Lectro LLC 750W fat tire e-bike

Currently on Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lectro/lectro-the-worlds-best-priced-ebike
("27 backers, $17,609 pledged of $40,000 goal, 30 days to go")


Seen on site Treehugger:
http://www.treehugger.com/bikes/lectro-aims-produce-worlds-best-priced-e-bike.html

Being promoted as "The World's Best-Priced eBike" (may make some nervous at this prospect. Stuff like "will change the way you commute".)

Treehugger writer "e-bike industry is really starting to take off these days". 8)

[youtube]kZM5nX6EIYs[/youtube]

Anyone know who's behind this bike? One site claims Lectro had roots at MIT and the Lectro Kickstarter campaign claims they have a working factory. Can anyone verify or add more information?

Just queried Lectro re shipping costs: Add $195, most of which they attribute to cost of battery shipping. They did get back to me in a matter of minutes.

Lectro founder here. The factory is setup, we are just doing the Kickstarter to get a bulk order of bikes on the ocean to optimize prices. The bike shown in the videos in photos was assembled in the factory.

I did go to MIT for grad school and so did some of the people helping with the project. The basic story behind the bike is that we tried out different components, found ones that worked best for the price, and utilized a low-cost contract manufacturer with experience in this area. Shipping the battery is a big cost but not the majority of the cost. My experience includes leading the manufacturing team for a high-volume 3D printer that is very price conscious. Hope this helps!

Welcome Aboard Alt. Reality Planet of ES... Jeff. Nice to see you folks "catching the wave" (Surfer-Speak) re ebikes. Success to you folks
L

Lectro,

Thanks for the response. I'm just happy to finally see some common sense in speccing a fat tire e-bike with 7 speeds and a 750W motor.

The Sondors fat-e struck me as ridiculously specced as a fixie and I said so from day one. And I found it hilarious that at the first big public test ride on one of the beach boardwalks in CA Sondors refused to allow anyone to ride the bike on the sand! Anyone with the least modicum of bike savvy knows that fat bikes were designed for snow and sand, period. Form follows function? Not in Sandorsland.

IMO Sondors revealed himself in that video as woefully ignorant of a lot of bike basics. Apparently he found enough like-minded newbies to bite on price alone, and I followed their owners Facebook page long enough to see that the first thing many of them wanted to ditch were the oversized tires.

Today, right now the Lectro:

43 backers
$28,689 pledged of $40,000 goal
27 days to go

Click to expand...

So is it throttle only? I couldn't tell from the kickstarter.

Currently

50 backers
$34,199 pledged of $40,000 goal
24 days to go

Click to expand...

Jeff? Still here? (Re "throttle only"?)

56 backers
$34,304 pledged of $40,000 goal
23 days to go

Click to expand...

... and now the Lectro has been noticed by rikeradar. (Author Oli Woodman described as "Senior Writer, UK")

"This $999 e-bike wants to get the US commuting on two wheels":
http://www.bikeradar.com/news/article/lectro-999-electric-fat-bike-first-look-47321/

"750w motor is "too naughty" for Europe's tighter legislation"

the fact that this Kickstarter pledge is already thriving proves that people must be hungry for a more affordable electric bicycle.

Click to expand...

Recent experiences with another even more "affordable" ebike (the SONDORS) might suggest the most important "feature" is the add ons/upgrades/added costs.

:wink:

[youtube]K_p8ZAQ43xs[/youtube]

Looks like Hero is up to three versions of the Lectro:
http://herocycles.com/lectro/