Though bicycles are an excellent way to get around town, the uneven terrain of many cityscapes can make for very hard work. Getting some help from a built-in motor should help level things out, but ebikes often leave your wallet a lot lighter. The Velotric Discover 1 was designed by industry veterans as an affordable, comfortable and reliable ride.
According to its Indiegogo funding page, startup Velotric is made up of industry bods from companies like Lime, Giant, Specialized and Decathlon – led by the co-founder of Lime's China office, Adam Zhang. The team has spent much of this year designing an ebike that's "simple to use, comfortable to ride, excellent in performance, and reliable in quality."
The result is the Discover 1 city ebike, which is being made available in North American and European models. The former sports a proprietary 500-W hub motor producing 65 Nm (48 lb.ft) of torque and offering a thumb throttle mode in addition to pedal assist, while the latter gets a 250-W motor for 40 Nm (29.5 lb.ft) of torque and pedal assist only. Both cadence and speed sensors are employed, and three assist levels are available.
European riders do benefit from two more gears than those across the pond though, as the EU version comes with a nine-speed Shimano M2000 derailleur, while the NA model rolls with a seven-speed Shimano RDTY300 flavor. Both models come with a 48-V 692-Wh frame integrated battery, which can be removed for charging indoors, for up to 80 miles (128 km) of motor assist in eco mode.
The 6061 aluminum alloy step-through frame is reckoned suitable for rider heights between 5.4 and 6.6 ft (1.65 - 2 m) – the standover height is just 15 inches (390 mm) but the minimum seat height is 320 in (815 mm). And the angle of the seat post is designed for a comfortable ride, set at 87 degrees for a more upright stance.
There's a spring fork with 65 mm of travel, which can be adjusted for lockout and preload, the ebike is an IPX5-rated ride and comes packing full fenders front and back, the North American model rides on 26x2.4-inch puncture-resistant all-purpose tires, while the European model gets 700x40C rubber, and the startup is using its own disc brakes, and front and rear lights. A 3.5-inch backlit LCD display mounted in the center of the handlebar shows ride info and bike stats, and the included rear rack can handle up to 55 lb (25 kg) of cargo.
Indiegogo pledges start at US$1,299, and the package includes a bunch of bike tools and accessories. The campaign is already funded with 25 days left on the clock, and if everything else goes to plan, shipping to the US, Canada and select European destinations is estimated to start in December. The pitch video below has more.
Source: Velotric Bike
