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

[DD4ST]

By saying the marketing department (by the way, his name is Steve) put a "sleek athletic saddle" on the bike to attract the "hard core riders" you're implying people with certain body habitus were not considered. The seat has a standard mount that would allow just about any seat to be scabbed on.
It might destroy the bikes aesthetic butt then, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Doesn't sound like you are going to be a customer due to the seat and price so I hope you find a bike that is a better fit.

No, you’ve got me entirely wrong and I think your last sentence is a little insulting. I am actually seriously considering this bike. That is why I took the time to email Also and ask the question about the seat to verify it was a standard mount. I don’t stand on pedals when I ride and seats such as shown on the bike tend to cause me some discomfort for long rides. Since the bike was such a radical design, I wasn’t going to assume it was a standard mount. Now I know I can change out the seat. Price is not an obstacle.

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[dleepnw]

1. Novel and unique? Yes.
2. Great piece of engineering? Maybe.
3. S/W concerns? For sure - if its got Rivian DNA, its gonna have issues.
4. Reliability? See above.
5. Service? Yikes! Where are they going to service these bikes? At your local bike shop? Not likely. At a Rivian Service Center? Get ready to wait months for service. ...Then again maybe not if they don't sell many of these.

 

[dleepnw]

ALSO is a spin-off, with some former employees of Rivian. It's a separate company and has little to do with "Rivian marketing".

uh.... what do you mean it has little to do with Rivian... did you see RJ on stage? Might be a spin-off but they will be tied together in advertising, cross-selling, probably service centers, if not more.

 

[RMK1]

1. Novel and unique? Yes.
2. Great piece of engineering? Maybe.
3. S/W concerns? For sure - if its got Rivian DNA, its gonna have issues.
4. Reliability? See above.
5. Service? Yikes! Where are they going to service these bikes? At your local bike shop? Not likely. At a Rivian Service Center? Get ready to wait months for service. ...Then again maybe not if they don't sell many of these.

You are certainly jaded by your Rivian experience. I'm not saying you're wrong but every manufacturer has some disgruntled customers.

If you are interested in Also, why don't you watch the missgoelectric review of the TM-B. She engages with the Also principles and asks the right questions.

 

[thrill]

Service? Yikes! Where are they going to service these bikes? At your local bike shop? Not likely. At a Rivian Service Center? Get ready to wait months for service. ...Then again maybe not if they don't sell many of these.

Service could be trivial for a system such as this because the bikes are not *that* expensive that Rivian mobile couldn’t service them for you by simply bringing a new bike in the bed of an R1T (no need for the expense of tow trucks, etc.), swapping out any customization from your’s, leaving you with a functional bike in just a few minutes, taking the old one back for repair/resale/recycling, keeping the long lead time now all internal to the service center and non-affecting to the customer.

 

[RMK1]

Service could be trivial for a system such as this because the bikes are not *that* expensive that Rivian mobile couldn’t service them for you by simply bringing a new bike in the bed of an R1T (no need for the expense of tow trucks, etc.), swapping out any customization from your’s, leaving you with a functional bike in just a few minutes, taking the old one back for repair/resale/recycling, keeping the long lead time now all internal to the service center and non-affecting to the customer.

I wouldn't get your hopes up about a hot spare swap out program. That would be a nightmare to administer. In this video they mentioned a partnership with a mobile bike repair company. A bike like this will be essentially maintenance free with OTA updates taking care of the majority of issues. The 2 year warranty on the motor and electronics will cover the expensive components so I'm not worried.

 

[RMK1]

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.

Takes one to know one ...

 

[R1S88]

The website says they are going to use Velofix to provide mobile van service. I've used them before and, at least in my area, they are pretty good.

 

[RMK1]

The website says they are going to use Velofix to provide mobile van service. I've used them before and, at least in my area, they are pretty good.

That's good to hear but ... the TM-B has little in common with other bikes or e-bikes. Derailleurs, shifters, dropper posts, chains are all maintenance problems the TM-B won't have. Outside of fixing flats and changing brake pads or perhaps the calipers/rotors it's all Also designed/built. Even the rotors seem custom so it It all comes down to the sales volume of the TM-B. Revenue solves problems so I guess we'll have to see how that goes.

I say that with every intention to buy and enjoy this bike. Having done a good bit of bike repair myself I'll try and deal with anything that can't be fixed with an OTA update. Clearly not all folks will have that attitude.

 

[israndy]

I have been riding e-bikes since the 1990s. Well, my ZAP ElectriCruizer SX is from the 90s, with its 12v car battery, a motor rubbing on the custom flat tread of the tire. Guess it was actually the 2000s when I got mine off craigslist. I was just no longer in love with the range my 4yo lead-acid 12v e-scooter was getting anymore. I sure have gotten a lotta use out of that e-bike. Nice that they are FINALLY getting popular

I am totally excited about replacing mine with the Rivian e-Bike, already placed my order for the Launch Edition. Sure hope they let us test drive them while we can still cancel our orders if they are not what we find comfortable. Or that we can change the seat out easily during the 30 day return period if we don't like the one we got.

People here keep talking about putting their bike in the bed of their truck and driving 10 miles to ride a trail. With 100 mile range it would seem you don't need to drive it somewhere, just ride it to the ride.

Do they intend on making us pay for cellular connectivity? I haven't seen anything saying that specifically but I don't know how they avoid it, unless they use AirTag tech to track your stolen bike. Sure wouldn't mind if the Launch bikes got connectivity for free, like the early Teslas.

 

[1stPlace]

Do they intend on making us pay for cellular connectivity? I haven't seen anything saying that specifically but I don't know how they avoid it, unless they use AirTag tech to track your stolen bike. Sure wouldn't mind if the Launch bikes got connectivity for free, like the early Teslas.

Yes, there will be a subscription, likely for app features like stolen bike tracking or alerts. The TM-B has GPS built in, which it will still use regardless to limit the bike to pedal-assist only in the State of California or to reduce Wattage per regulations in Canada or Europe. Though I'm sure the bike will function fine without a subscription, much like my Rivian can without Connect+, eventually the value proposition is worthwhile, and it is hard to argue cellular data doesn't have a cost.

 

[mkhuffman]

...
People here keep talking about putting their bike in the bed of their truck and driving 10 miles to ride a trail. With 100 mile range it would seem you don't need to drive it somewhere, just ride it to the ride.
...

Personally I detest riding on roads shared with cars and trucks. I know of highly experienced riders who have been killed just pumping down a road shared with cars and trucks. No thanks. I want to transport my bike to a safe place to ride.

 

[ENVErider]

I also hope that they make something for the Rivian / regular hitch to mount this (I know there are many products out there) in some creative way to make it easy to lug around. My current setup works for a road bike but I wont be able to lift this e-bike into that position.

Those hitch mount options for easy ebike mounting to R1 already exist. Top of the line option is the Kuat Piston and you can add the Bike Ramp feature which basically allows you to use the ebike walk feature to slowly ride it up into place; no lifting required. I have both the Kuat NV2.0 and the Piston racks. The Piston is very expensive but worth the money for anyone who travels with bikes regularly. I also use the Kuat Pivot to swing the bike rack out of the way and drop the tailgate with the bikes left in the rack.

 

[the_mace]

Those hitch mount options for easy ebike mounting to R1 already exist. Top of the line option is the Kuat Piston and you can add the Bike Ramp feature which basically allows you to use the ebike walk feature to slowly ride it up into place; no lifting required. I have both the Kuat NV2.0 and the Piston racks. The Piston is very expensive but worth the money for anyone who travels with bikes regularly. I also use the Kuat Pivot to swing the bike rack out of the way and drop the tailgate with the bikes left in the rack.

The Piston looks great, thank you!

 

[savethemanual]

ALSO just announced the base TM-B will be $3500. Smaller battery (60 vs 100 miles), no color bling, different forks and 5x pedal assistance instead of 10x. But all of the other cool features are there.

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