With a design as eye-catching as its name, the Babymaker from FLX has been on quite a journey... 2,200 miles on the road with its creator to be exact, before it raised a huge £1.95 million and counting on Indiegogo.
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FLX began its life in the UK as the brainchild of founder Peter Leaviss, before he left for San Diego in the US and partnered with Rob Rast, who is now the company's CEO. They've been on Indiegogo before, crowdfunding a huge amount to get the FLX Bike into production and fulfilling every order according to their current campaign. Now they're back with the Babymaker, described as a "one-of-a-kind e-bike" that looks stealthy with smooth cabling, and the battery hidden within the aluminium frame. The 350 watt hub motor with a peak power of 500 watts make the Babymaker capable of a 25mph (40km/h) cruising speed, and the 36W 7AH battery is said to recharge fully in two hours, giving you around 50 miles (80km) of range on average.
To prove the bike's credentials over long distances, Leaviss set off on a road trip across Europe from the UK to "push the bike to its limits"; seven countries and 2,200 (3,540km) miles later, he was satisfied the bike had adequate performance features to enhance long distance tours:
“The bike completely exceeded my expectations and made the journey just about as easy as 2200 miles by bike can be,” explains Leaviss. “Two hours of charging at a coffee shop or campsite gets you a full charge and ready for a day’s ride.”
The Babymaker launched on Indiegogo shortly after Leaviss finished his ride, and there are four days left of the campaign at the time of writing with almost £2 million raised.
To find out more head over to the FLX Indiegogo page, where you can reserve a Babymaker at 47% off the RRP for £839; FLX say they're shipping worldwide. There's also the Babymaker Pro for £1,039 (48% off the RRP) with a Gates Carbon Belt Drive and hydraulic disc brake upgrades. It's worth noting that the 350 watt motor with 500 watts of peak power mean you'll have to get the bike licenced and insured to make it road-legal in the UK.
*Update: as Ktache mentions in the comments, FLX will be shipping a version with a 250 watt motor for UK and European customers to make it street-legal... our apologies for omitting this info in the first instance!
