The Bird Cruiser is the electric bike we didn’t ask for

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Seemingly not content with littering the sidewalks with electric scooters, Bird just announced a new set of wheels is coming to its range.

The Bird Cruiser is a fat-tired ebike, which will be coming to a few unannounced cities later this summer.

Cruising is for the Birds

Image: Bird

The Bird Cruiser is a new electric bike created specially for Bird by an unnamed California-based company. Maybe the harder-to-lift bike format won’t end up at the bottom of our harbors, eh?

• The 20-inch fat tires are perfect for cruising around town, as the tires provide more cushioning from bumps than normal bike tires
• The Cruiser can fit one or two people on the padded flat seat
• The rider can decide if they want to help with pedaling or just sit back and use the throttle-only mode
• The Bird Cruiser has a 52-volt battery, but without capacity numbers, it’s anyone’s guess how long the range will be
• There’s a big headlight for night riding
• Bird might offer the Cruiser for purchase in the future, instead of just renting them as rideshare vehicles

I’m not so sure that Bird won’t fall foul of city ordinances with these new ebikes. Their business model seems to take advantage of the fact that no cities really have any laws against electric scooters or their rental.

There are plenty of laws concerning motorbikes and ebikes already, so it will be interesting to see how this new venture goes. Maybe that’s why the cities are currently unannounced, with Bird still in talks with local authorities to get operating permits.

How long til we see a Cruiser on fire against a wall?

What do you think? Interested in the Bird Cruiser? Would you like to see it in your city? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

Editors’ Recommendations:

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.