ensure it is using the latest version of software.

Phones can be mounted on the Dash in a secure Quad-Lock holder displaying and recording speed, distance, time, range and battery level. Additionally, the app features AI-powered Mapbox navigation, which can be optimised for cycling routes. Used by BMW, General Motors, and Toyota, the mapping provides turn-by-turn satellite navigation and has full offline routing capability to allow for riding in areas with limited satellite coverage.

Acknowledging the fitness and performance potential of the Dash e-bike, the app also integrates seamlessly with Strava – the world’s leading fitness app used by 100 million athletes. Here, riders can track their journeys, log performance data, explore recommended routes, upload new routes of their own and participate with Strava riding communities.

In addition to this the Dash Adventure can display and record further data including rider input / power plus cadence as well as configuring each level of power for response and reactiveness. With data analysis, feedback on performance, analysis of routes and comparison with previous recorded data, riders can see improvements in their own performance and track the associated health benefits. By using different power modes or setting decreasing levels of assistance the Dash can be used as part of an exercise regime to improve health and well-being.

Controls – General
As standard the Dash Urban has Zipp Vuka aero handlebars allowing internal routing of cables and offering superior aerodynamics. With handgrips angled upward by five degrees the bar gives ideal ergonomics for town riding. The Dash Adventure features FSA A-Wing Pro bars designed specifically for Adventure, Gravel and Cyclocross bikes. With sculpted contact points for ‘hoods’ and ‘drops’ riding positions the bars have 121mm flared drops for better control and clearance when descending. Carbon fibre handlebars are available as options.

Ariel Dash – Components
Specification of the Dash as standard is completed with Aera GR23 wheels and Hope RS4 hubs with Shimano GRX hydraulic brake calipers and 160mm Aztec stainless discs. Optimised for all-season use, the Urban is fitted with lightweight Schwalbe G-One All Round tyres for riding comfort with low vibration and maximum range, while the Adventure has Schwalbe G-One Speed, giving maximum speed and grip on and off road.

Ariel Dash – Options
As with all Ariel vehicles every Dash will be built by one technician to individual customer specification, allowing Ariel to tailor each bike to personal requirements. As well as four frame sizes in both models there are further options of:

• Polished frame
• 173Wh battery range extender
• Aera AR46 carbon wheels
• Hope RX4 monobloc CNC machined four-piston brake calipers
• Hope 160mm floating rotor stainless steel and aluminium discs
• FSA K-Wing AGX carbon handlebars (Adventure)
• Zipp Vuka Bull carbon handlebars (Urban)
• 1UP aluminium pedals
• Quadlock for mobile phone
• Brooks C13 lightweight carbon framed, vulcanised rubber and cotton saddle
• Integrated Supernova E3 Tail Light and Supernova 450 lumen M99 Front Light
• Mudguards
• Tailfin quickly detachable carbon luggage rack
• Tailfin top and pannier bags giving from 18 litres to 62 litres of waterproof luggage

Ariel Dash – Production and price
The Dash is now in production. Find out more at arielmotor.co.uk/ariel-vehicles/dash
The Dash Urban is £8,320 + VAT
The Dash Adventure is £9,160 + VAT