Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Rast.
Robert, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Challenged myself to a 500 mile bike ride around a tropical island. Everything went wrong, a typhoon came in, I ended up sleeping in a flooded banana forest. After that, I vowed never to pedal long distances again. Years later while based in China and breathing the world’s worst air pollution and enduring the worst traffic, I met my cofounder, Pete Leaviss. We decided to create bikes with electric motors that could climb steeper hills, cruise at higher speeds, and cover more distance than any regular bike.
We spent 1.5 years creating 6 prototypes, hired interns and moved out of our bedrooms to sleep under our computers after nonstop 18 hour days. We launched the first 3 FLX Electric Bike models on Indiegogo in March 2016 and they were a huge hit, selling $2M in orders in just 60 days. Since then we’ve dedicated our lives to making the best electric rideable and getting more people out of cars and onto bikes.
Has it been a smooth road?
We thought the biggest struggle was the time leading up to our initial launch, answering thousands of questions a day and trying to communicate how life changing the bikes can be without the opportunity to let people experience it in person. It wasn’t until the campaign was over and we had $2M in bike orders to fulfill when we had originally made shipping estimates based on our modest goal of $50K. We had an estimated three months to ship, but it was clear that it wouldn’t happen with the insane quantity of bikes. At that point, Pete and I moved the entire office near the factory and we went to live in the factory all Summer, resolving small quality details and personally inspecting every detail of each bike that was made before it was sent on to our customers. It took about nine months to get every order out to over 40 nations around the world.
We built the company around our goal of crafting the ebike of our dreams, not around making quick money. We’ve had to make difficult and expensive decisions and take major losses to ensure we’re truly giving the best we can to our riders.
Please tell us about your business.
FLX Bike offers direct to consumer pricing on electric bikes that are designed by a team of passionate cyclists and engineers. We built a team to handle product development, manufacturing, customer service and all aspects of the business. Attention to detail, awesome community and quality components make FLX the best eBikes on the planet. Product wise we are known for making electric bikes with high level components (like mid motors, Magura 4 piston brakes, Beefy Thru Axles, Rockshox Forks). Because we sell consumers direct they’re a huge value!
We’re most proud of our newest product, the FLX Babymaker. At first glance nobody can tell it’s electric, it just looks like a stylish road bike. But hidden within the frame are a high capacity lithium battery, speed controller, and powerful motor that can power riders up any hills with ease. It’s over a year in development and we’re finally getting ready to launch it with another Indiegogo campaign.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
San Diego is amazing! I’ve spent much of my adolescence living in cities around the world and no place feels like home quite like San Diego. The weather may be unmatched anywhere in the States but it’s the people that make all the difference. You can be out surfing before work and meet a new best friend in the water, bump into someone on the boardwalk and trade business ideas or just get lost and get in touch with your soul.
Dislikes
Roads could use improvement
Bike theft
Pricing:
- BABYMAKER – $1999 Retail, launching for <$1000 in the crowdfunding launch in January or February
- FLX Roadster $2199
- FLX Step Through $2049
- FLX Trail $2299
Contact Info:
- Address: FLX Bike 4170 Morena Blvd Ste D
- Website: www.flx.bike
- Phone: 844-548-3359
- Email: hello@flx.bike
- Instagram: @flx.bike
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/flx.bike
- Other: founder’s IG: instagram.com/rob.rast
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