In BIKE EUROPE

DEL MAR, USA – Benno Baenziger, who was one of the creators of the Electra bike brand, is back with Benno Bikes. It’s not an Electra ‘replay’, but about stylish Cargo & Urban bikes with electric assistance.

Benno Baenziger was with Jean Erforth one of the ‘Berlin boys’ that created the Electra bicycle brand in 1993. The brand was sold to Trek in 2014. That he now starts Benno Bikes LLC is rooted in his understanding of how Americans see cycling.

4 reasons not to ride a bicycle

Over the last years Baenziger lived in California where his primary mode of transportation was cycling. What he realized when riding is that, ”For Americans there are four reasons not to ride a bicycle. These are ‘way too far’, ‘too hilly’, ‘get sweaty’ and ‘I can’t bring anything.’” That’s why Baenziger was brainstorming at first the idea of a cool cargobike. And of course this had to be an e-cargobike.

Excuse for additional support

“The biggest benefit of ‘e’ in combinaton with cargo is that riders always have an excuse for the additional support. This is brilliant to get people used to ‘e’,” states Baenziger.

Baenziger’s cargobike ‘Boost’ will be offered without and with ‘e’ (Boost E). It’s 24 inch-wheeled and can be fitted with fat 2.6 inch wide 24-inch custom tyres.

Urban commuter bike line

Benno Bikes is not only offering cargo bikes. The new brand also has a complete urban casual commuter bike collection of nine models in various colour versions. Next to the Boost cargobikes Benno Bikes offers ‘Ballooner’ which is a line of retro-styled commuter bikes as well as the ‘Upright’ cruiser line.

Benno Bikes are already sold in Australia (through wholesaler Southcott Cycle Division) and will be delivered to the US dealership mid of this year. While the Benno Bikes headquarters is in El Mar, California warehousing and distribution are based in Phoenix, Arizona.

Good fit for Europe

Benno Baenziger is sure that his new brand will also be a good fit for the European markets. Benno Bikes won’t exhibit at this year’s Eurobike, but he is already looking for a European distributor or for country distributors.


Published by Jo Beckendorff on 29 Apr 2016, Bike Europe (bike-eu.com)

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