First thoughts were - I thought it had already been learned that ‘proprietary’ doesn’t always play well with e-bikes (see: VanMoof). OK so this isn’t strictly an e-bike, as pedaling seems optional… so its some new form of mobility (looking at you Segway).
The form is pretty OK. I like the big simple tubes. Do wonder about how well it will fit various sized users. $4500 is a lot of cash but people burn well more than that for e-mtb’s now. But who’s the user for this, and why is it better or remove barriers or open up new markets?
The primary job of this seems to be to bring the Rivian “form factor” into biking. They succeed on that account. What else?
Ergonomics, user centered design, sexyness and material refinement seem to be “also” runs. Thus the brand name? Let’s make also a bike? I would have been more content to have a designey coffee machine, styled in that direction.
I wish they would stop calling these thing bikes, its a scooter. I’m sure there is some regulatory bullshit thing they get around by doing so. But at 28mph, these should never be in a bike lane or on the side of the road. They should take the lane and go with traffic.
As for the design, meh. BMW’s electric scooter is for more pleasant. This at best is schizophrenic, Frankenstein at worst.
@iab having worked on an e-bike a few years back I believe the big thing that gets them that bicycle classification is the moving pedals…. though it seems to get pretty flimsy with some of these heavy (and fast) ones that anyone would be hard pressed to purely pedal. Of course California has neatly put them into classifications which are helpful: What Is an E-Bike? A Guide to California E-Bike Classifications. - CalBike
I get the classifications, they are poor. The weight and gearing on Rivian’s bike would have it barely move with a lot of effort when pedaling alone. I bet your average person would give up within 100 yards and walk it if the battery died.
Again, this is my own personal rant, a class 3 and probably a class 2, ain’t bikes. They should not be in bike lanes, they aren’t safe. And they are many communities that ban them from bike lanes. But the very intentional styling by Rivian, and others, makes it look like a “bike” and then there is absolutely no enforcement. Your average person won’t see a difference between this and a real bike. The design is deceptive and a complete failure.
So don’t call them bikes, maybe an E-ped, like an old-school moped. A PC50 (which no one ever pedaled from more than 100 yards) would never be allowed in a bike lane, and it looks like it does not belong. Great design compared to the Rivian POS.
Just like whether “product designers” should be called something else and stole our titles, the ship of “does this not belong on the bike path” has sailed. I agree with this doesn’t have much to warrant calling it a “bike” versus scooter except cranks …why not forego the cranks entirely and make the whole thing simpler, and geez inverted forks are definitely saying moto. But daily I see throttle driven e-bikes, electric scooters, the middle wheel skateboards, and the Wizard of Idiot single-wheel e-things whizzing through traffic on the bike paths. The last ones are the worst. Middle age assh***s in full moto body armor riding like total nuts between dogs, babies, and the “acoustic” bikers.
The Also product roadmap also has some skinny little atv’s which owners will probably feel entitled to ride on bike paths as well. And what will be done? Zip, at least here in Seattle.
I don’t mind the forms so much. The tech weighs down the gesture, it’s a bit like some Cake object went tumbling down a river. Are people supposed to have different seats to do different tasks? And with proprietary “we made it all” components, we know where that ends, in the walled garden hubris graveyard.
I hear you @iab and agree… I need to find a pic of one I took a few months ago outside a coffee shop. A really cool bike (of course motorbikes are also called bikes)… but definitely not a bicycle in spite of having moving pedals.
Yes, I’m an old man yelling at clouds. Can we agree to blame product designers for the poor form-factor of these “bikes”.
I would also never buy a proprietary ebike. Even buying a Bosch mid-drive on a Trek/Giant/Cannondale would have me worry about longevity when something goes sideways. Will any of these companies support their tech after 10 years? 5 years? I’m too old to MacGyver (notice the old-man reference) a battery after replacements are long gone after 2 years. This gets into another yelling-at-the-clouds rant of dispoasable crap. I’ll save that for another thread.
