After months of delays, missed delivery deadlines, and increasingly impatient reservation holders, Rivian subsidiary ALSO is finally getting its e-bikes into the hands of real customers.
Early deliveries of the launch edition of the US$4,500 ALSO TM-B electric bikes have begun to appear, with some owners posting their first impressions and real-world riding results on social media. And so far, the reports seem largely positive, although the first range figures also offer a useful reality check on some of the bike’s loftier claims.
For those who haven’t followed the saga, ALSO’s TM-B is one of the most unusual new e-bikes to hit the market in years. The company grew out of Rivian and brought with it a lot of that EV-style thinking, resulting in a bike that looks and operates quite differently from the sea of relatively conventional electric bikes already on the market.
The TM-B uses ALSO’s patented DreamRide drive system, which combines a pedal-by-cable setup with a powerful motor. There is no conventional bicycle drivetrain that mechanically connects the pedals to the rear wheel. Instead, pedaling generates an electronic input that controls the motor, creating a system that can ALSO be largely tuned via software.
It’s one of the bike’s many cool features, including interchangeable top frames and the company’s unusual version of the throttle.
One early Launch Edition owner explained that the thumb control doesn’t simply turn the TM-B into a typical throttle-controlled e-bike.
“When you step on the accelerator and you’re not pedaling, nothing happens. But when you pedal, it temporarily increases the assistance to the maximum level and the bike takes off like a rocket. It’s incredibly responsive and fast. I’m completely satisfied with how it works; I really have no interest in an eBike that works like a motorcycle and accelerates without pedaling.”
That’s an interesting distinction, especially now as the industry increasingly struggles with an increasing number of different regulations from state to state. It has ALSO effectively created a temporary “boost” button instead of a traditional standalone throttle.
And the first participants seem to be enjoying the result.
Another new owner summed up the experience quite succinctly: “I am very happy and impressed with the bike, but please note that I have never owned an electric bike, so my summary may not be as detailed as others. For me, this is a home run.”
But over that 100 mile range…
One of the most interesting early reports comes from an owner who deliberately set out to see what kind of real-world range the TM-B could offer.
Starting with a full charge, the rider rode 30 miles (51 km) before reaching 4% battery remaining. Admittedly, that ride represents something close to a worst-case range test: The rider said he used high levels of pedal assist throughout the ride, encountered several steep hills, and had to contend with significant headwinds.
Apparently, the bike also begins to progressively limit its maximum assistance as the battery depletes, beginning to reduce power output when the battery reaches 40% charge. According to the owner, the maximum assist dropped from the highest 10x setting to 9x at 40% battery, then gradually decreased until only the 2x assist remained at 6%.
Below that point, the owner described the TM-B starting to feel more like pedaling a regular bike than an electric bike.
The reported 30 miles (51 km) on an essentially full battery certainly doesn’t come close to 100 miles (160 km), but it shouldn’t be especially surprising either. E-bike range figures are notoriously optimistic across virtually the entire industry, and typically represent low-assist riding under favorable conditions, rather than someone spending an entire ride asking the motor for everything it has.
Even if the range numbers don’t live up to the advertised figures, at least in real-world riding scenarios, most owners are probably happy to finally take delivery of the long-delayed bikes.
Initially, I ALSO hoped to have these bikes in customers’ hands much sooner, but suffered repeated delays. Customers who deposited money early saw delivery times delayed, and at the same time ALSO held bike demos around the country as part of a promotional tour. The company has attributed recent delays to hardware changes related to component sourcing, as well as regulatory approval challenges around its battery and high-power USB-C charging system.
Now, at least, the story is finally changing from when customers will receive their bikes to what those customers actually think of them.
There will undoubtedly be quirks, complaints, and perhaps some first-generation teething problems that will arise as hundreds of TM-B e-bikes rack up real-world miles. And we’ll need a lot more range testing, particularly at lower support levels, before drawing conclusions about how realistic ALSO’s top range claims really are.
But after such a long wait, seeing the TM-B Launch Edition under real customers instead of company representatives might be the biggest milestone yet.
And as more of them arrive at our doors in the coming weeks, we should finally have a much clearer idea of whether ALSO’s unconventional take on the e-bike was worth the wait.
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