When Rivian-spinoff Also announced its first electric bike recently, I was stoked — a Rivian in bike form? Yes please! — but also had some doubts. The design was, shall we say, polarizing, and the whole thing was powered by software, which raises the specter of outages, glitches, and other assorted crashes. I could already hear the grumbling from purists: bikes are supposed to be simple, and this was anything but.
A quick glance at the spec sheet confirmed my fears: zonal architecture; series hybrid powertrain; pedal-by-wire; custom vehicle software; BLE anti-theft. These are not the type of specs you typically see in any bike, let alone an e-bike. I was blown away by how much stuff Also had crammed in. It felt like the company was throwing down the gauntlet to the bike industry, challenging the very notion of what makes a bicycle. And it left me wondering: who is this for exactly?
People with some money to burn, apparently. Starting at $4,500, the TM-B is not exactly cheap. When you consider that the bestselling type of e-bike in the US is one with fat tires that folds and sells for under $1,000, you can start to see the outlines of the challenge that Also will face ahead.
But all those worries vanished as soon as I started pedaling. It was maybe the most impressed I’ve felt while riding an e-bike in a long time. Cruising up 10th Avenue in Manhattan on a Tuesday is not for the faint of heart, but Also built the TM-B to have a “10x” assist multiplier, meaning it enables you to get up to speed with and often beat the cars that you’re riding alongside. And if you’re like me, beating cars is about feeling safer while riding.
This was my first time trying a pedal-by-wire system, which swaps the traditional mechanical connection with software. So instead of the pedals turning the chainring, which turns the rear wheel, torque sensors convert my pedaling into electrical input for a traction motor inside the square-shaped “Dream Ride” powertrain. A secondary motor in the rear hub adds its own assist to propel the bike forward.
I quickly realized that the TM-B’s secret weapon is its adaptability. Because the drivetrain is powered by software, riders can easily switch between ride modes at the press of a button, just as easily as they swap top frames. (More on that in a second.) Auto mode is designed for everyday riding, where riders choose a preferred cadence and the bike then automatically adjusts the motor to maintain it. This works going uphill, downhill, flat riding — wherever you are, in real time.
Auto mode was a breeze, but I prefer a little pushback when riding. Just spinning your legs without any real resistance is my least favorite kind of e-bike riding. To be sure, that wasn’t the experience with the TM-B, but it did push me to quickly switch over to manual trail mode, which simulates the experience of shifting through gears. I was curious how it would feel, considering the bike has no actual gearset or derailleur. Would it feel similar to those electric muscle cars that have virtual gear-shifting and fake engine noises to simulate the experience of driving with a V8 engine?
Fortunately it was more intuitive than that. By flipping a switch on the right handle, I could click through a number of gears depending on how much pedal resistance I desired. And with each click, I could feel the resistance gradually increasing, until I settled on one that felt natural without too much effort. At that moment, I felt like the TM-B had truly revealed itself to me.
I quickly realized that the TM-B’s secret weapon is its adaptability.
I wasn’t able to tackle any major hills — Manhattan is cursed with flatness — but Also’s director of product Saul Leiken assured me that unlike traditional e-bike, the TM-B has “no mechanical ceiling,” and thus can climb extremely steep hills while maintaining an exact cadence — often around 70 RPM, the “Stayin’ Alive” rhythm — without any disruption to pedal feel. Leiken described effortless trips up San Francisco hills with over 30 percent grade.
Leiken also sought to assure me that the bike’s software was an asset rather than a liability. Outages won’t affect basic functionality or movement. The drivetrain logic runs entirely locally, he said, so the bike never relies on the cloud to ride. Some features — like anti-theft and firmware downloads — do require cloud services, and firmware updates occur periodically, similar to EVs. Even during outages, Leiken said, the bike remains fully usable and automatically updates once connectivity returns.
The bike’s 5-inch circular touchscreen in the headset was one of the largest and most colorful I’ve seen on an e-bike. I’m used to no-frills LCD screens on budget bikes like Lectric and Rad Power Bikes — minimalistic, functional, and perfect for quick glances while riding. The TM-B’s Portal screen, in contrast, was bright and inviting, with information about the battery’s state-of-charge, navigation, and ride mode just a swipe away. But I was glad to see that Also kept it pretty simple, with just enough information not to overwhelm the rider with metrics.
The adaptability theme continues with the modular top frame, which can be swapped between different seat posts, so the bike can be transformed without tools into a cargo hauler, kid carrier, or cruiser with a bench seat. It was a neat trick, but I wondered whether TM-B owners would shell out the cash for additional seats, especially with the bike already costing what it did.
I keep bumping up against the price because I think it will be a significant hurdle. A lot of people are going to see the $4,500 launch edition price and simply click over to a cheaper e-bike. Sure, there’s plenty of room for premium priced e-bikes in the world, but with a polarizing design, I’m worried that Also is consigning itself to niche status. I think the connective tissue with Rivian will help — people love those oval lights! — but Also has its work cut out for it.
That said, if you want to spend $4,500 on an e-bike — or even just $3,500 for the base model — you couldn’t do better than this bike. It’s that good.
Photography by Alex Parkin / The Verge
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