I IGNORED THE skittering plastic cup I’d kicked sideways, and mounted the arty oaken crate to be seen above the throng. From that vantage, the joint swarmed with builders, fans, media, and manufacturers of electric motorcycles, who’d made a Tuesday night buzz on Melrose. The first book about e-bikes was out (‘The Current’, Gestalten), it was mine, it was pretty, and five manufacturers brought bikes to the party: Cake, Energica, Ubco, Vintage Electric. Smartest was tiny startup Zooz, party crashers ruling the sidewalk with a nickel-plated e-BMX bike, giving rides to high-heeled ladies and gents lofting the wheel, even accidentally.
The bikes inside were high-design harbingers of things to come, while the bike outside pointed the mighty finger of God toward the future of fun, and here’s a hint: batteries…
