捷安特收購
Cowboy’s first all-road electric bike is a gentle beast
Cowboy’s first all-road electric bike is a gentle beast
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The Cross e-bike looks great and rides great — as it should for €3,499.
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Cowboy — the independent and financially healthy maker of sophisticated and highly advanced e-bikes — just took the wraps off its first all-roader that lets riders more easily escape cobblestoned city streets for greener pastures.
To do that, Cowboy’s new Cross e-bike features fatter 60mm tires and suspension systems built into the front fork and seat post to soak up bumps along the way. It’s also fitted with grippier pedals to avoid foot slips when bouncing around, a large 540Wh removable battery for a 120km (75 miles) max range, and an integrated rear rack to carry more stuff.
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I spent some time test riding the Cross e-bike on a variety of surfaces, and it’s truly a beast in all the best possible ways. To start, the seat suspension is plush and something I hope Cowboy carries over to the rest of its lineup. The inverted front fork suspension and wider tires also did their job, making this (very) heavy 27.9kg / 62lbs e-bike feel absolutely solid on pavement, packed dirt, and gravel. Make no mistake, I wouldn’t want a Cross for my next multiday bikepacking trip, but it can easily transition from city bike to casual rural adventurer.
These bikes also look great, in my opinion. The three new metallic satin paint colors are earthy in hue, including a sedate dark gray, a lovely mossy green, and a “mushroom” color that seemed to change from a dirty silver to a muted purple to a rusty champagne gold as the light changed. The top tube on the step-over frame also creates an interesting floating effect as it splits around the battery.
Otherwise, this pedal-assisted e-bike — available in both a step-over or step-through frame — is powered by a belt-driven 250W rear-hub adaptive-power motor with an EU max speed of 25km/h, like Cowboy’s other e-bikes.
Cross is also Cowboy’s first e-bike to feature a new Check My Bike self-diagnostic tool that lets the company automatically monitor the health of its rolling computers with the intent of keeping riders on the road longer. The company is also adding a new Live Challenges gamification feature to the app that promises to create “the most fun and engaging ride experience.” Sure.
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All of these features join a number of tech embellishments Cowboy is known for, like crash detection, theft detection, and an excellent proprietary app with integrated Google Maps navigation that also makes scheduling service a breeze.
At launch, Cowboy is pricing Cross at €3,499 (about $3,800) before it eventually rises to €3,999. Sales start today.
Update March 20th, 3:20AM ET: Added weight of this big boi.
稍早,加拿大總理、安大略省省長、Google 母公司 Alphabet 執行董事長施密特(Eric Schmidt)齊聚一堂,宣佈將改建多倫多市一塊廣達 800 英畝的湖濱區,並按照 Google 對於未來城市的設想,重新改造這個區域成「世上第一個以網路為基礎概念設計的城市」。
(圖/翻攝自 Sidewalk Labs)
雖然合作這項大型專案的 Google、以及 Alphabet 旗下的另一間子公司 Sidewalk Labs,初期只會先專注在這 800 英畝(相當於 1/4 個大安區)中的 12 英畝,僅涵蓋幾條街道與建物;首批簽約金也「僅」有 5 千萬美元,約合台幣 15 億,但《華爾街日報》預估,Google 最終將為這項改建計畫付出 10 億美元,來到台幣 300 億。Google 也宣佈,將會把它們在加拿大的總部,移到這個示範區裡。
Google 與 Sidewalk Labs 發想的計劃其實仍充滿科幻式的漫想,如地熱式電網、能自動分配回收物的感測器、組合式住宅、能探測空污與噪音的感測器、智慧型紅綠燈、大量的公用 Wi-Fi 站、送貨機器人、共享汽車與機車、新式健康照護計畫,還有為了因應多倫多的冬季而能自動融雪的
捷安特收購腳踏車道與人行道。Google 也表示,它們將會在 11/1 就召開一個公民會議,與多倫多居民討論未來的工程與計畫。這個新城區也將以多元居民、Google 員工和旅客為主體組成社區。
(圖/翻攝自 Sidewalk Labs)
本次與 Google 一同經營此項計劃的 Sidewalk Labs,可能才是這次多倫多改建案的主角。Sidewalk Labs 曾在 2015 年將紐約市的 7,500 個舊公共電話亭改建為公共 Wi-Fi 與連網中心,而實際上,總部不在矽谷、而是在紐約的 Sidewalk Labs,目前的領導人也是紐約的前副市長 Dan Doctoroff。這個以都市創新為目標的新創公司,成員主要包含政治人物,以及來自各方的技術專家。
(圖/翻攝自 Sidewalk Labs)
實際上,早在 Sidewalk Labs 成立前,Google 就曾設想過「Google Island」這樣的新城市,但並沒有實現,直到本次與多倫多市合作才有了實驗當時一系列方案的場所。Alphabet 執行董事長施密特指出,好幾年前他們就想過,如果能重新負責一座城市的建設,Google 能做些什麼,隨後才有了這次計畫。Google 的兩位創辦人也對此知情。
(圖/翻攝自 Sidewalk Labs)
捷安特收購
捷安特收購