San Francisco, CA (September 22st, 2023)—Friiway, a pioneering e-bike subscription service offered through local retailers, is now available to customers in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Friiway is introducing a fleet of premium e-bikes available on month-to-month subscription, making it easy, budget friendly, and low risk for people to embrace a car-light lifestyle.
Cofounded by Brett Thurber and Joe Connors, Friiway was formed to remove the key obstacles that hinder people from embracing e-bikes. “We believe the more people we introduce to the joys of e-bike riding, the more they will appreciate its countless benefits,” says Joe Connors, co-founder of Friiway. “Our ambition is to bring about a significant change in how people move around cities.”
Both locals of the Bay Area, Joe and Brett decided to start Friiway in early 2023. Joe was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and was inspired by how small and flat his hometown became after buying an electric bike in 2021. Brett was born and raised in San Francisco and founded the pioneering e-bike shop The New Wheel in 2010 which has grown to four locations and over 10,000 riders served.
Friiway provides a simple and worry-free way to start riding an electric bike, offering high-quality e-bikes, like Stromer’s ST2 Pinion commuter bike and Riese & Muller’s Multitinker family bike, on a month-to-month basis without committing to the upfront cost of purchase. Every Friiway bike is covered for theft, damage, and maintenance.
The e-bike models available on subscription are from renowned European manufacturers Riese & Müller and Stromer, and are designed to cater to a wide range of daily needs, from convenient commuting to school runs with the kids, hassle-free grocery shopping, and spontaneous weekend adventures.
“We picked our partnerships with Riese & Müller and Stromer because they are leaders in both design and manufacturing,” says Joe Connors, co-founder of Friiway. Stromer is the market leader in high-speed electric bikes in Europe and builds all of their award winning e-bikes in Switzerland. Riese & Müller is Europe's leading premium e-bike brand producing over 110,000 e-bikes annually in their state-of-the-art factory in Germany and one of the most sustainable manufacturers in the bike industry. “There are no other brands today that are producing better electric bikes at scale as these two companies.”
Friiway’s arrival brings a new era of sustainable and enjoyable transportation options to Bay Area residents, promoting eco-conscious choices that directly address the challenges of global warming while fostering happier, healthier lifestyles.
Friiway is the first service in the United States to offer subscriptions of premium e-bikes, and do this through partnerships with local retailers. “Local service and support is essential to support e-bikes as vehicles that replace cars, and local business is also crucial for building a vibrant cycling culture and community,” says Brett Thurber, co-founder of Friiway, “When developing Friiway we decided that working with local bike shops would be fundamental”.
At launch, Friiway will be available at The New Wheel, a local electric bike retailer with locations in San Francisco, Marin and Oakland. More retail partnerships in the Bay Area and beyond will follow.
Subscribe and Ride – How it Works
A Friiway subscription is the easiest way to start riding a quality e-bike. It’s like a lease, but removes the commitment and adds services like insurance & maintenance.
Step 1: Pick Your Bike
Browse the Friiway website (friiway.com) or head to your local Friiway retailer for a test ride.
Step 2: Pick Your Plan
Choose your subscription plan: month-to-month, 6 months or 12 months. Not sure? You can always extend your Friiway subscription.
Step 3: New Bike Day
On new bike day, your Friiway retailer will give you a full orientation and make sure you have what you need to enjoy the ride.
Step 4: Ride Worry Free
Your subscription comes standard with maintenance, insurance, and the ability to apply 15 percent of the cost towards a new e-bike at your retailer.
“Every so often, something changes your perspective on what’s possible. E-bikes do just that. They bring places and people closer together, flatten hills, make you feel good, and do it all at a fraction of the cost to your wallet and our planet than the leading alternative,” says Joe Connors, Friiway co-founder. “For the e-bike curious, hesitation stems from poor infrastructure, upfront cost, and the commitment required to try it in their own lives. At Friiway, we’re here to cure that curiosity by making high-quality e-bikes affordable and flexible for first-time riders.”
For more information visit friiway.com or email us at hello@friiway.com.
About Friiway
Friiway was founded in 2023 by Joe Connors and Brett Thurber to help catalyze the adoption of quality electric bicycles in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Joe was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and was inspired by how small and flat his hometown became after buying an electric bike in 2021. When the opportunity presented itself, Joe decided it was time to turn his personal mission of getting everyone he knew on an e-bike into a professional one.
Brett was born in San Francisco and has been inspired and daunted by the hills of his hometown since his first time on two-wheels. After college in 2010, Brett founded The New Wheel selling exclusively electric bikes. The New Wheel now has four locations and has been a National Bicycle Dealers Association Retailer Excellence Award Winner for six consecutive years. When not riding electric bicycles Brett is thinking about electric bicycles.
About The New Wheel
The New Wheel is the Bay Area’s premier electric bike retailer and service provider and has been a National Bicycle Dealers Association Retailer Excellence Award Winner for six consecutive years. Founded in 2010 by Brett Thurber and Karen Wiener, The New Wheel now has three retail locations in the Bay Area - San Francisco, Marin, and Oakland - along with a dedicated 5000 sq ft Service Center in San Francisco. At its core, The New Wheel has always centered on a commitment to its customers through the careful selection of technology, top-notch service, high standards and an unwavering optimism for the future of transportation and electric bikes in the Bay Area.
About Stromer
Founded in 2010 and based in Oberwangen, Switzerland, the company is shaping the future of mobility with its Speed Pedelecs. myStromer AG produces all its e-bikes at the Oberwangen site and is the market leader in the Speed Pedelec category (fast e-bikes up to 28 mph). The company employs around 140 people, has two subsidiaries (USA and Netherlands) and sells its S-Pedelecs in 23 countries. Since 2021, the Spanish brand Desiknio has enhanced the product range with high-quality urban bikes. With its high-end products, Stromer offers commuters a contemporary mobility solution. This can be confirmed by the < 245 million miles traveled on Stromers. Stromer is #HereToChange. For more information visit stromerbike.com.
About Riese & Müller
Riese & Müller is a German premium manufacturer of E-Bikes, Cargo Bikes and folding bikes. Founded in 1993 by Markus Rise and Heiko Müller, the owner-managed company now employs 900 people at its premises in Mühltal near Darmstadt and sells its products worldwide through an exclusive dealer network. Alongside the founder and CEO Heiko Müller, Dr Sandra Wolf operates as CEO with responsibility for the strategic orientation of Riese & Müller. Markus Riese is involved in the company both as a partner and engineering mentor. Riese & Müller is helping to shape the mobility of tomorrow with its pioneering products and as the specialist in Cargo Bikes and fast HS bikes. The company is synonymous with a sustainable lifestyle, user-focused product development and innovative E-Bike technologies. In addition to the ongoing evolution of its products, Riese & Müller's overall strategy includes taking responsibility for people and the environment. In its activities, the company is guided by its four pillars of responsibility: culture, ecology, social responsibility and economics.
