Karbon Kinetics Ltd has just announced its North American Kickstarter campaign to launch a new entry level model: the Gocycle GS.
Richard Thorpe, founder and designer of Gocycle, who started the company after leaving a ‘dream job’ at McLaren Cars in 2002, told Pedelecs that while building a company and branching out into Europe hasn’t always been plain sailing, his next focus is the USA: “We’ve worked hard to establish ourselves in Europe… but my vision for Gocycle is global, and that’s why we are on Kickstarter. We want to break into the North American market with a new model – the Gocycle GS.”
While the current model retailing in the UK, the G3, comes with a price tag of £3,299, the pared down GS is being offered in limited numbers at an ‘Early Bird’ price of $1,699 (just over £1300 at the time of writing) or a basic pledge of $1,999.
The reduction in cost to reflect entry model status means the GS has a mechanical shifter in place of the G3’s electronic shifting, along with the G3’s hidden cabling, integrated LED display and the daytime running light. The Gocycle Connect app, blue tooth and adjustable height and reach on the handlebar stem also notch up the spec on the G3.
While Thorpe acknowledges that introducing a new model to a new market comes with its challenges, he explains the role the popular crowdfunding site plays in raising both awareness and funds: “For a small and innovative company like Gocycle, opening up new territories such as the North American market is not easy, and introducing a new model is equally tough. But Kickstarter gives us the ability to punch above our weight both in terms of generating awareness for Gocycle in a new territory and being able to plan the size of our first production batch of GS models.”
With a successful launch campaign, the Gocycle GS would be delivered to North American backers starting in May 2017. The Gocycle GS is planned to have a 2017 MSRP of $2,999.
Thorpe adds: “The GS model is designed and specced for the North American e-bike market. We don’t have plans to introduce the GS into Europe any time soon, but it certainly is an exciting and compelling e-bike proposition. Ultimately, it shows our global ambition as a company to extend our Gocycle technology across multiple models and over a broad price range.”
The Kickstarter campaign will run for 30 days and can be found here.
