Harley announces its stand-alone electric bicycle company “Serial 1 Cycle Company” and unveils the brand’s first retro-style belt-driven e-bike prototype.
Serial 1 Electric Bicycle 1st Prototype
Earlier this week Harley-Davidson announced their entry into the electric bicycle market with an all-new stand-alone bicycle company called the Serial 1 Cycle Company. In case the name doesn’t ring a bell, the name for the new company was derived from Harley’s first motorcycle; the Serial Number One motorcycle from the early 1900s.
Serial 1 Cycle Co. announced its first e-bikes are schedule to hit the market later in spring 2021. So, what’s the purpose of the pedal assisted electric bicycle company? Well, Harley says it is to fulfil the growing demand for e-bikes in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Harley, the global e-bicycle market was estimated to be over $15 billion back in 2019 and it is projected to grow at a rate of more than 6% annually from 2020 – 2025.
To form Serial 1, Harley brought in new investors and Harley-Davidson maintains a minority stake in the new company; said the brand director of Serial 1 Cycle Co., Aaron Frank.
“The formation of Serial 1 allows Harley-Davidson to play a key role in this mobility revolution while allowing Serial 1 to focus exclusively on the eBicycle customer and deliver an unmatched riding experience rooted in freedom and adventure,” Aaron Frank told in a statement.
As a part of the brand’s launch, Serial 1 Cycle Company unveiled its first retro-style belt-drive e-bike prototype. As it is more of a design prototype, Serial 1 Cycle Co. didn’t announce any technical specification of the bike.
Although it is a modern e-bike, Serial 1 Cycle Co . sticks to its roots by borrowing certain design ques from Harley first motorcycle from the early 1900s. Speaking of the design, we think this e-bike prototype is a stunner and Serial 1 has done a tremendous job with this one.
“We designed those prototypes to be very easy and intuitive and non-demanding on the rider,” Frank said. “We know that a lot of these e-bike customers are not necessarily hardcore cyclists. I think one of the greatest opportunities in the ebicycle space is to convert people who aren’t cyclists into cyclists using electric technology. We’ve got pretty significant market research that shows that these potential customers really want something that’s easy to operate.”
“A lot of times they might be intimidated by more traditional bicycle technology. So, you’ll see technology like a maintenance-free belt drive instead of a conventional chain drivetrain that’s going to take maintenance; that’s going to be dirty if you touch it or put it in your car. You’ll see things like integrated lighting and internal cable routing. A lot of the stuff from those prototypes is designed to be really user-friendly.”
Source: Cycleworld, The Verge