Reevo pitched the idea of a hubless e-bike to risk-taking investors back in 2020. Their pitch earned them $6,765,687 from 2,793 backers. The bikes began shipping earlier this year and judging from the comments on a Reevo-Owners Facebook page and on the Indigogo page, the majority of backers are unhappy with their investment. Very unhappy.
The bikes are reported to be noisy, heavy (71 pounds) and hard to stop. Then there are the software bugs. Here is a little feedback from owners:
“Yesterday my Reevo bike started as usual, but kept on the highest speed level without any interaction of the pedals. It was really dangerous to stop it merely by the weak handbrakes, since the control switch for reducing the speed did also not work.”
“Just got bike today. Finger print malfunction. Any ideas? If I can’t register a finger print am I sunk? Unlocking via the app isn’t working.”
“The brakes scare me already. It was the worst purchase I ever made in a crowd funding campaign. I simply do not understand how a company can produce such things without a proper quality control on site.
“With the ever-growing, non-stop problems with all Reevo Hubless e-bikes, it’s more than obvious that the entire Reevo team knew damn well this entire e-bike was a horrible Fiasco.”
Not all new owners have the glass-is-half-empty attitude. One new owner (who owns another e-bike that he rides often) said, “the Reevo bike looks spectacular and can be seen as an alternative bike or additional bike for drawing attention or impressing people.”
When I first read about the Reevo in 2020, I said, “Don’t buy one. At least, not yet. This bike features a substantial departure from bicycle wheel design. I can’t think of one instance when the second generation of a bike using brand-new, untested-in-the-real-world components and technology wasn’t way better than the first generation. That is, if there was a second generation. Not all wild concepts make it that far.”
I hope riders who read Jimmy Mac On Two Wheels took my advice.
Give me a brake: The stoppers on the Reevo do not belong on a 70 pound, motorized bicycle. If there are future versions, this is the first component that needs a serious upgrade. Current model owners, beware. Give yourself plenty of stopping distance.
