Lyft recalls 3,000 e-bikes across US

Ride-hailing company 8789 Lyft has recalled 3,000 electric bikes from cities in the US because of concerns over their braking systems.

The brands affected are <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external Citi Bikefalsehttps://www.citibikenyc.com/blog/service-update-pedal-assist-bikesfalsefalse%> in New York, <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external Capital Bikesharefalsehttps://www.capitalbikeshare.com/blog/service-update-putting-riders-safety-firstfalsefalse%> in Washington, DC, and the Bay Area’s <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external Ford GoBike. falsehttps://www.fordgobike.com/blog/service-update-electric-bikesfalsefalse%>

A similar statement on each company’s website says: “We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel. Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the pedal-assist bikes from service for the time being. We know this is disappointing to the many people who love the current experience — but reliability and safety come first.”

The <%$Linker:2External<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />000link-external New York Timesfalsehttps://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/nyregion/citi-bike-electric.htmlfalsefalse%> says ‘dozens’ of riders have reported injuries while riding e-bikes.

Citi Bike, which had previously pledged to increase its bike fleet to <%$Linker:2Internal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />4376690link-external 40,000false/sections/transmart/news/ride-hailing-firm-lyft-highlights-new-bike-share-service/falsefalse%> over the next five years, says it will make a new e-bike available soon and will “quickly replace” the models it has removed with “classic pedal bikes”. Meanwhile 278 Ford GoBike said: “A portion of electric bikes in San Jose have different components, and will remain in service.”

Lyft bought <%$Linker:2Internal<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary />4360750link-external Motivatefalse/categories/utc/news/lyft-and-motivate-intend-to-implement-bike-share-systems-across-us/falsefalse%>, which runs the three bike-share brands, last year.