I remember getting my first “real” bike when I was 10—a late 1980s Schwinn Sierra. It was a mountain bike, and I felt invincible riding that monster around the neighborhood.

Two wheelers have always been a part of my life. First bicycles, then motorcycles.

Bicycles have definitely gotten better over the years, but have fundamentally remained the same. Even today’s electric bikes are still an evolution of a human-powered bike—not really a revolution.

The Invitation

I got an email from Rivian about the launch of a micromobility spinout, ALSO. I was curious to explore and learn more. Rivian offered all attendees free Uber credits to reduce parking demand at The Bridge Yard, an awesome venue sitting at the foot of the Bay Bridge with great views of the skyline. The Bridge Yard in of itself was a neat venue—very Rivian in its thoughtfully designed industrial architecture.

Not Another Bicycle

ALSO. was not creating another bicycle. They were building a micro-mobility platform. What’s the difference? ALSO. is a platform play. The technology enables movement of smaller amounts of people and payloads in different form factors, one of which is a bicycle.

Everything about the bicycle was thoughtfully designed and built with high quality. Even the $4,500 price tag didn’t phase me seeing the level of design, craftsmanship, and engineering to build this kind of vehicle. Why?

The bicycle has a 100-mile range. Pretty impressive if you ask me. The battery is removable (are you going to join them, Apple?). The battery charges via USB-C—the urban hipster can use their MacBook Pro charger to charge the bicycle. The battery has an integrated charging gauge using e-ink like an Amazon Kindle rather than a backlit display to minimize power consumption. The seat uses a software lock to connect to the bicycle. Unhooking the seat allows the operator to add in additional accessories to the bicycle.

A Platform, Not Just a Product

ALSO. wasn’t just about designing a bicycle. They went about building a micromobility platform.

Not only were there two-wheeled vehicles dotted throughout the showroom, there were definitely four-wheeled vehicles as well with a clear nod to Amazon’s delivery business as a commercial client. These four-wheeled bicycles are much easier to maneuver around large cities like San Francisco rather than massive delivery trucks. The operator can easily swap batteries if they need to.

The Test Ride

Each of us got a colored armband to indicate our timeslot to ride the bicycle. Again, I was impressed with the level of design and craftsmanship on the vehicle.

The pedal assist was smooth and flawless. The linked brakes operated smoothly whether actuated from the front or rear brake. The operator could easily adjust how much pedal assist he or she wanted while riding. Of course I cranked the pedal assist all the way up, lol.

Without supplying any additional power on a flat surface, I got the bicycle to run just over 20 miles an hour. With a little extra effort, the bicycle started moving just above 30—though it was hard to sustain that level of speed on the closed-circuit course.

At slow speed, the bicycle definitely operated like a bicycle. However, as I began to push the ALSO. bicycle further, it began to work like a motorcycle. It was easy to counter steer: look right, lean right, push the handlebars to the left and the bicycle agilely makes a smooth right-hand turn.

I could easily see how this vehicle would integrate into city and suburban life. BART has large bicycle lockers that could easily secure this kind of vehicle. It would be easy to use the local bike paths or even the city streets to get to the train station without driving a car and not being sweaty and gross arriving at the office.

The Alpha Wave Helmet

I was also impressed by ALSO. Alpha Wave’s helmet design. Much like the bicycle, they really started from scratch and created a helmet that was clearly differentiated from everything else on the market.

It had integrated headlights and tail lights as well as integrated audio. They go even further with a Release Layer System composed of four panels that are designed to release on impact—focusing on mitigating the risk from rotational impact.

I was really impressed from a marketing perspective how they segmented out their target audiences with displays for city dwellers, parents with young kids, off-road adventurers, surfers, and so on.

Would I Buy One?

I got the question early on—would I buy one?

The answer is definitely not no—but I’d need to wear out my current bicycle and make the commitment that bicycling is not a fitness activity for me but one of mobility. The ALSO. bike is heavy, which isn’t a problem with electronic assist—but I do wonder how much of it is a fitness instrument versus a mobility vehicle like a motorcycle.

Either way, Rivian and ALSO. have definitely given me some things to think about. Now to figure out how to make garage space!