183: Cool Californian Cruisers: the story of Electra Bikes with CEO Kevin Cox

Ride AI

This week we release an episode from the SoCal tour that we did back in January, this time it is with Kevin Cox, the CEO of Electra Bikes, which was originally founded by Benno Banzinger who we have also had on the show earlier. Electra is the fifth largest event company in the US and have a real focus on making distinctive cruiser-style bikes, and have made the pivot from being a traditional bike maker to a bike maker with the support of Trek who own them. We really enjoyed this episode ,just as a guide to how traditional bike businesses are adapting to Micromobility.

We hope that you enjoy it too! In the meantime, if you enjoy this conversation, you will also enjoy Micromobility both Europe and America. We have Europe coming up on June 8 and 9th, and then we have America happening in the Bay Area on the 18th and 19th of October. We will of course be at both. Looking forward to hopefully having some more of you there along with more than 1000 people at both events talking about the latest in Micromobility and lightweight electric vehicles. And with that, here is Kevin!

Specifically, they discuss

- The background of Electra Bikes including its strong connection to the beach culture in Southern California

- The history of how they came to be acquired by a PE firm and then by Trek

- Their emergence as a large ebike manufacturer

- How Trek operates with them and how traditional bike companies are adapting to micromobility

- Their retail and distribution choices.

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