Velotric Nomad 2 review: A fat-tire ebike ready for casual cruising

The Velotric Nomad 2 is a well-polished fat-tire electric bike. At $1999, it comes in at a fairly low price, especially for one kitted out with accessories and boasting ingress protection, ISO, UL certifications. Top all that off with a powerful motor, a big battery, front and seat suspension, and integrated with Apple Find My, and you’ve got a rather exciting bike.

The Nomad 2’s beefy, fat-tire design won’t be for everyone. It’s heavy to move and not quite as nimble as some car-weaving, city riders might like. But its ability to tackle various terrain, its low-effort and relaxed riding, and its long range make it a compelling option for riders looking for something of an SUV ebike. You could spend a bit more for the Himiway A7 Pro and get a full-suspension design and mid-drive motor, but you’d miss out on some of the smarts, and that bike's thinner tires won’t be as ready to ride through muck and sand.

Velotric Nomad 2 review: Price and availability

The Velotric Nomad 2 is currently available in the US for the recommended retail price of $1999. It comes in step-thru or high-step design in both a regular size (for riders 5’2-5’11”) and a large size (for riders 5’10-6’5”). The step-thru model comes in four different colors while the high-step is limited to two colors. Velotric ships direct to consumers for free in the contiguous 48 states.

Velotric Nomad 2 review: specifications

• Weight: 34kg/ 75Ibs
• Range: up to 65mi (105km)
• Charging time: ~5 hours
• Gears: 7
• Power assist modes: 5
• Max user weight: 229kg/ 505lbs.
• Power: 750W
• Water rating: IPX6/7

Velotric Nomad 2 review: Design and build quality

The Velotric Nomad 2 sports a fairly typical design of big, fat-tire ebikes with its meaty downtube, deeply sloped top-tube, and gigantic 26x4-inch knobby tires. Velotric has done excellent work with the design, keeping welds fairly clean and slapping on a shimmering paint job. It has even kept the many cables cleanly wrapped and routed through the frame, avoiding the rats nest that can plague many ebikes. Where the Nomad 2 really sets itself up for success is in just how decked out it is.

At just about every corner, you’ll see the Nomad 2 boasting some exciting componentry. To start, it aims to offer a cushioned ride with 100mm hydraulic suspension from the front fork, a plush saddle, and a linkage-driven suspension seatpost. With an adjustable handlebar stem and quick release seatpost, making adjustments to riding height and position is easy.

The bike also comes kitted for commuting. Both wheels are covered in large fenders to keep you dry, and the frame has IPX6 water ingress protection. Each wheel also has a wide reflector securely installed. The handlebars are capped with ergonomic grips.. A heavy-duty cargo rack sits above the rear wheel. A sturdy kickstand is attached. There’s a USB port so you can wire up your phone for charging (or an extra headlight). The rear chainstay comes with a pre-applied protector.

The front and rear of the bike have bright, integrated lighting that runs off the bike’s battery. And to top it off, the rear light includes functioning turn signals and the brake light flashes brighter when the brake levers are pulled.

The cockpit is well equipped. Aventon provides robust controls for the ebike all within easy reach of the left hand with a control cluster. This lets you manage the turn signals, assist settings, headlight, and various modes and info displays for the 3.5-inch color screen. Velotric includes a quality paddle throttle that’s easy to use, taking only a simple push forward with the thumb to engage – much like a trigger shifter for the bike's gears. This throttle style proves superior to the basic thumb throttles I’ve seen on many ebikes, which often require an insecure grip and awkward thumb movement to employ.

The right side of the handlebar includes the bike’s trigger shifter for its 8-speed drivetrain. It’s only a Shimano Acera groupset, but that’s not the bottom of the barrel. The rear fun comes from the motor system anyway.

The Nomad 2 offers a 750-watt rear hub mutter with 90Nm of torque. That’s powered by a considerable 705.6Wh battery (IPX7 rated and UL2271 certified no less). Velotric provides support for cadence and torque sensing – the latter being great for natural responsiveness. And the aforementioned throttle provides effortless riding. With support for Class 2 (20mph on throttle) and Class 3 (28mph with pedal-assist) modes, the bike is ready for zippy rides.

It also has the braking hardware to handle the kind of speeds the bike is capable of. You’ll find dual-piston, hydraulic disc brakes in the front and back of the bike. The rear gets 180mm rotors while the front, which is responsible for the most stopping power, has upgraded 203mm rotors.

The bike's battery slots into the bottom of the downtube and is locked in place with a key. It can be tricky to get at given the tight clearance between the downtube and front wheel. Thankfully, Velotric has designed a smart mechanism: the key releases the battery partway but doesn’t simply drop it from the bike; instead a small latch completes the release. The battery can be charged while installed on the bike through the charging port on the right hand side of the bike, or it can be charged off the bike.

Velotric Nomad 2 review: special features

The Nomad 2 features a host of smart capabilities that go beyond the basics of an ebike. With a single button, the bike can engage a low-speed walking mode that powers up the motor to help you push the bike up a hill. Its speed limits can be adjusted: useful if you want to conserve power or keep your kids from riding it too fast. The bike supports customization of its brake lights, letting you run them as blinking or static lights. And the Nomad 2 has integration for Apple Find My and Apple Health, so you can easily track your bike's location if it’s lost and have your rides added to your activities in Apple Health.

Velotric Nomad 2 review: Performance

The Velotric Nomad 2 is great at what it’s made for. It’s an easy-riding, relaxed bike that’s ready to go all over the place. Its motor power can zip right along with city traffic or boost the bike up light hills and rough terrain. And with a large battery, it can go on short, zippy jaunts or long pleasure cruises.

Its big, cushy saddle isn’t ideal for serious pedalling, but it doesn’t get in the way of a leisurely ride, and it’s oh-so soft to sit on. That helps too, since the upright riding position puts most of my weight into the saddle. Combined with the front fork, the Nomad 2 provides a very comfortable ride that – though not immune to the occasional jolt from a large bump – smooths out most of the bumps on the road.

The motor is almost perfectly quiet. In my riding, outside of operating at maximum power settings, I never heard the motor over the sound of the tires. That’s great when you want to enjoy the outdoors.

The brakes offer plenty of stopping power as well. Even though my weight and the bike combined to well over 300 pounds, the brakes were happy to bring us to a halt from 20mph in about a car’s length. That’s an important consideration for city riding. The headlight and brake lights also helped make for safer rides where I didn’t have to worry about whether my headlight had battery or not. While I don’t know if any drivers noticed or respected my turn signals, I find they’re a smart inclusion on any city commuter.

The battery life of the Nomad 2 is solid, but hinges ultimately on usage. With the bike set into its Eco mode and the Torque assist setting pegged at 3 – its middle setting – the bike still felt plenty responsive and was happy to cruise up to 20mph without much effort on my part. And at that level, I saw the battery consistently on track for roughly 40 miles of range.

Taking things up a few notches, with the bike in its Turbo mode and Torque set to max, the motor simply ripped, easily boosting me up to the bikes top speeds with almost effortless pedalling on my part, but I also watched as 10% of the remaining charge slipped away after just 1.6 miles of use. Across several rides with almost exclusive use of the throttle, I averaged closer to just 16 miles of range.

When it’s time to up, the bike’s 3-amp charger helps cut down on charge times. With a 14.6Ah battery, it should only take about 5 hours to recharge the battery from fully depleted.

Velotric Nomad 2 review: Verdict

The Velotric Nomad 2 asks a modest price for a very respectable bike. The nature of a high-speed, long-range, fat tire ebike means it won’t make sense for everyone, but it proves excellent within its niche. There’s plenty of motor power to get up and go, and the battery can carry even heavy riders a long range without much effort.

Between the beefy tires, front suspension, suspension seat post, cushioned saddle, and upright riding position, the Nomad 2 makes for an incredibly relaxed ride as well. Add in the quality build, smart features, and host of commuter-friendly accessories that come standard, and you get a really well-rounded bike for $2,000.