Conquer the mountain with the Pesu e-bike, now available on Kickstarter

By Lulu Chang Published August 29, 2017

Cycling purists may not like the sound of an electric mountain bike, but for those of us who may welcome some assistance in riding up (or down) a giant natural edifice, there’s the Pesu. Heralded as an all-terrain cross country AM mountain bike, the Pesu promises that crucial dosage of extra power that you may need to go the distance.

“Our mission is to make an ebike that is truly fun,” the Pesu team notes on its Kickstarter campaign. “We want to create an ebike that inspires you to explore further, go off the beaten path, and most importantly — keep moving forward. In order to do that we had to push boundaries and look beyond the standard procedure.”

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Indeed, this electric bike is meant to enhance your riding experience, not necessarily take all the work out of it.

As such, while the electric component can help you get over that last hump, it’s far from the only feature that Pesu says sets its bike apart. First and foremost, Pesu claims to have the fastest motor response time on the market. The company has designed its own torque sensor, which means that your bike will determine “how much juice to feed the motor” depending on how hard you’re working (which is to say, pedaling). As such, Pesu claims a drive unit response time of just 10ms.

Thanks to its 350-watt motor, the Pesu ebike claims to have the capacity to assist at speeds of up to 28 miles per hour. Plus, the bike’s battery is able to last 100 miles on a single charge. And there’s no need to buy a separate bike computer for your Pesu, as a connected cycling computer comes standard with the unit. You’ll be able to check out your bike’s battery level, speed, distance, and output mode.

While many ebikes feel quite different from your standard two-wheeled vehicle, the Pesu features a short chainstay design, which is said to increase maneuverability (and also reduce the possibility of tangled chains). Moreover, the team designed the frame to handle maximum shock absorption. And if you ever need to replace a part of the Pesu, the internal cable routing makes it relatively straightforward to replace brakes and gear cables.

Currently looking to raise $100,000 on Kickstarter, the Pesu can be pre-ordered for $1,499, with delivery estimated for November 2017.

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A “20% off sitewide” banner on top of a company’s website should normally be cause for glee among customers. Except if you’re a fan of that company’s products and its executives remain silent amid mounting signs that said company might be on the brink of bankruptcy.That’s what’s happening with Juiced Bikes, the San Diego-based maker of e-bikes.According to numerous customer reports, Juiced Bikes has completely stopped responding to customer inquiries for some time, while its website is out of stock on all products. There are also numerous testimonies of layoffs at the company.Even more worrying signs are also piling up: The company’s assets, including its existing inventory of products, is appearing as listed for sale on an auction website used by companies that go out of business.In addition, a court case has been filed in New York against parent company Juiced Inc. and Juiced Bike founder Tora Harris, according to Trellis, a state trial court legal research platform.Founded in 2009 by Harris, a U.S. high-jump Olympian, Juiced Bikes was one of the early pioneers of the direct-to-consumer e-bike brands in the U.S. market.The company’s e-bikes developed a loyal fandom through the years. Last year, Digital Trends named the Juiced Bikes Scorpion X2 as the best moped-style e-bike for 2023, citing its versatility, rich feature set, and performance.The company has so far stayed silent amid all the reports. But should its bankruptcy be confirmed, it could legitimately be attributed to the post-pandemic whiplash experienced by the e-bike industry over the past few years. The Covid-19 pandemic had led to a huge spike in demand for e-bikes just as supply chains became heavily constrained. This led to a ramp-up of e-bike production to match the high demand. But when consumer demand dropped after the pandemic, e-bike makers were left with large stock surpluses.The good news is that the downturn phase might soon be over just as the industry is experiencing a wave of mergers and acquisitions, according to a report by Houlihan Lokey.This may mean that even if Juiced Bikes is indeed going under, the brand and its products might find a buyer and show up again on streets and trails.

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Of course, there are a wide variety of folding e-bikes that range from budget to premium, so this generalized list of pros and cons may not apply to absolutely every model on the market. We recommend you do your own research when you begin shopping for a new folding e-bike to be certain it meets your personal needs safely and effectively.
Pro: They save space
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