“We do have bikes in our title, however we’re not a motorcycle firm,” Hlede says of his vertically built-in outfit. Amongst 50 staff in Greyp R&D, solely 4 work on the bodily bikes themselves. And the corporate has bought solely about 2,000 bikes since 2019, practically all in Europe, with about 1,200 pre-ordered for 2022.
Consider Greyps as smartphones or PlayStations with pedals, and Android/iOS apps as their nerve facilities.
“We’re by no means going to promote 100,000 bikes, as a result of then we’d turn out to be a competitor to our personal clients,” Hlede says.
So what’s the firm as much as in Sveta Nedelja, close to Rimac’s manufacturing unit on the outskirts of Zagreb? Greyp touts its creations as the primary totally related e-bikes. They’re designed to meld the digital and actual worlds, and get individuals huffing and puffing within the course of.
Extravagantly styled fashions just like the Greyp G6 (ranging from about $8,000) are filled with sensors, 4G eSim modules and GPS; twin 1080/30fps cameras, telemetry and rider knowledge; distant anti-theft options and real-time gamification. Consider Greyps as smartphones or PlayStations with pedals, and Android/iOS apps as their nerve facilities.
That related philosophy already will get on the nerves of some old-school riders, who see biking as a blessed escape from display time, and a strategy to tune into one’s pure environment. However firm execs and engineers as a substitute see a aggressive edge.
Definitely, Greyp’s bikes don’t skimp on prime {hardware}. The G6 is a full-suspension mountain bike with such goodies as a T700 carbon body, Formulation Selva fork, Formulation Cura disc brakes, SRAM drivetrain and Schwalbe tires. A mid-drive motor by MDF, up to date with Greyp firmware, outputs a nominal 250 watts of pedal-assisted energy (450 watts peak), with a 700 watt-hour battery.
“If our bike places a smile in your face, and our competitor doesn’t, we win.”
—Krešimir Hlede, CEO, Greyp
But Hlede says the world’s e-bike giants all draw from the identical cabinets of acquainted, largely interchangeable {hardware}—frames and forks, derailleurs, batteries and motors—from suppliers similar to Shimano and SRAM, Yamaha and Bosch. Rules restrict most pace and energy, and sensible limitations in battery mass make it laborious to eke out a significant edge in vary.
“In bikes, it’s tough to be totally different,” Hlede says in a video interview. “We’re not creating a motorcycle for the subsequent Olympic champ, or probably the most environment friendly bike. You gained’t hear plenty of dialogue from us on vary or Newton-meters, as a result of most individuals truthfully don’t give a rattling. But when our bike places a smile in your face, and our competitor doesn’t, we win.”
On Greyp bikes, entrance and rear mounted cameras always buffer motion in 20-second bites, so riders can press a button and save footage for a social put up or posterity.
A front-mounted wide-angle digicam joins a rear-mounted related gadget in offering Greyp e-bikes with action-capturing eyes fore and aft. Greyp
“Whenever you see, say, a pink elephant cross the highway and say, ‘I actually ought to have recorded that,’ you’ve already bought it,” Hlede says.
One other in-the-works characteristic will let the bike acknowledge a leap or stunt in progress, and mechanically load that clip onto the consumer’s cellphone. Utilizing their apps and TMobile connections, riders can talk with bikes remotely to snap nonetheless photographs or handle capabilities.
“Abruptly you will have a motorcycle you possibly can take from level A to level B, however one which may also create content material, make selections for you, present a gaming platform and talk with different bikes or infrastructure.”
—Krešimir Hlede
If a rider tumbles right into a ditch or encounters an emergency, the bike can mechanically dial for help, as with cell-connected companies in automobiles. House owners will be alerted if somebody strikes or makes off with their expensive bike, and observe and even disable the Greyp totally. A battery cost takes about 5 hours. However a hidden, secondary battery maintains a connection for as much as six months if the primary battery is depleted or eliminated, in line with firm engineers Robert Gotal and Saša Počuča.
Onboard sensors seize dozens of telemetry knowledge units, together with hill gradients, g-forces, rpm cadence, or a rider’s bodily energy output and coronary heart fee. That coronary heart monitor can regulate the bike’s power-assist degree accordingly, or to match a preset exercise schedule. As with auto racing software program, customers can analyze their rides in granular element to enhance their abilities or regulate coaching regimens. Gamification options let riders compete with one another—and doubtlessly “gamers” in different areas—over GPS-linked programs, capturing flags or in search of excessive scores in time, pace or bodily output.
Greyp
“Abruptly you will have a motorcycle you possibly can take from level A to level B, however one which may also create content material, make selections for you, present a gaming platform and talk with different bikes or infrastructure,” Hlede says.
A number of of Greyp’s digital options are on the modern new Storck Cyklaer, an revolutionary, light-weight e-bike made in a partnership between Greyp, Storck Bicycles, Porsche Digital and Fazua, the German drive practice maker. That bike additionally lets riders take away each the battery and motor once they don’t look after help, significantly lightening the load.
Hlede believes that linking bikes to the phone-and-internet world will solely increase the game’s recognition; he cites an general 40 % rise in e-bike gross sales in Europe in 2021, 140 % in the US, and the Far East’s longtime observe of transferring by means of cities on two wheels.
“That is completely one thing that may occur within the Western world. My mom is 70, and impulsively, this permits her to trip a motorcycle,” Hlede says.
“My very own conventional mountain bike has been accumulating mud for 5 years,” he continues. “Going up a hill is now not a pleasure, however a punishment. With out an e-bike, I wouldn’t go for a weekend trip, however now I’ll.”