Braking news: Citi Bike on Sunday yanked their electric pedal-assist rides from service across the five boroughs due to rider complaints of over-responsive brakes.
“We recently received a small number of reports from riders who experienced stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel,” the service wrote on its blog early Sunday. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are proactively removing the pedal-assist bikes from service for the time being.
“We know this is disappointing to the many people who love the current experience — but reliability and safety come first.”
The setback, first reported by Streetsblog NYC, will see about 1,000 e-bikes — or approximately 8-percent of Citi Bike’s overall fleet — pulled from service, a service spokeswoman said.
Pedal-assist bikes owned by the same parent company in Washington, DC and San Francisco have also been pulled from service over the same issue, the spokeswoman confirmed.
Citi Bike — which has been in the middle of a piecemeal roll-out of the snazzy but elusive rides since 2018 — vowed to launch a new pedal-assist model that works out the kinks.
“We have been hard at work on a new pedal-assist bike, and are excited to bring that to you soon,” the service wrote, though it wasn’t immediately clear when the improved model would hit city streets.
But until the new e-bikes are ready to roll, the balky-braked ones will be replaced with about 1,000 traditional people-powered rides over the next few weeks, Citi Bike said.
Citi Bike insisted they were acting “out of an abundance of caution” and couldn’t immediately point to any injuries caused by the bad brakes.
But avid e-biker Bill Crumlic said he had a harrowing ride end with a crash last month.
The 53-year-old videographer said he was riding his pedal-assist Citi Bike down Central Park West when he braked for a pedestrian, hit the brakes — and a pothole — and went flying.
“The bike landed on me. And let me tell you, those f–kers are heavy,” Crumlic said. “I got banged up and bruised, but luckily had no broken bones.”
But Crumlic stopped short of blaming the bike, saying that pedal-assist brakes are known to be touchy, adding that he was sad to see them go.
“I knew wholeheartedly the brakes were touchy. That’s the case with all electronic bikes,” the Harlem resident said. “I’m very, very unhappy. … I see why they’re pulling them, but these bikes have made it possible for me to ride on the bike path along the Hudson River, or ride the ramp up to Roosevelt Island without having to get off the bike and walk it.
“Up in hilly Harlem, where I am, having that pedal assist is just critical.”