WE SHIP WORLDWIDE. ALL PRICES IN US$

Batch 1 EU Headed to Lucky Backers (Video)

10/16/2017

Hello Backers,

Just wanted to write a quick post and alleviate any doubt that the first batch had not in fact left the factory. Here you can see a very short video of hundreds of Stark Drive's boxed and being loaded onto trucks destined for the logistics facilities. Apologies for the slight delay with the delayed posting of this post as this happened last week but we did not receive these images until today.

Right now production is full speed ahead with the Fat Tire bikes the priority as we now have a road tested prototype that passed with flying colors. It has taken a bit longer then expected but considering we have been able to do something that certain lovely competitors said was impossible,

that being: Launching an electric bike starting at 399USD as it was below their purchase price of their smaller bikes from the factory, we feel we maybe be a bit justified in being a little late.

Now our goal is to fine tune the production process and to cut the delivery times by a factor of magnitude. Instead of 3 months delivery we are aiming for 4-5 days delivery time to our backers. We will have an update in an upcoming post about how we are going to do this.



Stark Drive Box Ready Lined up.

Final Checks for Quality


Some Minor Adjustments May Be Required.


Sincerely,

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Thoughtfully Written Article on Electric Bikes ''Mainstreamivity''

10/14/2017

This article has been updated from the original article that was written on March 7th 2017.

Electric bikes reach a Stark junction with the mass market


The World (and Google) is Listening

10/13/2017

Hello Backers,

what a pleasant surprise today when we were informed by one of our backers that google now rates our website as 1st when searching for 'Cheap Electric Bike' a terms we are not fond of as the bike itself is more affordable then the connotation that the word cheap affords however when searching for 'Affordable Electric Bike' on google we are the first hit that is not a review site! What a nice surprise, this leads us to the conclusion that there is now enough buzz around the inter-web to 'backrub' our company into a high enough ranking to achieve such a status!


We are not done here folks! Next year we are launching a mini version of Stark Drive for an unbelievable starting price of $299. This bike will mainly be geared towards the public transit commuter with a much lighter total weight and a much smaller frame enabling one to easily carry it around instead of rolling it around which is what the majority would be doing with Stark Drive today.

Watch for our new bike on Kickstarter. The prototypes will be arriving to us with the first delivery of Stark Drive which is anticipated sometime mid november.

Thank you for all the Backing, Support, and kind words we have received from our backers, non backers, and the press. We are here to make electric bikes mainstream, not to make a buck.

Sincerely

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC.

Stark Drive Mentioned in SvD Newspaper as the Perfect Gift

10/12/2017

We here at Stark Drive are super excited to have been mentioned in the well renowned newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

Although there seems to have been a bit of a conversion error when going from USD to Swedish Crowns as they mentioned our price at 10.000 SEK which equates to about 1250 USD, YOWZERS!

With our base price of 399 USD for a fully functional electric bike and even if one were to include shipping costs and import duties and taxes to Sweden, this is still close to 2X the actual price of Stark Drive's landed cost to Sweden.

Conversely we are super happy to have been mentioned in their Veckans Val (Weekly Choice) Section under their 'Perfect Guide' Insert.

Thank you SvD, from all of us here at Stark Drive, its great to be noticed.



 with ❤

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC

FAT Tire Bike Prototype Complete and Tested / First EU Batch Leaving!

10/11/2017

Hello Backers,

Had a discussion through the help of a translator today with the owner of the factory that we have had the luck of partnering with to make Stark Drive a reality today. This has been a learning experience on both our parts, partly as the concept of custom built (with a lot of different options) for our backers was something that the factory had never attempted before and partially because we here at Stark Drive underestimated some of the massive hold ups that can occur from simple delays at the factory. Then there are the holidays which do not sync with western calendars and seem to last at least a week at a time. Understandable if the people have to commute several hundred km's to see their families.

Either way, super good news for you Fat Bike Backers. The Fat Stark Drive is now done and we want to reveal some photos and videos of its assembly and testing below.





The Fat bike is on schedule now to finish in a couple of weeks and will ship by latest the 26th of October (fingers crossed). Here are a few more photos of the Fat Bike in slightly higher quality then the videos.



Full Stark Drive Glamor Shot.


Stark Drive More Romantic Lighting


Stark Drive with Head Lights


Even though its Fat, it fits really well in the rear hatch













All Batch 1 bikes (minus Fat Tire) going to the EU will have left the factory by friday. They will be transported by iron horse to europe and once they reach the central distribution location (a secret) they will be given to local carriers and then tracking numbers will be provided for all these bikes.

The Swedish Bikes as well as Ireland, Iceland, Norway will be transported by boat leaving china at the end of the month as our order of Stark Drive for our newly opening Showroom location are also included in this batch and the majority of this order is Fat Tire.

We really appreciate the patience of our backers. Your faith and belief in us has really helped to make Stark Drive a reality. Without your support none of this would have been possible.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team

EU Accuses China of Dumping Inexpensive eBikes in Europe?

10/04/2017

A article by CNN dumbfounded us here at Stark Drive recently. The title of the Article:

China has been accused of flooding Europe with hundreds of thousands of cheap electric bicycles. by Ivana Kottasová @ivanakottasova

the main reason that the article has invoked such reactions over here is that the EU has been pushing a policy of renewable transport to combat climate change as long as we can remember and most recently with the VW Diesegate fiasco as well as the environmental disasters in recent years related to fossil fuels this the policy makers have lead us to believe that anything that is good for the environment is something actively pursued by the EU.

Well here we have something that could not be more green (electric bikes) which both take single passenger vehicles off the road and replace them with compact and lightweight transport not only reducing inner-city congestion but also contributing to improved air quality consequently reducing disease and improving quality of life.

Yes the chinese are able to make electric bikes affordably, i have written about this in a previous blog post in so much as china with their gargantuan population and significant environmental impact due to them basically working as the worlds factory is making strides in trying to clean up their cities through the use of bike sharing programs and a concerted effort to electrify their cities.

Inexpensive electric bikes are a good thing.

Yes it means that competition is harder for EU based companies but this is where innovation comes into play. Innovate and create unique eBike designs, features and capabilities. The chinese are unbeatable in mass production as their cost of labor is so incredibly low, innovation is what will save the electric bike industry in europe, not imposing sanctions, anti-dumping tariffs and the like. These just serve to limit consumer choice and prevent mass adoption of electric bikes.

These are our companies founding principles and ones we stand by.

We were approached by a VC firm whom wanted to invest in our company significantly. After a discussion about financials, one of the team made a statement which although true was completely against our companies values in so much as he had said: 'Well with the current market here in the EU you could easily increase your prices to improve your margins'. Yes, it is true we could increase our prices but that would decrease the number of people whom have the ability to afford an electric bike which goes against everything we believe in at Stark Drive.

With ❤ 

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC


The European Union Prioritizing Bike Lanes

10/03/2017

European Union Cycle News:

Further to the vain that efforts are being made in order to ensure that central city locations will eventually be vehicle free is the news that in city centers  there is currently an ongoing reorganization of the vehicular traffic whereby they are removing both lanes and parking spaces and instead reallocating these spaces to bicycle lanes and/or parking.

The representative of the Environmental Party states clearly in the article that they want to ensure that EU cities are areas where it's easier to have a bicycle and commute on two wheels instead of 4.

Further, there has been news recently that the sales of electrified bikes have exploded in 2017, just as we at Stark Drive believed it would, with an estimated 45000 sold in 2017 which was an increase of 50% from the previous year. And this at traditional pricing. Once Stark Drive arrives on the market there will no longer be any question of whether or not a consumer's next bike should be electrified or not.

With the established players selling eBikes for prices starting on average around the 14.000 SEK mark, we will truly be a disruptive force for good with an average starting price of less then half.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team
Stark Drive LLC.

Stark Drive Sent to Korea, Taiwan, and India!

09/27/2017

Hello backers,

Fortunately for us, all asian countries listed in the title are local to china and therefore we can send these out before the chinese holiday begins. As a matter of fact they were sent today! Each monumental journey begins with a single step, or in our case a single shipment. Im not here to spout platitudes but we are seriously excited over here. We are talking 6 deliveries of Stark Drive.

We hope that those whom receive these deliveries immediately blog, tweet, facebook, instagram, and anything else they can think of to spread the word to the world about Stark Drive.

Sincerely

Stark Drive Team

Now We Are Rolling!

09/26/2017

Hello Backers!

Wow, things are really moving now! All batch one orders are being boxed as we speak and will be ready for shipping directly after the current chinese holiday.

See some photos and videos of the bikes below. as you can see we use heavy duty boxes for trasportation as well as strapping, and tamper proof tape to ensure that your customized Stark Drive arrives exactly as its intended to and as per your order.



Below you can see a video of the strapping procedure.

A short closer up view of the major bike components.



Everything is neatly packed and ready for the future owner to attach a few pieces and then ride off into the sunset.




Our production is taking up the entire factory production line at the moment as you can see from the image below.

Batch two will be closing soon, get your stark drive ASAP if you want to be a part of the next wave of deliveries.




Sincerely,

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC

Fat Tire Frames Complete! Final Assembly Started

09/25/2017

Hello Backers,

The Fat Tire upgrade that we added at the last minute due to backer demand took a longer then expected amount of time to finish as we wanted to keep the ability to fold Stark Drive for all the backers that live in the city that want to easily be able to transport the most affordable electric bike in the world up to their offices or homes. Further, the folding ability enables one to more securely lock stark drive to street furniture or just simply together to prevent and deter theft.

The final step now is assembly which takes a much shorter amount of time then the long lead time aluminum smelting and welding.


Demo of Stark Drive Advanced:

Stark Drive Black

Final confirmations of all non-Fat tire occurred this weekend (double checking addresses etc). All these bikes have been prepred for shipping and will go out directly after the chinese holiday.

Now we are ready to roll!


Sincerely,

Oscar
CEO, Stark Drive LLC.