“Rubbee X works by providing electric assist directly to the rear tire via an electric friction roller,” Gediminas Nemanis, CEO of Rubbee, told Digital Trends. “It has modular batteries to extend the rides, regenerative braking, and not a single wire. We track the pedaling pattern by attaching a small wireless sensor to the pedal crank. This way, we know when and how much additional support to provide to the rider in real time. There are no buttons to push; just pedal and your power will be multiplied 2 to 3 times. It’s a pure electric assist system.”
Rubbee first burst onto the scene with its motorized roller bike conversion system back in 2013. This latest product represents the third iteration of that idea, giving the team plenty of time to hone their design. It also features a bunch of new innovations — including the ability to replace batteries, rather than being stuck with the one integrated lithium-ion battery pack of previous models, a new regenerative braking feature that’s activated by pedaling backwards half a revolution, and an 14-LED brake light and turn indicator.
“All previous generations of Rubbee were based on all-metal construction, which made them heavy,” Nemanis said. “We already had the fastest installation time in the world — around 7 seconds — but with the new Rubbee X, which is about 50 percent lighter than its predecessors, the installation is even quicker. It now takes about 1 second. We also used to have one wire going to the pedal sensor, but now Rubbee X is completely wireless. This enables the unit to be installed super-easily by everyone. We’re offering Ikea-like user friendliness.”
If you’re interested in acquiring a Rubbee X of your own, you can currently pre-order a unit on Kickstarter for a starting price of 269 British pounds ($356). Shipping is set to take place in June 2018.
Until then, you’ll just have to keep pedaling a bit harder!
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