We are always excited about new innovations in the ebike market and the new Elevate from Bimotal is a premium removable powertrain that is lightweight and powerful. We have been keeping an eye on this product and recently we were able to have a conversation with Toby Ricco, CEO and founder of Bimotal. Toby provides an overview of the Elevate system – and explains how this removable motor can add 50-100Nm of torque to the back wheel of your regular mountain bike. Elevate solves the issue of multiple bikes because you can use your existing bike with the option to add power when needed. The mount weighs less than 200 grams, the drive unit is two pounds and the whole system is under six pounds. A battery pack fits in your bottle cage with a throttle attached to the front handlebar to control the system. We found Elevate to be an intriguing solution to several problems and were excited to discuss this system with Toby.
Thanks for joining us here on Electric Bike Report, Toby! We’re excited to discuss Bimotal and Elevate with you today. Can you tell us a little about yourself and your company? How did you get started? What spawned the idea for the Elevate system?
Thanks! I’m happy to be here. Yeah, so I’ve always been an avid mountain biker, but a skiing accident left me with a knee injury that made it so I could no longer power up the hills like I once did. I considered buying an ebike, but at the time I had a custom Cannondale Lefty that was fully spec’d, only weighed 25lb, and had 160mm of travel. Most ebikes are close to 50lb and didn’t have the same level of specs so I just didn’t feel I’d be able to get the same experience. Plus, I had customized my bike quite a bit and I wanted to keep riding it! So I started to analyze retrofit systems and how I could design something that would allow me to use my current bike, but which added torque when I needed it. I focused on the drivetrain and then zeroed in on the rear rotor as a means for adding power to the rear wheel.
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