Electric bikes are more popular than ever with the pandemic putting them in the spotlight and people realizing they are a feasible mode of transportation. In fact, e-bike sales nearly quadrupled from $240.1 million in 2019 to $885.5 million in 2022.
Here are some small businesses that manufacture and utilize e-bikes in a variety of ways, making them more accessible to consumers and enriching people’s lives.
Electric Bike Company
A prominent e-bike company in North Orange County, California, is the Electric Bike Company (EBC). Manufactured 100% in the U.S. since 2014, EBC collects the highest-quality parts from around the world and builds them to order in a few local factories. EBC allows customers to fully customize their bikes, and they’re delivered completely assembled. With a five-year battery warranty and a 10-year motor warranty, stainless-steel nuts and bolts, and sealed bearings, EBC bikes are built to withstand the test of time and corrosion that comes with living by the beach.
Sean Lupton-Smith, the founder of EBC, puts a great deal of thought into his facilities and how he can give customers the best electric bikes on the market. From having its own paint shop and wood shop to selecting the most ideal tires and compatible rims, EBC is meticulous and thoughtful about its products.
Bunch Bikes
Bunch Bikes is the largest North American front-loading cargo bike brand and strives to make family biking easier. In 2016, Aaron Powell took a family trip to Sweden, where he discovered cargo bikes and fell in love with bicycle culture. A year later, he set out on a mission to bring cargo e-bikes to the U.S. and saw an explosion in demand in 2020. The following year, Powell received buy-in from two sharks on “Shark Tank,” which made his brand mainstream. In 2022, the company established the Bunch Squad, which is a generous community of Bunch Bike owners who let prospective buyers test-ride their e-bikes.
Each bike is assembled and tested in a Denton, Texas, warehouse. The cargo space can hold two to four children, dogs, or groceries.
E-bike sales nearly quadrupled from $240.1 million in 2019 to $885.5 million in 2022.
Outrider USA
In 2009, Tommy Ausherman MacGyver’d his first electric bike called the T-Wrex. He rode it for a year until he decided it was too heavy. This was the impetus for Outrider USA, and Ausherman’s builds changed from the more common upright style to a recumbent e-bike intended to accommodate users with a range of physical abilities.
Outrider’s claim to fame is off-roading electric trikes and quads that are accessible to anyone and designed especially for those with temporary or permanent injuries. Keeping in mind users’ varying degrees of upper body strength, throttling and braking is done by leaning backward or forward. The company has developed an ergonomic tri-pin steering system that doesn’t require much force.
Outrider currently isn’t taking tricycle orders due to extremely high demand for the new Coyote quad model — the first compact all-terrain vehicle. “We knew four years ago we were going to evolve to a four-wheeler because it’s much more stable and has a lot more off-road capability with four wheels,” said Sales Director Mickey Madzinski, “Since our soft launch last April, we haven’t been able to keep up with demand.”
Lectric eBikes
Two lifelong friends and a dad willing to postpone retirement built Lectric eBikes out of a small garage in Phoenix, Arizona. Four years later, Levi Conlow, Robby Deziel, and Brent Conlow are the proud owners and innovators of one of the fastest-growing electric bike companies in the U.S. The trio wanted to make high-quality e-bikes more affordable, so they disrupted the market with a starting price point of $999. After a less than successful prototype, the team went back to the drawing board and used sage feedback to improve their first design. The redesign was successful. The trio made $1 million in three weeks. Levi and Robby landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021, and Brent has made back his initial investment. “It seems to be working out well for him now,” said Levi.
Aside from affordability, what makes Lectric eBikes different? Electric bikes are notoriously heavy and can be difficult to store due to their bulky size. A clever feature of Lectric eBikes is that they fold, which is especially advantageous for people who live in apartments or condos.
Escape Adventures
Forged on the foundation of “fresh air, faith, fitness, and friends,” Jared and Heather Fisher began leading tours of the great outdoors in 1992. Escape Adventures has been offering guided tours for the past quarter century by way of biking, hiking, rafting, snorkeling, rock climbing, and, most recently, e-biking. The improved engineering and familiarity of e-bikes have made them a mode of transportation that positions Escape Adventures well for those who want to see the stunning Zion canyons or the majesty of the Rocky Mountains but may not be confident in their abilities to navigate those terrains. Since e-bikes can also be operated manually, travelers can enjoy whatever level of exercise they want or simply coast through the scenery.
Escape Adventures is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, but its tours span over 100 destinations throughout Western North America, with slow expansion to other areas of the U.S.
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