Civilized Cycles Founder Marc Liu on Making E-Bikes for Car People

Civilized Cycles is a new kind of electric bike company whose vision is to provide two-wheeled vehicles that meet real transportation needs, rather than simply create bicycles with motors. To achieve this goal, we have developed a substantial library of patented and highly differentiating technologies (including auto-leveling air suspension and expandable hard-shell panniers). While our current product is focused on the consumer market, our philosophy also has large commercial applications, particularly for last-mile delivery on e-cargo bikes in dense urban areas.

I jumped on the opportunity to join Zach Schieffelin as a co-founder for three simple reasons. One, the market is exciting and growing rapidly globally and especially here in the U.S. Two, our product is highly differentiated and tackles the unmet needs of regular people (not “cyclists”) who simply want to get around on a bike for their daily transportation needs. Three, Zach, as the founder of North America’s most successful Vespa dealership, is someone who I respect deeply as an entrepreneur, in addition to being a longtime friend (our friendship was forged in the fire of mixed martial arts training over a decade).

Our product positioning is centered around enduring quality and design, versatile functionality, and connection to the world around us. Much like Apple and Mercedes-Benz, our products are meant for consumers who want to invest in high-quality products that will enhance their lives.

We are pursuing an omnichannel distribution strategy, selling direct-to-consumer through our website, through specialty retailers, as well as fleet sales to corporate and hotel buyers. Our sales growth will be driven by our content creation and digital storytelling (see our Instagram account for influencer collaborations), brand partnerships with complementary organizations such as Bern Helmets, local retailer marketing collaboration, consumer and industry trade event participation (such as Electrify Expo). There is also a significant opportunity to apply our technology to e-cargo bikes for commercial delivery to improve speed and safety. We are currently in discussions with potential partners for this commercial application.

A substantial part of startup life could be labeled scrappy. One example of this is the rollout of our product to retailers. Without the benefit of a large sales team, Zach and I personally reached out to hundreds of retailers across the country, engaged and demonstrated the bikes to dozens of retailers (in person), negotiated the dealer agreement, and then delivered the bikes. This was a painstaking and laborious process, but it was necessary at this stage of our development in order to find the right retail partners to not only sell our product, but also represent our brand to the public.

Perhaps the most important lesson I have learned is that the e-bike market is very early in its development compared to more established bike products, and especially compared to cars and motorcycles. This has a wide range of consequences, ranging from the fragmentation of the competition to the availability of financial products through to consumer awareness of brands. While this is certainly challenging and we have to make many quick adjustments as we go along, it also means that there is a tremendous opportunity for a brand that can deliver a truly unique, enduring, and valuable product and communicate it effectively to consumers. 

The funds raised will first go toward our sales and marketing efforts to increase brand awareness and drive consumer sales through all of our channels. Further investment in manufacturing will allow us to reduce our per unit production costs and make our products accessible to more consumers. Investment in R&D will allow us to launch the additional products in our pipeline. Our next model is a simplified version of the current product that we aim to sell at around $3,000 and reach an even greater number of consumers. We have also earmarked funds for key items such as UL certification, a voluntary safety standard that will be a signal for quality and allow us to better defend our positioning.