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 %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Citi Bike false https://www.citibikenyc.com/blog/service-update-pedal-assist-bikes false false%> in New York, %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Capital Bikeshare false https://www.capitalbikeshare.com/blog/service-update-putting-riders-safety-first false false%> in Washington, DC, and the Bay Area’s %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external Ford GoBike. false https://www.fordgobike.com/blog/service-update-electric-bikes false false%>

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: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external New York Times false https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/nyregion/citi-bike-electric.html false false%> says ‘dozens’ of riders have reported injuries while riding e-bikes.

Citi Bike, which had previously pledged to increase its bike fleet to %$Linker: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 37669 0 link-external 40,000 false /sections/transmart/news/ride-hailing-firm-lyft-highlights-new-bike-share-service/ false false%> 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: 2 Internal <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 4 36075 0 link-external Motivate false /categories/utc/news/lyft-and-motivate-intend-to-implement-bike-share-systems-across-us/ false false%>, which runs the three bike-share brands, last year.