What Makes The Flash E-Bike Special? Safety & Security

The electric bicycle (e-bike) industry is booming with startups, innovative approaches, and cool designs. From the funky Gocycle G3 to the mobility-connected GenZe experience to the cleancut Jetson electric mountain bike to the mouthwatering-crazy LMX 161-H, which promises a lot of fun in woods, almost anyone can find something to enjoy riding.

And now we can welcome another player onto this crowded field, the Flash e-bike, which focuses on safety and security.

Flash E-Bike Focuses on Safety & Security

There has surely never been a time with such a multitude of e-bikes to choose from. Whether you want a straightforward electric city racer or beach cruiser, chances are you can find it. And more are coming to the market every month. But one thing many startups don’t focus much attention on is security and safety. This is where the Flash e-bike wants to make a difference. With a solid and robust design, the company wants to make sure you are safe and secure.

Sporting a 500W electric motor pushing 48 N·m (35.4 lb-ft) of torque, it boasts a range up to 50 miles. As far as the battery pack, it is rated at 36V, 11.6Ah, or 417 Wh, using a lithium-ion battery pack from Panasonic consisting of 18650 cells.

The frame is made from aircraft-grade aluminum T6-6061 and will accommodate riders in between 5’3″ and 6’2″ in height. The seat tube height is 21″. The Flash weighs 49 lb. It sports Shimano mechanical disc brakes with 180mm rotors as well as Shimano 7-speed shifters and a 12-32T cassette.

The Flash e-bike has a pedal assist and throttle to get you where you need to be. With 5 different levels of power assist, the Flash also gives you something we particularly like, a throttle option. Not too many e-bikes offer an electric-only throttle option these days, but we’ve found them to be particularly useful when going to meetings without wanting to break a sweat and arise unpresentable. In general, it’s always nice to have the option to pedal, have a pedal assist, or have pure throttle electric fun.

The included tech give the Flash a top speed of 28 mph.

Flash E-Bike Focuses on Safety

Safety is a big part of the company’s website material. The Flash makes use of an adjustable headlight with a beam distance of 430 feet in the front while the rear makes use of an automatic brake light — both are built into the frame. All in all, this gives the Flash e-bike a 360° lighting condition, which means you will be seen at night. Both lights are also always kept on for extra visibility, day and night. The front one comes with 3 levels of headlight intensity.

And if this was already good enough for most careful riders, the company throws in turn signals for good measure. Another feature that caught our attention was the electric horn that shouts out an impressive 85 decibels to get those dreaded cars’ attention. As we’ve already said, not too many e-bike makers add these feature on their bicycles.

Flash E-Bike Focuses on Security

E-bikes have a nasty tendency to get stolen and not too many manufacturers have built-in security features. The Flash e-bike can track its own location with a movement-sensitive alarm. The location tracking is done via GPS. It also comes with a security system meant to deter anyone wanting to steal it.

If the Flash e-bike is bumped significantly, it will display a warning message on its touchscreen display. But if someone tries to steal it, it will sound its 85-decibel horn and start flashing lights — that’s an alarm and will definitely be loud enough to attract attention. Being connected to the cloud, you will then receive an alert notification via push notifications on your smartphone.

The display screen also lets you view turn-by-turn navigation to your destination as well as remote check-ins, all connected to your smartphone.

Meet The Flash Team

The company is spearheaded by Kai Huang, acting as chairman. Kai has been co-founder and CEO of a number of technology startups. Michael Pan is CEO, Zach Fountain is founder and advisor, Dave McCarten is CTO, and Nick Vidinsky is VP of Marketing, rounding out the Flash team. The company is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

The aim of the Flash is to offer the industry with an electric bike that takes safety and security seriously. As you wait for it, you can head out to their social pages over on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter.

Flash is also currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo where you can check the level of its goal and get in on an early bird deal if you feel inspired. The Indiegogo price is set at $1,199.00 + shipping, while the original price is $1,999.

Flash Safety & Security — In Conclusion

While we feel the Flash e-bike won’t win any aesthetic design awards, we feel it is a good stab at making bicycles safer and more secure. Also, this bicycle makes for a perfect first-time e-bike for those concerned about their bike walking away without them. And for those who need to leave their bikes locked outside for an extended amount of time, we’re sure they will like the rather loud alarm system on it and the push notifications.

Lastly, we feel the Flash e-bike will also appeal to those wanting to get back into riding but who need a bit of support and extra sense of security.