Skip to main content

Ride Back to the Future on a Classy E-Bike from Vintage Electric

Vintage Electric e-bike
Image used with permission by copyright holder
The summer was made for riding bikes. The sunshine and breeze can stir euphoria in almost anyone. Sadly, too many people are deterred by the effort involved with riding a bike. Thanks to Vintage Electric — an  electric bike brand from Santa Clara, CA — you can enjoy the sweet liberty of an effort-optional bike ride.

Electric bikes aren’t new, of course, but Vintage Electric knows how to make them look good. They released their flagship model, the E-Tracker, in 2013. Last month, they released their second model, the Cruz. Both models are inspired by early motorcycles — specifically the board track racers of yesteryear.

e-tracker-2-1440
Image used with permission by copyright holder

We love how these bikes straddle the saddle between past and present. In addition to their slick art deco design, these puppies have a number of sophisticated features that boost performance, comfort, and safety. For example, the burly disc brakes deliver regenerative braking, the LED lights shed reliable light on any situation, and the comfy leather saddle and handlebar grips from Brooks make the ride as smooth as possible.

The most impressive feature of all is the electric battery. Each bike will take you 30 miles on a single charge, and it only takes two hours to reach full juice. In Race Mode, you can clock an astounding 36 miles per hour, making these bikes the fastest electric bikes on the market.

Related: The Manual’s Guide To Bad-Ass Bike Gear

The E-Tracker and Cruz probably won’t tear the world from its dependence on oil, but they will help. According to the specs on the Cruz, each charge costs just $0.18. If you charged your e-bike once a day, you’d only spend $65 in a year, or roughly as much as it costs to fill the tank of an SUV just once.

Both the Cruz and the E-Tracker sell for just under $5,000. While that may seem steep for a bike, it’s pretty good for an electric steampunk machine that will keep you rolling for decades. You can visit Vintage Electric’s website to get started building your e-bike and selecting the features that most appeal to you.

Editors' Recommendations

TJ Carter
Former Digital Trends Contributor
TJ Carter wears many hats, both figuratively and literally. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2011 with a degree…
Everything points to Apple TV+ making a change you’re not going to like
Is an ad-supported tier coming to Apple TV+?
The Apple TV Plus Logo

It turns out that TV worked pretty well under its old model. According to a new report from Business Insider, Apple TV+ may be the latest streaming service that's set to introduce an ad-supported tier and charge those who don't stream with ads a premium fee to access their great shows and movies.

At this point, the report is still speculation, but Apple has made several recent hires in the advertising space that seem to suggest the direction they're planning to take. The company recently hired former NBCUniversal ad executive Joseph Cady to serve as executive vice president of advanced advertising and partnerships, a move that comes following the company's hiring of another former NBCUniversal executive, Jason Frum, who joined Apple's video ad sales team.

Read more
From Gilda Radner to Ali Wong, these are the best female comedians of all time
These women from all generations will make you laugh out loud
Ai Wong comedian 2017 Moontower comedy festival

Hot take: I don’t care for straight male comedians. It’s not that they’re not funny, they’re just … I don’t know, boring? Maybe that’s reductive of me, but I never seem to leave a straight male comedian’s set feeling particularly inspired. And though some may argue that it’s not important for a set to "inspire" its audience, I’d actually argue that the opposite is true. For me, I want to see a comedian use humor to address real issues and say real things about the world, even if they do it in a completely goofy way.

Therefore, I tend to prefer female and female-identified comedians. They’re sharp, tough, and have often seen shit that makes their comedy feel raw and true. Undoubtedly there are male comedians who do this, too, but to a much lesser degree, in my very humble and very personal opinion.

Read more
12 classic sci-fi books everyone should read
If you love science fiction and reading, these classic sci-fi novels are a must
Man reading a book and drinking coffee

It may feel like we were recently living in a science-fiction dystopia life -- and in some ways, we were -- but that doesn't mean that we should simply avoid an entire genre of writing. Hardly. In fact, this is probably the perfect time to explore classic sci-fi books, to see what the masters have written, and maybe even see if someone predicted anything like this. Many, though, simply ignore sci-fi wholly and completely because of an association with robots, aliens, and the like.

Long story short, if you think you don't like sci-fi, you have never read great books from the genre. But indeed, many such books abound, including a number that has delighted generations of readers going back well over 150 years. In fact, one of the best things about so many sci-fi books is their very timelessness. As by definition, this type of fiction breaks away from the norms of the everyday world -- whether slightly twisting things or taking place on entire other worlds -- the stories often feel as fresh and relevant today as when they were published decades ago.

Read more