Two things that are all the rage in the age of coronavirus: subscription services and e-bikes. So it was perhaps only a matter of time before some enterprising folks decided to combine the two. Which brings us to Dance, a new subscription-based e-bike program from the co-founders of SoundCloud.
The brainchild of Eric Quidenus-Wahlforss and Alexander Ljung — plus Christian Springup, co-founder of web design startup Jimdo— Berlin-based Dance brings to mind a buzzword we seem to hear a lot lately: frictionless. Aware that most e-bikes are expensive, high-maintenance and vulnerable to theft, these gents see advantages to e-bike access rather than ownership.
While they haven’t revealed too many details yet, you can sign up for the waitlist at the slick-looking Dance website, subscribe for €59 ($68) per month and (eventually) a concierge service will deliver an e-bike to you within 24 hours. Dance handles all the maintenance and will replace any stolen bikes, too.
The bike itself features a 250w rearhub motor, belt drive and removable downtube-based battery with 45 km (28 miles of range). A global rollout is planned, and it will of course pair with an app, like everything else these days.
This news leaves a lot of questions unanswered — When will it launch and where? How does the bike really stack up against alternatives? Is there a coffee cup holder?? — but it’s a cool idea from people with pedigree. So we’ll be keeping an eye on all the, ahem, Dance moves in the months to come.
