Karmic Kickstarter launched

Hong said:
Just launched our Kickstarter this morning, let me know what you think:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hongquan/the-kben-a-modern-electric-bike-for-the-human-race

We already got listed as New & Noteworthy and now we're a Kickstarter Staff Pick too!

Cheers,
Hong
Click to expand...

Looks like a pretty nice bike! What are some of the more detailed specs?

top speed on the single speed? will it be geared for 20mph?

135mm rear drop so a buyer could add rear gearing if they wanted?

Motor voltage?

Battery size (volts/ah and/or total watt hours)? Is a complete battery included?

Oh, and is shipping included at this price point?
 
Thanks Paul! Top speed is 20mph for the single speed bike, 28mph for the NuVinci bike.

It's 135mm but with slider dropouts, for SS or IGH hubs, not really made for regular derailleurs.

48V system, battery is included, shipping is extra. We will post specs soon!
 
Looking forward to some additional details, thanks for the reply! With regards to shipping, will it be in line with some of the other crowd-funded bikes currently out there? (Radrover, wave bike and sondors are all max or fixed $195) Or can we expect some savings owing to the weight of the bike?
 
We calculate shipping to be $129 because of additional regulations around shipment of lithium-ion batteries. Unlike other campaigns, we will be locally warehousing the bikes and are happy to have people pick the bikes up in-person. We would refund the shipping charges for local pickups, Kickstarter doesn't have a way for us to do that on the campaign page.
 
At this point in my Ebike search; if I had the 1766.00 to by the upgraded version, you'd have my money already... I'm so tired of reading about e-bikes; I just want to ride all day erry day.
 
Thanks Kaldeem! We love ebikes, but we're tired of reading about them too. I know it's a pretty high-ticket item, so we're working on ways to make it more affordable for everyone. Stay tuned!
 
I see you guys have looked at or prototyped a commuter step-thru style as part of your journey. I encourage that. Step-thru bikes will allow women (well anyone) to easily mount & discount, especially short women.

And SF... ahhh.... I lived there for 19 years (up until 2002).
 
Yes! We're big fans of the step-thru frame. Just not ready to those the next version of those bikes yet. ;)
 
Wow, so you basically did bring it in under $1500 with the shipping. It seemed like there were some pictures of the new Bafang drive, computer stuff, but that's not really available, I guess. Now seems like a good time for this bike.

You've set the bar fairly high, at $200k. This bike seems like what most people should buy, not to beat up on anyone else. I think this is the new world. I just finished a similar bike, and I like the 27 speeds (front hub) because it's easier to ride it as a bike. This is rather tempting.

Electron Blue. Great color, great name.
 
Thanks George! The new stuff is exciting, but they'll be more expensive too.

We set the campaign at $195k because that's what Dragon Innovation required. They looked through everything and certified that we can deliver the bikes if we hit that goal.

You should see the color in person, it's beautiful!
 
Hong,

Campaign looks really good, I'll have to look hard at this one. I had posted here on another thread that those involved in that other CF bike in the news that they had no idea the damage they've done. For me the damage is loss of trust in these CF schemes and I had little to begin with. I'll have to watch for a bit. I do love the bike, both colors!
 
Hong said:
Just launched our Kickstarter this morning, let me know what you think:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hongquan/the-kben-a-modern-electric-bike-for-the-human-race

We already got listed as New & Noteworthy and now we're a Kickstarter Staff Pick too!

Cheers,
Hong
Click to expand...

Congrats on the launch, Hong! Just a friendly heads-up from a Seattleite: just about nobody in Seattle knows what Pioneer Park is, so you ought to consider choosing a different set of <25-mile round trip start and end points for your Seattle range reference in your Kickstarter ("In Seattle, you can ride round-trip from Pioneer Park to Pike Place Market."). You might consider using Pike Place Market to Downtown Bellevue instead, which is approximately 11 miles each way and is mostly flat with a few short <3% grades, though that route might be a little closer to hitting empty on the battery than in your Pioneer Park example.
 
Thanks J.R.! We know a lot of trust has been lost with other ebike campaigns, and we won't comment on them. But I hope we've established that Karmic isn't a fly-by-night operation, Neal and I have both been starting companies for a long time, and we fully intend to deliver on our promises.

Cameron, thanks for pointing that out! I used Pioneer Park for the alliteration, and it was also a nice place that I visited once. Will make the edit as per your suggestion. ;)
 
I know it's somewhat of an extreme use-case, but has anyone tried to go up to the top of Russian Hill or up any other 7%+ grades with the single-speed version to see if it can be done without breaking a major sweat?

Here's a ridiculous list of the steepest grades in SF, mostly in the 20%-41% range (granted, any smart cyclist would be able to avoid riding up these grades by taking a more efficient route that would go around the steepest grades!):

http://www.7x7.com

Also, I'd be interested in seeing any specifics regarding motor power (incl. peak) as well as battery capacity in both Ah and Wh, but it seems that you guys have purposely chosen to leave out this information in your Kickstarter campaign for now, and I imagine you have good reasons for doing so (legal?), so I won't try and pry the information out of you if you don't want to. ;-)
 
PowerMe said:
I see you guys have looked at or prototyped a commuter step-thru style as part of your journey. I encourage that. Step-thru bikes will allow women (well anyone) to easily mount & discount, especially short women.

And SF... ahhh.... I lived there for 19 years (up until 2002).
Click to expand...

Agreed!

I lent my (size M/17") 2015 IZIP E3 Dash to my 5' 8" girlfriend last weekend and she had a hell of a time getting her leg over the top tube!
 
Cameron Newland said:
I know it's somewhat of an extreme use-case, but has anyone tried to go up to the top of Russian Hill or up any other 7%+ grades with the single-speed version to see if it can be done without breaking a major sweat?

Here's a ridiculous list of the steepest grades in SF, mostly in the 20%-41% range (granted, any smart cyclist would be able to avoid riding up these grades by taking a more efficient route that would go around the steepest grades!):

http://www.7x7.com

Also, I'd be interested in seeing any specifics regarding motor power (incl. peak) as well as battery capacity in both Ah and Wh, but it seems that you guys have purposely chosen to leave out this information in your Kickstarter campaign for now, and I imagine you have good reasons for doing so (legal?), so I won't try and pry the information out of you if you don't want to. ;-)
Click to expand...
Some battery info here:http://electricbikereview.com/community/threads/karmic-bikes-on-techcrunch.1575/
 
Cameron Newland said:
I know it's somewhat of an extreme use-case, but has anyone tried to go up to the top of Russian Hill or up any other 7%+ grades with the single-speed version to see if it can be done without breaking a major sweat?
Click to expand...

I've tried it. ;) We really recommend the NuVinci hub if you've got any significant climbs.

Also, I'd be interested in seeing any specifics regarding motor power (incl. peak) as well as battery capacity in both Ah and Wh, but it seems that you guys have purposely chosen to leave out this information in your Kickstarter campaign for now, and I imagine you have good reasons for doing so (legal?), so I won't try and pry the information out of you if you don't want to. ;-)
Click to expand...

We will have that info up soon, not purposely leaving it out, just figuring out a way to present the info cleanly without the typical "spec sheet" of ebike jargon.
 
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