Lyft is pulling thousands of its e-bikes out of service temporarily in three U.S. cities due to braking malfunctions. It follows after dozens of injuries were reported due to the brake issues. Lyft has thus removed its fleet of pedal-assist electric bikes in New York city. The systems affected by this include Citi Bike in New York City, Ford GoBike in San Francisco, and Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C.
Lyft owns Motivate, the bike share operator, with the latter saying that this decision was made out of an “abundance of caution” since it has received a “small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel.” The pedal assist bikes can reach speeds of up to 18 miles per hour as they have a pedal-activated motor.
Some e-bike riders report flipping over the front handlebars because a brake problem caused the front wheel to lock up. According to reports, dozens of injuries have been reported as a result of this malfunction.
Motivate has reached out to its primary e-bike supplier and a third-party engineering firm to find out the root of the problem after it received reports of the injuries. It’s also working on a new e-bike model which will be available soon.