Review: I rode the ALSO TM-B E-Bike: Rivian Micromobility Startup’s First EV

[Yota2R1T]

Thanks for the write-up Snazzy!
This, along with the video they just released answers most of my questions about the bike: Price, regen, drive train, fr/rr travel and general feel.
I'm very intrigued and put down my 50 Trump-bucks to see what the initial offer will be for us in the North.
We'll see where it goes!

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[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

Excellent write-up and clears up a lot of misconceptions from haters (if they bother to read). How heavy is the bike?

 

[Noplacelikeloam]

They need to stop showing this on trails. Besides the ridicule it will get from the MTB crowd its 100% not fit for that and will just get people hurt. EMTB's cost 5-10K for a reason. The frames alone are 4.5K. Slapping on a fox fork doesnt help when the frames snaps in two or it throws you over the bars into a rock or tree at 30mph. This will also encourage people to higher elevation and more difficult trails that are not for beginners. Same thing happened when EMTB's first appeared.

Few things to clean up: most new ebikes in the 5K range have or can add a screen, photo connectivity, electronic lock, GPS tracking and navigation. Bosch and DJI are leading here. And they are getting cheaper.

More positively, looks like a good commuter bike, but there are lots of options out there already. Sort of a confusing target consumer.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

They need to stop showing this on trails. Besides the ridicule it will get from the MTB crowd its 100% not fit for that and will just get people hurt. EMTB's cost 5-10K for a reason. The frames alone are 4.5K. Slapping on a fox fork doesnt help when the frames snaps in two or it throws you over the bars into a rock or tree at 30mph. This will also encourage people to higher elevation and more difficult trails that are not for beginners. Same thing happened when EMTB's first appeared.

Few things to clean up: most new ebikes in the 5K range have or can add a screen, photo connectivity, electronic lock, GPS tracking and navigation. Bosch and DJI are leading here. And they are getting cheaper.

More positively, looks like a good commuter bike, but there are lots of options out there already. Sort of a confusing target consumer.

While watching the launch video and reading review above, I get a clear picture that it is just like the R1. It's a swiss army knife of a truck/3-row SUV. It may not be the best trail bike, but it can do it. It may not be the best cargo bike, but it can do it. It may not be the most cost-effective urban bike, but it can get you around the city. And just like the review above, while pondering who it's for, it's not for any of those audiences. But a middle ground that overlaps all three.

That screen is not small. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up having GPS nav functionality.

 

[Dark-Fx]

They need to stop showing this on trails.

Better suited than my most recent bike purchase.

 

[Yota2R1T]

Excellent write-up and clears up a lot of misconceptions from haters (if they bother to read). How heavy is the bike?

80lb...mentioned in write up.

 

[portdirect]

Excellent write-up and clears up a lot of misconceptions from haters (if they bother to read). How heavy is the bike?

~80lbs… it’s in his write up…..

 

[Singletracker]

I’m a life-long dirt bike (m/c) rider that now spends most of my time trail riding my Class 1 E-MTB. I have never considered a Class-1 E-MTB to be any more destructive to trails or any more of a hazard or nuisance than a regular MTB. It’s swell that an E-Bike can be configured to meet various performance classifications (Class 1, 2, or 3). However, IMHO, for trail riding purposes especially, any given e-bike should be classified at its HIGHEST available performance level, period, and be regulated accordingly. With the ALSO bike, as well as others like the Amflow, that allow the rider to randomly adjust power and speed beyond what would be normal for a Class-1 E-Bike, these bikes should NOT ever be considered Class 1 E-Bikes. They are not!! Next thing you know, the trails with be filled with electric motorcycles.

Okay. Enough for my E-MTB rant. I am very intrigued by this ALSO bike for general transportation and mild recreation purposes. I especially like the locking feature. I have often thought about riding my expensive MTB down to the store, or wherever, but didn’t want to have to hassle with security Issues.

 

[Snazzy Labs]

While watching the launch video and reading review above, I get a clear picture that it is just like the R1. It's a swiss army knife of a truck/3-row SUV. It may not be the best trail bike, but it can do it. It may not be the best cargo bike, but it can do it. It may not be the most cost-effective urban bike, but it can get you around the city. And just like the review above, while pondering who it's for, it's not for any of those audiences. But a middle ground that overlaps all three.

That screen is not small. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up having GPS nav functionality.

That’ll be available from day 1. Including route planning and range estimation.

 

[Snazzy Labs]

I’m a life-long dirt bike (m/c) rider that now spends most of my time trail riding my Class 1 E-MTB. I have never considered a Class-1 E-MTB to be any more destructive to trails or any more of a hazard or nuisance than a regular MTB. It’s swell that an E-Bike can be configured to meet various performance classifications (Class 1, 2, or 3). However, IMHO, for trail riding purposes especially, any given e-bike should be classified at its HIGHEST available performance level, period, and be regulated accordingly. With the ALSO bike, as well as others like the Amflow, that allow the rider to randomly adjust power and speed beyond what would be normal for a Class-1 E-Bike, these bikes should NOT ever be considered Class 1 E-Bikes. They are not!! Next thing you know, the trails with be filled with electric motorcycles.

Okay. Enough for my E-MTB rant. I am very intrigued by this ALSO bike for general transportation and mild recreation purposes. I especially like the locking feature. I have often thought about riding my expensive MTB down to the store, or wherever, but didn’t want to have to hassle with security Issues.

I hear you on that. I also suspect that it would be fairly trivial to add GPS based restrictions for trails given the bike has on-board GPS and cellular connectivity should they decide to do so voluntarily or following new regulation.

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

80lb...mentioned in write up.

~80lbs… it’s in his write up…..

Thanks. Read it too quickly.

 

[zefram47]

Mildly intrigued only because of the pedal-by-wire thing...really curious how it works and would love a test-ride when it becomes available as an option. I have far too many bikes at the moment and don't ride enough anymore. I bought a mid-drive e-gravel bike with a Fazua motor a couple years ago to help rehab a broken leg and enjoy it, but I also specifically got a class 1 bike so I had to deal with far fewer limitations. It's also only 30 lbs...heavy for an acoustic bike, but pretty damn light for an e-bike and has a 250 Wh battery. It also allowed me to fully-customize the various assist curves via a phone app or a computer, so the lightest mode I currently have set to only give me 50W at 1:1 and then the bust-hump up that hill mode is more like 250W with only 100W rider-input needed to get it. My single biggest concern with the pedal-by-wire design is that dead is dead and there's no way to ride it "analog / acoustic". Curious if the pedal-generator actually generates enough power to ride when dead, just slower.

I don't live in an area that would have me jumping on a bike to run errands. Closest grocery is about 5 miles away, so maybe for that, but work is 14 miles on-way and few other things are close. If it could truly be ridden an appreciable distance *without* getting sweaty, I'd be more likely to ride something like that. But my current class 1 bike is still a good workout to do much of anything.

 

[HeyEllwood]

I love it. Will I ever drop $4,500 for it? No.

compared to some other bikes that are also EVs. This is relatively cheap. I’m looking at you S-Works Turbo Levo LTD (specialized). It’s only $20,000. Nbd.

 

[SwampNut]

Is there a tl;dr cause I didn’t r.

Too expensive.

Lacks CarPlay.

It's a city commuter bike, not a recreational bike. Repeat too expensive.

They will sell 37 of them to weird people.

 

[Singletracker]

I have a Specialized Turbo Levo, not the S-Works. Mine was only $6500 (one of the best purchases I have ever made). I can tell you that it is not in the same league mechanically or technologically as the ALSO, and I don’t think it pretends to be. That‘s a good thing. They are completely different animals. My Levo is a mountain bike at heart (I love it for that). The ALSO is a Rivian at heart (maybe not a bad thing).

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