We only made 40 Koben in the initial production batch. One of the surprises from our Kickstarter campaign was that more customers chose our top-of-the-line model rather than our entry-level one. I know right? Doesn’t make sense. While the Koben S does do everything better, we thought the sub-$2k retail price for a mid-drive ebike would be killer. But customers didn’t agree.

So we killed it.

Introducing The New Koben

We’ve been calling it Koben v2 internally throughout the development phase of the new bike. As with our software compatriots in Silicon Valley, we only increment version numbers when there are major changes to the product. The new Koben is a completely different bike. I’ll go through the major spec changes below, but first and foremost we should talk about why we did it.

The new colorway: Forest Spark Green

Bikes Should Be Fun

This seems so obvious it almost doesn’t need to be said. But not all bikes are fun to ride. This is especially true of many “American Style” ebikes sold here. Maybe that’s why there’s been relatively slow adoption in the United States. What exactly makes a bike fun? It certainly isn’t just picking some parts and choosing spec, because then more companies would be making great bikes.

For us it has always been about the complete package. Our holistic design process starts with the rider first, and when/where/how they’ll use the bike. We think through all the potential changes we could make, and the effects of those changes on the future Karmic owner. This new version improves the capability and versatility of the Koben, but also increases the fun of the bike. This is a core part of the Karmic Experience.

The Koben’s mission is fun. We were halfway there since the first Koben was such a great riding bike to begin with. Like the original, this new Koben v2 is designed by Joe Murray, who is a legend in the bicycle industry. Joe pushed us to go with wider tires and added gear range. It reminds us of the original mountain bikes of Marin County. Remember how much fun they were?

The CTO also rides

The parts upgrades to the bike really changes the personality of the Koben. Sure, you could ride it to work, or take it to the farmer’s market like before. But now you can explore that dirt path you’ve passed up so many times, or ride on snow, in sand or down some stairs! The big change you see are the tires, but with that comes a whole new attitude.

It’s our Go Anywhere Bike.

A new SRAM 11 speed group offers the same gear range as our Koben S. Hydraulic disc brakes brings the same level (ahem, pun intended) of power and reliability to the party. Every detail has been well considered and you can easily upgrade the Koben if you go mountain biking, bike-packing or adventure touring.

The Koben is a Class 1 bike in California, and other states are starting to adopt similar laws. Please only ride where ebikes are allowed in your area. Poaching trails and ruining access for everyone else on two-wheels wouldn’t be very karmic right? We’re all better than that. Please enjoy the ride responsibly.

Let’s Talk Tires

Tires are arguably the most important part on a bike. They’re the only two contact points to the road or trail. While we loved the Panaracer and Kenda tires from batch one, we’ve taken the opportunity to upgrade our Karmic Bikes out of the box. The New Koben gets WTB Ranger 27.5" Plus tires, and the Koben S goes road plus too (more on that next month).

We also gave the Koben a major upgrade with American Classic wheels. We raced on AC wheels last year at Sea Otter, and they held their own again at this year’s race (same bike, same wheels). They’re light, fast and durable. You can’t ask for anything more from your wheels. Bill Shook is an engineer turned Founder and one of the earliest proponents of the new “wider-is-better” philosophy. We love American Classic and their awesome wheels!

Why did we go with wider wheels and bigger tires? As our friend Pete over at Electric Bike Report writes: