News
The short version
- We stock four e-bike brands: Fatboy, Amp'd Bros, FlightRisk and Super73. That is deliberate.
- Three things get a brand onto our floor: how it is built, what you get for the money, and how the brand behaves when something goes wrong.
- Three of the four are Australian owned. The fourth is Super73, who we have carried since day one.
- All four do the same job and do it well. The differences are taste and detail: Super73 for the moto look, Fatboy is our best seller, Amp'd Bros for the widest choice, FlightRisk for the tech and security.
- We hold spares and accessories for all four in house at Richmond.
- Still weighing it up? Come and ride them. We keep demo bikes at the store.
How do we decide which e-bike brands to stock?
We have been at this since 2013, and we have ranged a lot of e-bike brands over the years. Most of them are not on our floor anymore.
That is not us being precious. It is what happens when you also run the workshop. When you are the one rebuilding the bike under warranty, you find out very quickly which brands built something properly and which ones built something that photographs well.
So there are three things we look at.
Build quality. Not the spec sheet, the actual parts. Batteries and cells, motor, brakes, the frame welds, the bits that take a beating on Australian roads and bike paths. We see every one of these bikes stripped down eventually, so we know what holds up.
Bang for buck. Plenty of brands can build a good bike at a high price. The harder thing is building a genuinely good bike at a price a normal person can pay. That is the sweet spot we are looking for, and it is narrower than you would think.
The relationship. This is the one nobody talks about, and it is the one that affects you most.
Why does our relationship with a brand matter to you?
Because it decides what happens on your worst day.
When a bike needs a part, or a warranty claim needs approving, or something has gone wrong three months after you bought it, we are the ones making that phone call. The difference between a brand that answers and a brand that does not is the difference between you riding again this week or arguing with someone for a month.
So we do two things about it. We hold spares and accessories for all four brands in house, which makes us the point of call in Melbourne when one of these bikes needs sorting. And when we do not have the part on the shelf, we get it. Last week we needed one from FlightRisk and it was on our doorstep overnight.
That is what lets us put you on these bikes without hedging. We are not just selling you a product, we are putting our own name behind what happens after.
Aren't they all much the same?
Honestly, yes. And that is the point.
All four build fat tyre electric bikes for the same job. Getting around Melbourne, down to the beach, out on the paths, without having to be an athlete about it. Comparable power, comparable range, comparable componentry, because they all cleared the same bar before we would put them on the floor.
So we are not going to pretend one is built for commuters and another is built for adventurers. They are not. The differences are real, but they are slight, and they come down to taste and detail rather than what the bike can do.
That is the useful thing to know before you start comparing spec sheets. On our floor you cannot really make a bad choice. You can only make a slightly different one.
Super73. The moto look, and the brand that created it. Californian, and we have carried them since day one, back before most of Australia knew what one was. If the styling is what pulled you in, this is the one that started it.
Fatboy. Our best seller, and it has been for a while. Australian designed and owned, started by two mates who wanted to challenge what a bike could do and where it could go. The two-seater is the one people come in asking for.
Amp'd Bros. The most choice of the four by a distance. Australian, family owned, out of Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast, with more than 49,000 riders on their bikes. If you want options on size, colour and setup, start here.
FlightRisk. The tech and the security. Australian, out of Sydney, and the newest of the four. GPS tracking, geofencing, remote motor lockout through their app, and integrated blinkers front and rear. If theft is the thing you worry about, this is the answer.
What about the brands we don't stock?
We have ranged plenty over the years and let most of them go. We are not going to name them, because that is not our style and those brands still have customers who love them.
What we will say is this. Every brand we dropped, we dropped for one of the three reasons above. Usually the third one.
So where does that leave you?
If you already know which bike you want, order it and we will have it out the door quickly. Free shipping Australia wide on orders over $90, and every bike is assembled and safety checked by our workshop before it ships.
If you are not sure, do not guess on a two thousand dollar purchase. Come to the Richmond store and ride them. Ten minutes on two different bikes will tell you more than a week of reading, and we would rather you rode the right one than the one with the best photos.
Twelve Board Store, 435A Bridge Rd, Richmond VIC 3121. Call us on 03 9421 2293.
Common questions
How many e-bike brands do you actually stock?
Four: Fatboy, Amp'd Bros, FlightRisk and Super73. We have ranged plenty of others over the years and let them go. Keeping the list short means we know every bike on our floor properly, and we can get parts and warranty support quickly when you need them.
Are your e-bike brands Australian?
Three of the four are. Fatboy and Amp'd Bros are both Australian owned and designed, and FlightRisk is Australian and based in Sydney. Super73 is American, out of Southern California, and we have carried them since day one because nobody else does what they do.
Which e-bike brand should I buy?
Any of them, honestly. All four do the same job and all four cleared the same bar before we ranged them, so it comes down to taste. Super73 for the moto styling, Fatboy is our best seller, Amp'd Bros for the widest choice, FlightRisk for the security tech.
Do you stock spare parts for these e-bikes?
Yes. We hold spares and accessories for all four brands in house at Richmond, and we are the point of call in Melbourne for them. If we do not have a part on the shelf we order it in, and our brands turn those requests around fast.
Why don't you stock cheaper e-bike brands?
Cheap e-bikes usually save money on the parts you cannot see, which are the battery, the motor and the brakes. Those are also the parts that matter most for safety and for how long the bike lasts. We would rather sell you one bike that lasts than two that do not.
Can I test ride before I buy?
Yes. We keep demo bikes at our Richmond store and you can ride them back to back. It is the fastest way to work out what suits you, and it takes about ten minutes. Give us a call first on 03 9421 2293 so we can have the right bikes ready for you.
What happens if something goes wrong with my bike?
Bring it to us. We handle warranty claims directly with the brand rather than sending you off to chase them yourself, and we have our own workshop in Richmond for servicing and repairs. That is a large part of why we stock these four brands specifically.
Keep reading
- So you want to buy a Fatboy
- So you want to buy an Amp'd Bros
- So you want to buy a FlightRisk
- So you want to buy a Super73
- Fat tyre electric bike buying guide
- Electric bike laws in Australia, state by state
- All our electric buying guides
