Spark Cycleworks: Building Electric Bikes in Connecticut : WFSB
and what you do and how you help Connecticut because you have such a great idea summer we’ve got chips we’ve got electric motorbikes tell me a little bit about your company how it got started
yeah we started in 2018 in Brford and this past year we moved to North Brford Connecticut um but yeah we’re building an electric moped uh also electric bikes and this past year we work with Paul and we’re able to bring two new bikes to manufacturing uh so really excited about that and the coolest thing about the new bikes is it’s really a collaboration between a lot of Connecticut and New England companies i love that so for example our laser cut parts are from CFA which is in Milford uh it’s welded right down the road by uh Classic Welding painted by BNC powder coating seats are from Tapio Seats it just goes on and on like that so it’s really this whole collaboration build between a lot of different companies in the area and that’s another reason why we like to highlight Connecticut manufacturing here on this program because you know we have Bridgeport here we have people getting jobs and employed here and great product coming out you’re using actual local companies here and you’re just kind of keeping it all in our state um what is the difference really for an enthusiast a bike enthusiast between a gas and electric bike
the main things are maintenance right so a lot of people will get a gas motorcycle or get a gas moped and it’ll be awesome for one season and then they’ll go start it up after the winter time that thing won’t go and it will just remain in their shed with electric it will just turn on and you basically just have to change the brake pads okay and make sure your connections are good so the maintenance is really low um they’re also silent so you’re not going to be annoying your neighbors uh there’s no fumes and then on a day like today there’s no heat that they’re putting out so something that people don’t think about on a motorcycle is that thing puts out a lot of heat when you’re in the summertime
and on a bike like this you’re staying nice and cool
so are I mean I don’t I’m not saying to be a speed demon or anything but does it go fast or does it have reduced speed because it’s electric or what are what how does that work
yeah so one of the goals of Spark was to create an electric bike that was designed for New England riding so in the beginning in 2018 there were very few bike lanes that’s changed now um but we wanted to make something that could keep up on those 25 to 45 mile per hour roads okay so our bike will do moped speeds so it’ll do 35 to 40 easily if you’re on private property it can do up to 60 okay um but it’s it’s not an ebike that’s designed for 15 to 20 miles an hour it’s a bit faster than that
yeah my goodness and how and what what specifically what are we looking at and how many versions do you have
yeah so we have two different models the bike that’s in front of you is called the Brute uh and it kind of gets its name for good reason it has you know a very heavy weight capacity on it can carry tons of gear on it we’re selling a lot of these to people out um in the West Coast things like that but also in New New New England and then we have a bike called the Javelin which is basically like a light electric motorcycle um it’s a very different kind of setup and we usually call that a suburban commuter okay so something that’s good for maybe 30 to 60 miles uh you take the battery out charge it at work and you ride
Spark Cycleworks goes live on WFSB to talk about building electric bikes in Connecticut. Spark is collaborating with numerous other American companies to build their bikes and is pushing the industry to higher and higher quality/safety standards.
https://www.sparkcycleworks.com to learn more
