Explorer Peak

I purchased my Explorer Peak May of 2025. Received it mid July of that year. The rides started off good, but then I started to receive the E914 error from my battery. I notified ARI customer support, they had some suggestions, didn’t help. Eventually, they did provide me with a new battery harness. While I was disassembling to replace, found the original battery harness had a severe pinch in it, ok, maybe that was the problem. First ride, went well, after that, the E914 came back. Unfortunately, I do a lot of travel for my work, sometimes, I am able to take my bike, others, no time or bad area. So troubleshooting is sporadic. Anyway, I have narrowed the issue down to battery or motor. I talked to a shop family with Shimano electric drive, they said Shimano consideres the EP9 an unrepairable part. If anything goes wrong, new motor, which is up to you.

First of all, Ari makes fantastic bikes.
Second, "no one" seems to make premium fat tire bikes anymore which is a major bummer because here in Michigan we are full of sugar sand in the summer and snow in the winter. Ari is full-on with fat tire offerings, must be the Utahn terrain or something.
Third, imagine my surprise and delight when my buddy told me the Ari Peak Explorer was on sale!
Alas, they were completely sold out. But Kristy at Ari calmed me down and scoured the factory and the showroom and the demo bikes and found one for me. I thought I would need a large but she did the custom fit thing and suggested a medium (she was right!).
Unfortunately it arrived with a broken battery key-release mechanism. So here's where the rubber meets the trail: they sent me a new mechanism pronto and now I am riding and I'm super happy with this beautiful machine. I wanted the cheaper Comp version, only the Elite was available but man, I am happy with the upgrades, especially the shifting.
Other people besides Kristy helped me but I don't know their names. Thanks to everyone!

After putting a thousand miles on the Explorer Peak (fat tire E-bike) - most of that on some pretty rugged terrain in the mountains of southern Utah - this is my opinion of it: the best, most funnest bike ever made. It will literally go anywhere your skill level can handle. It's a blast to ride - lightweight, powerful, rugged, stable. It is so much fun to ride that I find myself constantly seeking new challenges. I take my dogs on a 4-6 mile daily run, and I let them choose the route - whatever deer trail, cow trail, or foot path they fancy. The path is blocked by football/baskteball sized rocks? So what - ride over them! Near vertical ascent? No problem. Dropping into a dry wash full of soft sand and loose gravel? Bring it!! I keep the tires a bit soft to cushion the bumps, look for the path of least resistance, and just go. This thing will go anywhere, and ride over just about anything. Worth noting that I'm in my 60's, so these aren't the casual boasts of teenage machismo. I've taken my share of tumbles, and learned the hard way to gear up with full body armor in addition to a helmet. I look forward to our morning rides every day. I also find it fantastic fun riding around the Playa at desert music festivals like Burning Man, etc. It's great for slow riding on any terrain, the balance is amazing.

Maintenance-wise, I've found that it does need regular maintanance every 300 miles or so if you're gonna ride it hard. The chain stretches, brakes wear, etc under heavy use. I've always found the repair rates reasonable, and the service department is great - they really know their stuff. One problem I ran into was the tires are wider than industry standard, so it was difficult finding a rear rack wide enough to accomodate the 4.5" wide tires. Pretty much my only complaint is that it tops out at 20 MPH, which only comes into play when I'm racing the dogs down a paved bike path. I've never triggered that limitation on the trails. Overall I give this bike 6 stars. If you're gonna ride it, you'll never reget the expense.

We spend the winters in Baja and the fat tire Explorer Peak e-bike is AWESOME for beach sand, washes, rocky, sandy backroads, two-track "roads" and trails. We are the envy of the old school e-bikers that stick to hard pack sand with their heavy frames and lack of suspension. The Explorer Peak is just plain fun to ride because it handles great and rolls over everything out there. Also a really fun bike for camping trips to S. Utah tackling rocky trails, sandy washes and even cruising around town. I don't know why there is such an emphasis on snow with these bikes and little said about sand and back country riding. I find the bike build and quality to be outstanding for the Explorer Peak Elite.

I am so impressed with the quality of my Explorer Peak Comp. It was perfect out of the box. All I had to do was put the front tire on, adjust the seat height, charge the battery, and it was ready to ride! The shifting out of the box was set up perfectly, no adjustments were necessary. The Manitou Mastodon Pro suspension fork is worth the investment! It really smooths out the bumps like butter, especially if you like to ride more technical and rugged trails. The entire experience from order to delivery was great. Everybody I spoke with at ARI seemed really invested in making this the best bike purchase experience you will ever have, i.e. ... they were personal, professional and caring!! Great job ARI!!!