29 Ryvid | Dossier to adjust their position for maximum comfort. What might look like a sales gimmick, however, actually turns out to be one of the functions that is most popular with Ryvid owners. “It was inspired from mountain bikes,” says Tran. “If you look at downhill bikes, they have a seat that raises and lowers as you need it to. Initially, it was supposed to be a manual system but then we put an electric actuator on there because it’s easier. At first, people think it’s not going to do much, but then they get on it and they love it. “Again, it’s all made possible because of the electric drivetrain,” and Tran continues: “There’s no engine or gas tank in the way, so that makes it very simple, and having a seat that can adjust to your height goes a long way. It’s been great for new riders, because they get on, they’re really uncomfortable at that height, so being able to lower the seat was a big deal. “You can even change it while you’re moving, and although it’s not dynamic, so it doesn’t adjust based on speed, that is something we have coming down the line. It just needs a software update and, ultimately, we want to get it to a point where if you come to a stop, it just lowers so you can be more comfortable at the red light.” Balanced for performance The bike had many evolutions before it reached customers, including an earlystage plan to manufacture the frame out of aluminium. That actually made the entire bike 25% lighter, but stainless steel proved to be a more optimal solution. So, the design process was focused on maximising strength but minimising weight in every area possible. The team carried out a rigorous testing programme, with bench testing for the drivetrain components; around 3000 miles of road trials, mostly to test suspension components; and 50,000 miles on a shaker table to ensure the durability of the weld-free manufacturing approach, which was an unknown quantity that did not exist in the market at the time. A significant amount of structural simulation and testing was also performed on the battery mounting, which places the full 39 kg of weight on the swing arm. It was vital to ensure the fixing had built-in redundancy, to prevent it from flying off the bike in an accident, and Tran attests: “We’ve had a few crashes from our customers, and that has never been an issue.” The combination of a lightweight battery and frame results in a bike that weighs 142 kg in total, with the battery taking up just over a quarter of that at 39 kg. That is low when compared to a bike like the Zero, which has a battery weighing in at around 90 kg and must be fixed owing to such high weight. While minimising battery weight was important to make the removable E-Mobility Engineering | May/June 2025 The seat is movable to give riders the perfect position The bikes offer 50-50 weight distribution to deliver ideal ride and handling
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