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

[BigSkies]

Not for me, but it looks cool, and I hope they do well.

If Launch edition is $4,500, what are the betting odds for price of the "Regular" version?

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[portdirect]

After seeing the quad, I get the feeling that the bike is really a sideshow and the real product is the quad for commercial customers. So much potential for that thing with the different configurations.

To me, the bike appears to be a biproduct of the quad development.

Agreed - there’s a potential citybike (boris bikes in the uk) like market at scale - but this isn’t it.

with Amazon planning on using the quad for last mile deliveries in urban areas - it’s gonna be interesting from a regulation perspective. I have no problem sharing a bike lane with one, until it stops in the middle of one to run a delivery…

 

[UnsungZero_OldTimeAdMan]

How do they plan on repairing these things when they inevitably break? Take it to a Rivian service center? LOL. Regular bike shops won’t touch this thing.

Again, ALSO is separate from Rivian. You deal with it like any other e-Bike. You deal with company that made the bike and issued warranty for it. Why are people having such a hard time wrapping their head around the idea that RJ could be involved with more than one company?

How many is Musk involved with? Tesla. SpaceX. Boring. X Corp. xAI. Neuralink. Would you assume NASA to go to the Tesla diner and demand to see the manager if it has problems with a rocket launch?

 

[VandalSibs]

How do they plan on repairing these things when they inevitably break? Take it to a Rivian service center? LOL. Regular bike shops won’t touch this thing.

If you went to their site and clicked on the link for the service page, you would see the following text:

ALSO is dedicated to providing service options where and when you need it. ALSO has partnered with mobile service company, velofix, and will be announcing our full network of retail service locations in early 2026.

For more information you can sign up for our newsletter on ridealso.com or email our ALSO customer support team at [email protected].

Took me all of ten seconds to find.

The mention of "network of retail service locations" sure sounds like bike shops to me. It might end up being big-box sporting goods places like REI, but that's better than nothing.

 

[solaskaze]

I don't get ebikes. I'd rather pedal a regular bike. Trek makes some affordable carbon fiber bikes in that price range. I'm sure there are plenty of people that likes ebikes but I'm not one.

Just like bicycles, there are many kinds of eBikes ... which don't you get, or all?
I agree I don't get the ALSO target use, specifically because it weights 80lbs. That's a deal breaker for me, personally.

Here's a few other basic categories:
1) Max-power eMTB: this is a class all it's own, where you can rock climb portions no unassisted human can, and flats are max speed always. I would argue Specialized pretty much made this category, and it continues.
2) Lazy-teens. Sad, but true, a there is a popular trend to pedal nowhere, throttle assist everywhere, and avoid getting a motorcycle license.
3) Light-assist - this has many uses: is pretty much a bicycle. So why light assist: keep up with your Tour-de-France friend, but a very interesting one I like: net output power is greater, so you go faster than your max output. Your max output makes you sweat @ max, but net wind speed is up: you cool off faster, so higher temp days are tolerable.

 

[portdirect]

Again, ALSO is separate from Rivian. You deal with it like any other e-Bike. You deal with company that made the bike and issued warranty for it. Why are people having such a hard time wrapping their head around the idea that RJ could be involved with more than one company?

How many is Musk involved with? Tesla. SpaceX. Boring. X Corp. xAI. Neuralink. Would you assume NASA to go to the Tesla diner and demand to see the manager if it has problems with a rocket launch?

They are really siblings rather than seperate identities. They plan to have them in Rivian Spaces, and sell them via the gear shop as well - some journalists report that Rivian service centers will also servicing them.

Don't have a hard time with the idea that RJ can have more than one company - but also is almost a subsidiary of Rivian in structure and branding.

 

[savethemanual]

Here's another video with lots of info.

https://insideevs.com/news/776646/rivian-also-electric-bike-tm-b/

 

[BrayBay]

Fantastic write up, based on what you shared I'm about to put in a pre-order. I read every single word and it unleashed my imagination of what was possible.

 

[1stPlace]

If you live in a major city, this bike would be a great commuter that you can occasionally take out for trail rides or a workout. I don't think it is meant to be a "sport" bike at all, though. It is a commuter bike, with tech that will keep it reliable and fresh with OTA updates.

I personally enjoy many forms of cycling. I don't own an e-bike currently, but the one time I did was in a major city. It was more functional/practical than a motorcycle in many ways, truthfully thanks to some of the vague enough policies that allowed me to take it on public transit and ride it on road/sidewalks/whatever. That bike maxed out at 20mph though.

I just view e-bikes as a commuter solution with more freedom than a motorcycle. Kids are certainly catching on to that. If this ALSO tops out at 28mph and is a class 3 bike in most states, I think that's a fair line. Kids may need a moped license, but they generally don't have the money for this particular bike. Let adults be adults. If we need to install more bike lanes for these type of vehicles, great! Society can adjust. Major cities need more efficient forms of transportation than everyone owning and driving their own car.

 

[zefram47]

I don't get ebikes. I'd rather pedal a regular bike. Trek makes some affordable carbon fiber bikes in that price range. I'm sure there are plenty of people that likes ebikes but I'm not one.

One good use case for e-bikes is for accessibility. They allow folks who otherwise couldn't ride to get out and enjoy riding. Especially if someone who used to ride had their fitness level suffer, an e-bikes allows them to ride with the folks they used to or even faster folks without someone having to slow their pace, etc. See below, but I got a class 1 bike with a torque sensor to help rehab a broken leg and it made me both able to keep up with my triathlete wife and enjoy riding again. I still love my analog bikes, but the now bum leg doesn't allow me to enjoy them the way I used to. The torque sensor means the pedals mean something and you don't get any assist simply for turning the pedals...you actually need to work for it.

That is more than double the weight (36 lbs) of my Canyon Grail: ON (below) which I have thrown everything at and it has handled it like a champ.

e-Gravel bikes are fun. I bought a Pinarello Nytro Grinta Apex a couple years ago to help rehab a broken leg and it made me enjoy cycling again. Class 1 and has a good torque sensor, so you actually have to work for the assist...you get nothing for free, which was actually a detriment to the rehab angle. It's also only 30 lbs and you can remove the battery and motor, dropping about 8 lbs off the bike if you want to ride unassisted. By the time my leg had enough, I couldn't get a lot of assist to get back to the car/house...oops. That said, I currently have it set so the lowest assist mode is down around 50W so I can just ride a bit longer, but I'm still doing most of the work. I even threw a rack on it, so I can carry a trunk bag or panniers.

 

[CharonPDX]

That’s too many words to describe an electric bike.

ITS NOT A VEHICLE IT IS A CONVEYANCE

Bicycles are vehicles.

From Dictionary.com:

vehicle - noun - any means in or by which someone travels or something is carried or conveyed; a means of conveyance or transport.

Synonyms include (emphasis mine)

automobile bicycle boat bus cab car jeep taxi truck van wagon

Another synonym for vehicle (in the "strong match" category) is: conveyance - something that is a conveyance is also a vehicle.

In fact, in the synonym list for "conveyance" includes "car" and "vehicle" but *NOT* "bicycle."

 

[Rade]

In the 80's and 90's, I was an avid cyclist; often doing 100+ miles on a given day around the back roads, main roads with wide shoulders, bike paths and trails of Southern New England. I even used my bike to commute from Cambridge to the Boston financial district when I worked there. It was glorious! While living for a few years in St. Pete Florida, I lived with easy access to the Pinellas Trail (rail to trail that went from DT St. Pete up past Tarpon Springs). This was well before the advent of the modern cell phone and inCREDIBLY distracted drivers. I've personally witnessed way too much. Every... every day, when I am on the road, I am able to spot the moron who just cannot put the f-ing phone down - the tell-tale drifting from center line to shoulder; this time of year, the added glow of the tiny screen on the face as they type away. I see the cyclists (a lot of eBikes around these parts) and go "Yup, future speed-bump." Hell, I get nervous when I see one of those idiots gazing at their phones, charging up to the back end of my R1T while stopped at a light! And it's BIG, BLUE and has LIGHTS on it!!

My bike has been in storage for 20 years. I think I brought it out... 4 times in all those years, to put it in the bed of the truck and haul it to a dedicated bike trail 10 miles from the house. Glad for the e-Bikes. Wish them all well. Won't be buying one or cycling again any time soon. I've grown too old and fully understand I just don't bounce and heal like I once did.

Sidebar story about living in St. Pete and cycling. St. Pete has BIG, BROAD roads with wide sidewalks along with plenty of shoulders. Thought; "Ah! Safe space to pedal!". Shortly after moving there, I decided to cruise around my Gulfport neighborhood. Came to a shopping center and watched and very elderly woman... in a gi-normous, old Caddilac... make her own exit out of the shopping center... through a ravine, over the sidewalk directly in front of me, and out to the street... and she just kept right on going. I kept to the bike trail down there ever since.

 

[Engi_Nerd]

There are some very innovative ideas on offer here but this isn't really a bike. It's an e-scooter you sit on and control with a pedal-like controller or (most often) a throttle. It's super cool that it's low maintenance and has regen but the fixed pedaling resistance is disappointing as it means you can't really input a meaningful amount of juice. The pedal game is just there to legally get you to class 3 speeds.

The price seems reasonable to me but I don't see how this could be successful when we have zero infrastructure for it. You're either on the street risking your life among old distracted drivers, or on shared pedestrian paths, endangering their safety. Also, how much will remote services cost after the first year? What happens to a software-defined bike-like conveyance if the company goes under?

The helmet seems very cool, and I will probably buy one.

 

[VandalSibs]

There are some very cool ideas on offer here but this isn't really a bike. It's an e-scooter you sit on and control with a pedal-like controller or (most often) a throttle. It's super cool that it's low maintenance and has regen but the fixed pedaling resistance is disappointing as it means you can't really input a meaningful amount of juice. The pedal game is just there to legally get you to class 3 speeds.

The price seems reasonable to me but I don't see how this could be successful when we have zero infrastructure for it. You're either on the street risking your life among old distracted drivers, or on shared pedestrian paths, endangering their safety. Also, how much will remote services cost after the first year? What happens to a software-defined bike-like conveyance if the company goes under?

The helmet seems very cool, and I will probably buy one.

The pedaling resistance isn't fixed. It's variable based on the drive mode, or whatever 'gear' you set it in manual.

 

[R1S88]

Great review — thanks! I already placed my order. The price is quite reasonable compared to other high-end e-bikes, and it offers some unique technology. It’ll be a nice complement to my Gocycle G4, which is also a fantastic design but folds and weighs only 35 lbs.

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