New electric bike brand due to launch for pre-orders in the USA next month

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Specialized has teased details of the launch of a new sub-brand, focused on electric urban bikes, called Globe Bikes.

Launching in October, a statement posted in May said Globe Bikes “is an extension of the Specialized brand that will focus on bringing more fun to local living while reducing the number of [car journeys used in] everyday transportation”.

The Globe brand was used previously by Specialized for its range of practical urban bikes.

A holding page for Globe Bikes shows an urban electric bike obscured by (of all things) a buffet of cacti.

The bike is built around large 3in+ fat bike tyres. These have a smooth central section with a light chequered tread on the outside edge of the tyre.

The bike is decked out with a full complement of accessories, including mudguards, a kickstand, pannier racks and integrated lighting.

The cacti are also held in plastic bucket-style panniers.

These look very similar – if not identical – to the Cool Cave panniers launched as part of Specialized’s and Fjällräven’s Great Nearby collaboration.

The bike is powered by a rear-hub motor. This is a notable diversion from Specialized’s previous electric bikes, which – barring a handful of exceptions – have almost exclusively used mid-drive motors.

Hub motors are, generally speaking, more affordable than mid-drive motors. This suggests Globe Bikes will be aimed at a significantly lower price point than Specialized’s existing premium electric bikes.

Specialized says that, after the October launch, the brand aims to start taking orders in “late 2022 and deliver our first bikes to riders in early 2023”.

The statement adds Globe Bikes will only be available to riders in the USA at launch, and that bikes will be available through “continued partnership with independent local bike shops”. Whether the bikes will also be available through Specialized’s direct-to-consumer programme isn’t specified.

Jack Luke is the deputy editor at BikeRadar and has been fettling with bikes for his whole life. Always in search of the hippest new niche in cycling, Jack is a self-confessed gravel dork, fixie-botherer, tandem-evangelist and hill climb try hard. Jack thinks nothing of bikepacking after work to sleep in a ditch or taking on a daft challenge for the BikeRadar YouTube channel. He is also a regular contributor to the BikeRadar podcast. With a near encyclopaedic knowledge of cycling tech, ranging from the most esoteric retro niche to the most cutting-edge modern kit, Jack takes pride in his ability to seek out stories that would otherwise go unreported. He is also particularly fond of tan-wall tyres, dynamo lights, cup and cone bearings, and skids. Jack has been writing about and testing bikes for more than five years now, has a background working in bike shops for years before that, and is regularly found riding a mix of weird and wonderful machines. Jack can also often be seen zooming about with his partner aboard their beloved tandem, Cecil.

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