PEGASUS PREMIO NU

New kid on the block

Pegasus is a German brand that is under the same umbrella as Bulls Bikes, but billed as a less-expensive sister brand. They’ve been around since the 1980s, and they make both traditional bikes as well as e-bikes. Whereas Bulls targets athletes with performance-oriented bikes, Pegasus makes bikes for urban riders and commuters. They have spent a lot of time focused on the culture around urban riding. For several years, they have been treating bikes as the transportation of the future, encouraging a culture of riding and advocating for safer streets, etc.

THE BIKE

The Premio line is directed to the touring and trekking market. The Premio Nu is the one offered with the NuVinci continuously variable transmission, or CVT, with a Gates belt drive. The aluminum Premio Nu is available in multiple forms—from a regular diamond frame to this low step-thru version. It’s a very-low step-thru with gusseting to keep the frame from flexing too much. The battery is integrated into the frame, and the cables are mostly internally routed for a very clean look. The Nu comes with fenders, integrated lighting and a very sturdy rear rack.

THE PARTS

This bike is all about comfort. It has a very relaxed, upright riding position, with an adjustable stem to get it set up perfectly the way you like it. You can make the bars higher or further forward with a simple adjustment that requires an Allen wrench.

The SR SunTour fork has enough travel to soak up the bumps in the road, and it has adjustable damping with a really easy lockout lever. For the back of the bike, there’s a wide and highly padded Selle Royal 3D Skingel saddle mounted on a suspension seatpost to keep you safe from rough roads.

Ergon lock-on grips provide a lot of surface area and are very comfortable on long rides. The plastic pedals are likely the cheapest thing on this bike, but they’re big and flat and have grip tape. 

The CVT drivetrain is an interesting choice. To use a Gates belt drive, you need an internal-shifting rear hub to have gears. Or, in this case, a lack thereof, instead providing a glissando range of gearing. You twist the grip on the right side of the bars, and an indicator shows a hill (making pedaling easier but slower) or flat ground (giving you the highest speed) or anywhere in between. The whole drivetrain is set up for virtually zero maintenance and is super silent. The belt will likely never break, but if it does, the frame can separate at the rear of the chainstays to allow installation of a new belt.

Another interesting choice is hydraulic rim brakes from Magura. It’s cheaper to use these than a hydraulic disc system and, if set up right, provides ample stopping power. This bike definitely has that.

The rear rack has no shortage of attachment points for cargo and comes with a spring-loaded holder and an included SKS Rookie tire pump. The rack itself can easily get your stuff to work, and it’s rated to hold up to 55 pounds of cargo, which could even include a child seat.

THE MOTOR 

The Premio Nu comes with a Bosch Performance Line CX motor, the same you’d find in an electric mountain bike, though this bike doesn’t come stock with the e-MTB mode. The CX is the most thrilling of Bosch’s motors, with the highest torque and the strongest “kick” as it comes in. It’s a Class 1 bike, so it provides power to 20 mph.

The sprocket sizes seem unusual, with a smaller one in the front than the one in the rear, but this is necessary, because the CX motor’s sprocket turns 2.5 times for every time the cranks rotate once. 

Because the CX samples everything from input torque to pedal cadence to rear-wheel speed on the order of 1000 times per second, it also senses when you shift, and there’s a nearly imperceptible drop of power to be kinder to the drivetrain as you shift.

The Purion display is compact and integrates the controls into the display. For this model, they’ve gone with a PowerTube battery built into the downtube. It can be removed with a key fairly easily.

WHO IT’S MADE FOR 

The Premio is a good bike for commuters who want a maintenance-free, quiet bike that can carry anything and everything they need for work. It also works well as a touring bike, with lots of creature comforts and great range. 

THE RIDE

Though the range of the NuVinci CVT is fairly small, it still worked well on every hill we threw at it. Pegasus seems to have chosen this wisely. The silence of the system is palpable. The only thing you can hear is the sound of the motor, and unless you’re on the bike, you likely won’t hear it at all. 

It’s nice to know that you don’t have to worry about lubricating your chain or getting grease on your pant leg. A well-designed chain guard also keeps your pants away from the belt. If you’ve ever seen a pant leg get stuck in a belt drive, you know that’s a hard situation to free yourself from.

Everything about the bike is relaxed and comfortable. Long rides aren’t taxing, and with the PowerTube battery, you have the range to ride almost all day on one charge. Cruising the bike down the bike path is really pleasant, because every control on the bike is where you expect it. We did at times wish it was a Class 3 when we were in traffic on bike lanes, but the power to get to 20 mph was exhilarating. There’s a small, included bell that’s a nice touch. It’s much more courteous than yelling at people.

The Schwalbe Marathon tires provide great grip and low-rolling resistance. We love them for their grip, their durability and, at night, for their retro-reflective rim stripes! SKS fenders kept us dry when the street was not.

Day or night, it was nice to have the bright head- and taillights that are integrated and always on. The bright, wide beam is great for seeing at night, and in daylight it makes sure you’ll be seen. There’s some adjustability on the headlight to aim it up or down. 

Our only complaint about the bike is the seatpost. It’s nice, because as a suspension post, it takes the hard bumps out of the road. But because of the way it’s constructed, the saddle can rotate side to side a few degrees, which is just enough to make it feel not quite so sturdy. It is, but it doesn’t necessarily feel that way.

THE VERDICT

This was the very first bike we’ve had to review from Pegasus. It’s near the top of the line, and at $4699, it is no bargain-basement bike. But, it’s a good value with the premium Bosch system, Gates belt and the quality of all the other components.

SPECS

PEGASUS PREMIO NU

Price: $4700

Motor: Bosch Performance Line CX 36V, 250W mid-drive 

Battery: Bosch Powertube, 36V, 500 Wh, lithium-ion

Charge time: 3–4.5 hours

Top speed: 20 mph

Range: 20–50 miles

Drive: Gates CDX Carbon belt, Nuvinci C8 CVT

Brakes: Magura hydraulic rim brakes

Controls: Bosch Purion

Fork: SR Suntour SF18 TR HSI 63mm

Frame: 7005 aluminum

Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 47-622, 29×1.75”

Weight: 65 lb.

Color choices: Dark blue with orange and black highlights

Sizes: S, M, L

www.pegasus-bikes.de

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