Marcus Hays learned a lot from working on the Iacocca ebike project and in 2000 formed his own company called PiMobility, to try to develop a more perfect electric bike. One of his main ideas is to take the plastic out of the design. Marcus blames the plastic for the vibration and jankiness that many ebikes have. The Picycle contains no major plastic pieces; even the fenders are made from aluminum. Also, Marcus wanted to build a bike that was beyond anything else dependable. The PiCycle is made with proven components, which he feels will sustain a long life-cycle. The batteries are lightweight lithium polymer and are therefore only good for 500 charges, but the battery pack is easily replaceable and by the time most users go through 500 cycles there will likely be better and cheaper battery technologies available as replacements.
The second priority of the Picycle is to look stylish and cool. When first starting the company, Marcus tried 10 different designs, but it was the Picycle design which he found really struck a chord with consumers. He describes the defining moment when he decided to stick with this outlandish futuristic design when travelling from Los Angeles to San Francisco for a trade show with a protoytpe Picycle strapped to the roof of the car. They were swamped with inquiries at every rest stop and at one point a bus full of Japanese tourists swarmed the Pi to photograph it. To Marcus, that was the proof of concept to go with the Picycle as a half-arc designed frame.
Marcus knew from his days with E-bike that the reliability of the bike was going to be critical if it was going to be sold to a mass market. As part of his learning process, Marcus worked as a volunteer in bicycle shop in the repair department for a year and a half to get an understanding of broken bikes, and what components usually failed. He wanted to make the PiCycle so simple, that any bicycle shop in the country could maintain and repair it. For example, PiCycle chose a Shimano IGH shifter coupled with a Gates belt-drive propulsion system for minimal maintenance–there’s no chain to oil on this bike.
The motor and controller were chosen after rigorously testing many different models, and have been designed to be ridden every day for years without failure. Picycle uses a direct-drive hub-motor with hall-sensors made by Crystalyte, which is known for being solid (same brand of motor used on the Stealth Bomber). There is only one moving part in this model of Crystalyte Motor. The downside is that it is heavy, and at 18 pounds it is a lot of weight to have in your front wheel. That said, Picycle claims their bikes handle fine on paved roads.
Unique Features of Pi-Cycle :-
It's a bicycle...it's a motorcycle...it's a revolution.
Go faster, farther, and steeper than ever before with PiCycle’s™ new hybrid belt drive. Meld human and electric energy to seamlessly create an unmatched experience.
Superpower at the flick of your fingertip.
Turn A to B into 0 to WHEE. With PiCycle™'s powerful battery, you have the equivalent to several professional cyclists helping you pedal. Don't break a sweat, and have more fun than ever as you casually pass full-spandex clad cyclists on their left.
Miles Per Penny is the new M.P.G.
Liberate yourself from the wallet draining cost of oil and instead power your pocketbook.
Give back to the battery pack.
With the push of a button power flows back to the battery pack and charges the bike. This extends your range, lets you recover downhill energy, and gives you grid independence.
A design that's totally tubular.
With all the electronics inside the tube the components stay weatherproof, allow the battery to stay cool, and optimize your handling.
There's even an app for that.
An integrated app that runs on any smartphone gives you an intuitive readout of the speed, charge level and efficiency. Also, it pushes data to the cloud and provides remote diagnostics so we can alert you if your bike needs maintenance.
Charge anytime, anywhere.
E-bike infrastructure is already in every house and outlet around the world. Simply plug into any standard wall outlet, whether in public, in a café, or at home.
Cooler wheels for a warmer planet.
PiCycle™ is designed and manufactured with the highest of lifecycle and sustainability standards.
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