Ebike News: Giant’s New High End E-MTB, Himiway’s New Fat Tire Models and Much More!

Zooz’s Urban Ultralight, originating in Chicago, is certainly an eye-catching e-bike, described as a cross between an 80s Chopper and a BMX. And it’s now made its way from the US to the UK courtesy of Ride and Glide.

There are three models, 250, 700 and 1100 based on the wattage of the drive system, so only the 250 is road legal in the UK. The 250 version comes with a 576Wh battery. Other unusual features include a steel frame and a moped style seat.

US prices are from $2,100 to US$3,100 and in the UK they are rather pricier at £2,100 to £3,100.

Although it has been out a while, it seems to have been under the radar somewhat – we are talking about an attractively-priced retrofit kit called the Ultra that looks easy to fit and features interesting tech in the form of a wireless pedal cadence sensor. It is available from UK camping and outdoor chain Go Outdoors.

The Ultra kit comprises a front hub motor ready spoked into a 700C wheel and with a frame mounting bottle style battery and wireless pedal crank mounting sensor. It is priced at £540.

Tuck describes itself as ‘the first folding bike with folding wheels’ Not quite true as 1878 saw the introduction of the Grout Portable, a Penny Farthing type design whose large front wheel split down into four quadrants. Still, the Tuck is unique today, as far as we know.

The really innovative bit is the way the large wheels fold down; the 700C size wheels use carbon-fibre tubes instead of spokes to break the wheel down into segments which can be slid sideways on the hub after quick release levers are released. The tyres have to divide into segments too, achieved by the use of bespoke Gecko cellular rubber tyres.

There are actually three levels of fold; folding handlebars produce a long narrow package for the likes of hallway storage, a fold in half could enable loading into a car or train and the full fold with the wheels fully retracted is for when space is really tight. The full fold is shown in the video below.

It’s the brainchild of British-born, California-based engineer Alex Animashaun, who has previously worked for Jaguar Land Rover and a vehicle startup in Kenya. He even says that if the Kickstarter campaign is successful he might think about an electric version….

It’s currently on offer on Kickstarter from US$1295.