- California-based Vintage Electric builds electric bikes that are styled to resemble old-time motorcycles.
- The company recently updated its Tracker line of bikes.
- Vintage Electric let me borrow a Tracker S, which is good for up to 75 miles on a single battery charge.
- I was extremely impressed with the looks and performance of the e-bike.
I test cars and trucks all the time for Business Insider, but rarely two-wheeled conveyances. Dan McMahon is our bike person, and his coverage needs no introduction.
Uber to Bring Bike-Sharing to a City Near You On Monday, the company announced it has acquired bike-share startup JUMP Bikes after two months of testing on its main app. The deal allows Uber to access JUMP’s 12,000 dockless, GPS-integrated bikes in 40 cities across six countries. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi described the acquisition as… “bringing together multiple modes of transportation within the Uber app—so that you can choose the fastest or most affordable way to get where you’re going, whether that’s in an Uber, on a bike, on the subway, or more.” JUMP Bikes started in 2010 and uses electric-powered bikes that have built-in U-bar locks, allowing them to be locked anyway with existing bike racks. The e-bikes currently service riders in San Francisco and Washington D.C., and there are plans to expand to Sacrament and Providence, RI by the end of the year.
However, I also dig motorcycles and am particularly intrigued by electric versions. But because of my age and status as a parent, I'm deep in the realms of second thoughts about whether I should ever throw a leg again.
But then along came California-based Vintage Electric and their all-electric bicycles that are styled to evoke early 20th-century motorcycles. I love a Ducati Panigale as much as the next guy, but my heart truly belongs to small, dashing motorcycles from long ago. And unless I go vintage, it's hard to locate reliable, new versions of such machines.
Yes, I could pick up up a moped or buy a scooter, but Vintage Electric's combination of the electric bike with the old-school board track racer motorcycle design immediately appealed to me.
With updated versions of its Tracker lineup coming out, the company was kind enough to loan me a bike for a few weeks. It was a top-of-the-line Tracker S, retailing for $7,000. That's expensive — other e-bikes can be had for thousands less — but as I discovered, sometimes you get what you pay for.
The Tracker S was my ride for a few weeks in the New Jersey suburbs. Here's how it performed:
Behold — the Vintage Electric Tracker S! The Tracker was first introduced in 2013, but it's been upgraded from 2018. The Tracker S has a little brother, the Tracker.
The Tracker S goes for about $7,000, while the Tracker is $5,000. The main differences are the Tracker S's larger battery and its beefier front suspension.
If the Tracker S didn't have pedals, you could easily mistake it for a throwback motorcycle from the earlier days of iron horses.
(via Matthew DeBord/BI)
