Faraday Is Letting Bay Area Cyclists Try Its Pricey But Stylish E-Bike Before They Buy

I’ve been a big fan of Faraday Bicycle‘s $3,500 electronic bicycle ever since I first learned about it. Over the years, I’ve watched and waited until the bike finally made it into production and started shipping to pre-order customers. And last year, I got a chance to try it out for myself.

After borrowing it for a few weeks, I can honestly say it’s one of the nicest bikes I’ve been lucky enough to ride. The pedal-assist works as well as you would hope, making my commute a total joy. It makes going up hills a lot easier, but more importantly, it makes riding on flat ground a total breeze.

All that said, I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks $3,500 is a lot of cash to drop on a bicycle, even one that is as nice to look at and easy to ride as a Faraday. To get cyclists to fall in love with the bike, Faraday is letting other San Francisco Bay Area residents test-ride the Porteur for up to a week. The company is even offering free pick up and delivery of the bikes to potential customers.

The offer is being made just as Faraday is readying its next production run of bikes. Faraday built about 150 bikes during its first run and is doubling that number to about 300 for run number 2, which is 80 percent sold out. After that, CEO and founder Adam Vollmer says the next batch probably won’t ship until June or July.

In addition to letting cyclists in the Bay Area test-ride its bikes, in March the company will have them available in other markets for the first time. More than 20 dealers in cities around the U.S. will have units available for customers to check out before committing to buy.