Bird is known for its e-scooters and e-bike sharing but it is now going to sell its own designs of e-bikes directly to the public because not every city or town has bike-share programs and a lot of people want e-bikes these days.
The company shares:
They are nicely equipped bikes with a Bafang rear hub motor of 250 watts for Europe and 500 watts for North America, and a 36v/12.8Ah removable battery, with an estimated range of 50 miles. It has a Gates Carbon belt-drive, disc brakes, an aluminum frame, Kenda puncture-resistant tires, and of course, Bluetooth and app connectivity. There is a neat set of gauges built into the frame if you do not want to be looking at your phone while you ride. They are not unreasonably priced for a bike like this at $2,299.
There’s also a “Bird Boost thumb throttle that adds an extra burst of e-acceleration whenever riders need it." In the strange world of American e-bike regulation, if it is a full independent throttle then the bike falls into the Class 2 category, which is banned in certain areas like national parks, where the rules say:
If the throttle boost only works when one is pedaling, then it can be considered Class 1. How anyone can tell them apart is something that I have never figured out. We have asked Bird what class it is and will update when we hear from them.
The bike comes in two models, one with a top tube that seems to be modeled on the VanMoof bikes, where they visually extend the top tube past the head tube and the seat tube.
Stereotypically they show a man riding one of these, and a woman riding the step-through model. After years of the industry trying to end this idea of a “woman’s bike” and get more men on step-throughs because they are safer and easier for older people, this is disappointing; there is no good reason to sell e-bikes with top tubes.
Dutch cycling organization Fietsbond, which wants to make all bikes step-throughs, says “the terms men’s bikes and women’s bikes are outdated” and that “gender-neutral bikes are the future we should be focusing on.” Bird doesn’t say they are for men or women, but the pictures do.
Bird is a serious player in the so-called sharing economy, and it seemed a bit of a leap to go retail, which is a different business model entirely. We asked about it and received a statement from Bird’s chief corporate social responsibility officer Rebecca Hahn:
The bike can be ordered online now, but both step-through and step-over versions will be available this fall from “leading retailers in the US, followed by European retailers later this year.” If the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) stays at $2,299 in stores, then this will be a very big deal—there are not a lot of good e-bikes in that price range in bike shops.
