Cowboy is launching a new repair and service program designed to give its e-bike riders more ways to keep their wheels on the road.
The new service option is more reassuring for European Cowboy riders who want to keep their e-bikes on the road. While traditional bikes are famously easy to maintain, e-bikes are both expensive and have a lot more that can go wrong, both on the software and hardware side – a fact that any e-bike owner knows all too well.
The company has just announced that it will begin offering a new on-demand service program for basic maintenance, adjustment and repairs, delivered to the rider’s home. The services, which include tire repairs, tuning, rear rack fitting and the like, are now available through Cowboy’s existing app from €69/£69. The on-demand service option is available throughout Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and the ‘capitals’ in France, the UK, Austria, Sweden, Denmark and Italy.
Cowboy already offers repairs and adjustments through a few stores in Berlin, Brussels and Paris, as well as through a number of partner European bike shops trained to service its bikes. The company also allows riders in certain markets to buy a £20 monthly subscription, known as Cowboy Care, which covers 14 European cities including Amsterdam, Munich, Brussels, Paris and London.
Like any startup, an e-bike company can disappear overnight, leaving potentially thousands of dollars worth of e-waste in their wake. Cowboy’s rival, Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof filed for bankruptcy last year, leaving its loyal customers (including today’s writer) scrambling to figure out how to keep their bikes running.
Cowboy actually worked through the night on an app that allowed VanMoof owners to download their digital bike keys after their rival’s bad news last summer. The remnants of that company have since been acquired by Lavoie, a division of McLaren Applied, giving VanMoof riders a glimmer of hope that their bikes will continue to work.
Cowboy’s strong expansion of services is a good sign for the company and its riders, especially for anyone who isn’t near a participating bike shop and doesn’t mind paying for a monthly subscription. While the company now also sells its beautiful bikes in the US, the company tells TechCrunch it’s focusing on Europe first to “build a strong foundation for its success” in its core region, with any plans to expand the new repair options. side down the road.
