Juiced Bikes’ new retro electric bicycle goes faster and farther for less money

There’s a new trend in the out-of-the-box electric bicycle design world: minibike styled retro e-bikes. A couple of years ago, Lithium Cycles debuted their Super 73 e-bike with a design that harkens back to something between an old 1980’s minibike and a Honda Ruckus. Unimoke then followed up with a strikingly similar design, which was then followed by a redesign and price drop on the original Super 73.

Now, California-based Juiced Bikes is getting in on the action with their own offerings in the same category.

Juiced Bikes has just launched pre-orders for three new models of their new Scrambler line: Camp, City and Hyper Scramblers.

Each of the bikes incorporate an aluminum box-styled open frame with a long bench seat, high power 52V Li-ion battery, integrated super-bright front headlight, advanced LED display, 20″ wheels with 4″ fat tires, hydraulic brakes and a suspension fork to smooth out the ride.

The exact specs differ between the models though, and allow you to choose just how crazy you want your new ride to be.

The Camp Scrambler is the entry model and features a 750W rear hub motor and a glossy red frame. It is designed to perform well on both roads and trails thanks to its generous 4″ off-road tires, and has a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h) making it a Class 3 electric bicycle in the US.

Sorry Europeans, this one might not be for you.

The Camp Scrambler’s included 13 Ah (673 Wh) Li-ion battery is sufficient for 32 miles (51.5 km) of range.

The City Scrambler replaces the spoked wheels and glossy red frame of the Camp Scrambler with mag wheels and a matte black frame. It also eschews the off-road tires for more conventional road tires, though they’re still an impressive 4″ wide.

The rest of the City Scrambler matches the Camp Scrambler, with a 750 W rear MAC hub motor, 13 Ah (673 Wh) battery and a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h). Both e-bikes include a coil suspension front fork.

The City and Camp models are available for pre-order for just $999 with free shipping in the US, which is a steep discount from their $1,699 retail prices.

For those that aren’t content with the already high power and higher speeds of the City and Camp models, Juiced Bikes has a third option for you.

The Hyper Scrambler is an upgrade in just about every way. Forget that paltry 750 W motor. The Hyper has a 1,100 W MAC rear hub motor that can power you up to an eye-watering 34 mph (55 km/h).  There aren’t many places where an e-bike this fast is street legal, so consider this model to be solely for off-roading and use on private property unless you plan to register it as a moped (laws permitting).

To feed the more powerful motor of the Hyper, this model includes a higher capacity 19 Ah (984 Wh) Li-ion battery which is rated for 35 mi (56 km) of range. The Hyper also sports a brushed aluminum frame and a return to 4″ off-road tires. The front fork is upgraded to an air suspension setup.

The headlight is also upgraded from the 1,100 lumen lamp found on the Camp and City bikes to an 1,800 lumen model better suited for off-road conditions.

The sportier Hyper Scrambler has a retail price of $2,899, but is also available for a pre-order discount of just $2,299.

The bikes are reportedly “one size fits all”, though larger riders will benefit from adjustable handlebars and a long bench seat that allows you to choose your positioning to fit the bike.

If you don’t plan on taking up the entire bench by yourself, you could presumably carry a passenger on the bench seat with you. Though with a total rated rider capacity of 275 lbs (125 kg), you and your girlfriend will need to be on the smaller end of the scale.

Electrek’s Take

I’m actually a big fan of this new style of electric minibikes. Where I live in Tel Aviv, 20″ wheel folding e-bikes are everywhere because the smaller wheels allow for more cargo space and the rear rack has enough room for a passenger at a reasonable stand over height, though multiple times I’ve witnessed three or four people packed onto these little e-bikes.

Instead of a trying to cram cargo and passengers onto a folding e-bike that was definitely not meant for that purpose, these minibike style e-bikes are perfect for both of those jobs.

The main downside I can think of is that taller folks will probably complain about the “one-size-fits-all” mantra not really being true, yada yada yada…

Well perhaps you should have thought of that when you were eating all of your vegetables as a kid. Now excuse me while I plop my 5’7″ (1.70 m) self down on one of these awesome bikes and go pick up my wife!