The problem we started with
Buying an electric bike online is a strange experience. You are asked to spend one to three thousand dollars on a machine you have never sat on, from a shop that will not tell you its own address, based on a range figure that nobody explains and a photograph of a bike that may not be the model you are buying.
Ask a direct question — how far will this really go with me on it, is it legal on my local trail, who pays if it arrives broken — and you get a marketing sentence back, or nothing at all.
Roots Rider exists because that was our own experience, and we thought a small shop could simply answer the questions instead.
Nine bikes, not four hundred
We sell nine electric bikes. That is a deliberate limit, not a stage we are growing out of.
A catalogue of four hundred models means nobody in the building has ridden most of them, and the advice you get is whatever the supplier’s spreadsheet said. Nine means we know which one has the awkward front basket mount, which one a shorter rider can actually get on, and which one is genuinely uncomfortable after twenty miles.
The range covers four real needs and stops there:
- Folding commuters — the Rebel 2 and Rebel 2 Pro, for apartments, car boots and the last two miles of a journey that started on a train.
- Step-through utility — the Runabout 2, for errands, a passenger and a rack that takes real weight.
- Long-tail cargo — the Flux, whose rear deck is part of the frame and rated for 180 lb, so it carries two children rather than one.
- Cafe racer and chopper — the Cheetah 2, Cheetah 2 Pro, Cougar, Cougar Pro and Prowler, for riders who want to be looked at and are honest about it.
If none of those is what you need, we will tell you so. We would rather lose a sale than sell somebody a folding bike that will live at the bottom of a staircase.
What we look at before a bike goes on the site
Every model here comes from the same American manufacturing partner, which has been selling these frames in the United States for years. That matters more than it sounds: it means spare parts exist, the warranty is honoured by a company with a phone number, and there are thousands of owners riding the same machine.
Certification, not adjectives
The certified models carry UL 2849 for the electrical system of the bike and UL 2271 for the battery. This is the standard a growing number of apartment buildings, universities and insurers now demand before they will let an electric bike through the door. It is also the difference between a battery built to a specification and a battery built to a price.
Hydraulic brakes on everything
Every bike we sell has hydraulic disc brakes. On a 70 lb machine carrying two people at 25 mph, that is not an upgrade, it is the minimum. We will not list a bike at this weight and speed on mechanical brakes.
Parts you can actually replace
Standard cassettes, standard rotors, standard tyre sizes. Proprietary parts that only one importer stocks are how a two-year-old bike becomes scrap.
What we tell you that other shops do not
Range figures are optimistic, and we say so every time
Every range number on this site is the manufacturer’s, measured with a light rider on flat ground in the lowest assist level in mild weather. Yours will be lower. Next to each one we publish a realistic mixed-riding estimate, and the whole calculation is set out in our guide to range.
Some of our bikes are faster than the law allows
The Cougar Pro will do 38 mph. In most states using the three-class system, that is above the legal ceiling for a bicycle on a public road. We print that on the page rather than treating the top speed as a selling point with no consequences. The classes guide explains where each model can legally be ridden.
The reviews are not ours
Roots Rider is a new shop, so our own review count starts at zero. Rather than fake it, we show the manufacturer’s published owner reviews — more than 650 across the models we carry — attributed by first name, and we say plainly that they were collected by the manufacturer and that the published feed contains only five-star reviews. That is less flattering than inventing our own. It is also the truth.
Returns say who pays
Faulty, damaged in transit or wrong item: we collect it, we pay the freight, you are refunded in full, no restocking fee. Changed your mind: the return freight and a 20% inspection fee are yours. Both halves are on the contact page and in the refund policy, because a returns policy you have to hunt for is a warning sign.
How the shop actually works
What we will not do
- Invent urgency. No countdown timers, no “three people are viewing this”, no permanent sale that resets every Monday.
- Publish reviews we did not receive. See above.
- Quote a range we do not believe. The headline number stays because it is the manufacturer’s figure, but it never travels alone.
- Sell you a bike that does not fit your life. Storage, weight and how you actually ride decide this, not the specification sheet.
- Encourage modifications. Removing a speed limiter is unlawful in most states, voids the warranty outright and can reclassify the bike as a motor vehicle you are not insured to ride.
Ride legally, and wear a helmet
Electric bikes are regulated state by state, city by city and trail by trail. Before your first ride, check the class permitted where you live, the maximum assisted speed, the minimum rider age and whether a helmet is compulsory. It takes ten minutes, and it is your responsibility rather than ours — but we will help you work out which class your bike operates as.
Who you are buying from
Roots Rider is the trading name of GHRAM LLC, a limited liability company registered in Wyoming, United States, filing number 2026-002057995, at 30 N Gould St, Ste R, Sheridan, WY 82801. It is a small business run by one person, not a marketplace and not a rotating drop-shipping catalogue.
You can reach that person at ghram.llc@gmail.com or +1 929-325-0497, Monday to Friday. There is more detail on the about page.