A 100-mile range, all-terrain e-bike with regenerative braking and a folding frame has raised over £1m via Kickstarter. Priced at around £1,500, the Rocket Bike is expected to ship from July.
The Belfast-based designers had been looking to raise £25,000 for their creation, but hit their funding goal in just five minutes.
Based around a custom folding frame, the EU version of the Rocket features a 250W rear hub Bafang motor (750W on the US version), Shimano 7-speed gears, fat tyres and Tektro hydraulic disc brakes.
The 48V 15Ah battery, meanwhile, is rather niftily hidden and secured within the frame.
As Dave said in our primer on the subject, the range that is claimed for an e-bike by its manufacturer is often to be taken with a pinch of salt as there are so many variables at play. In this case it is stated that the range is based on a 12 stone (77kg) rider, using level two pedal assist (out of five).
The Rocket is certainly being put forward as an e-bike that will offer more than its rivals, however. Terms such as ‘industry-leading range’ pepper the crowdfunding blurb.
The designers say this is down to, “the perfect combination of innovative regenerative braking and a lightweight frame.”
The bike’s weight is listed at 27kg with a battery – which doesn’t strike us as being especially light – while details of the regenerative braking system are relatively scant.
Generally speaking, the negatives of regenerative braking outweigh the positives, chipping in just a few extra kilometres. However, responding to a question from a backer, Rocket Bike said users could expect their system to add around 55% to the range.
