What is an Outrider?

Outrider began with a simple concept.  Take problems, fears, and frustrations and flip them firmly on their heads with creative solutions.

We've applied this concept to bikes and light vehicles.  We've applied it to a range of problems, fears and frustrations within the arena of bikes and light vehicles.

It started when one of our founders nearly got crushed by passing trucks twice on his daily commute.  The problem was clear: on higher speed rural roads, the larger the speed difference between traffic and a slower moving bike or vehicle, the greater the danger.  Naturally the solution was to create a bike that could keep up with the flow of traffic.  That was our first creation:  the Outrider Transition, which is capable of up to 40 mph.

With all the capability, fun, and comfort of riding the Transition, we soon had our first customer call that was interested in doing some long distance touring aboard his Outrider.  He asked if we could make a long range version of the Outrider.  This is when we discovered the fear that was so common with electric vehicle owners: the fear of running out of juice.  Like Tesla, we saw this as a great opportunity to kick this fear out of the park, and create an extremely long range vehicle.  We then introduced our second creation: the Outrider Alpha, which now has up to 200 miles of range.

After we introduced these machines, there was understandably a good bit of doubt over whether they were really capable of what we claimed.  So we were led to one logical conclusion: RACE!  Many feared that electric bikes can climb hills, so we raced and won the Pikes Peak Hillclimb, averaging over 30 mph up the mountain.  Others feared that their machines were going to be slow and wimpy, so we ran 85.9 mph on a modified Alpha on the airstrip.

After all this racing about, the adrenaline was pumping, but we were left wondering if we were truly making a positive impact.   This led to a time of reflection with our founders, and a pursuit to find more purpose in the work.  After coming up with little resolution, one of our founders found himself in his car after leaving a brainstorming session.  There he said a simple prayer: "Father, I know you've given me the gift to make things, please help me to make things that truly make a difference in people's lives."  The week following, we received a call from a fellow in Arizona named Chris Wenner.  Chris broke his neck when he was young, and longed to get out again and ride his bike offroad.  He had developed an amazing electric machine that he could pilot with quadriplegia because of the special hand controls he had developed.  Chris asked us if we would take the idea to production... We couldn't imagine a more purposeful work.

After the Kickstarter, and a few years of R&D, the machine was ready.  The problem was simple, there isn't an offroad bike for people with quadriplegia.  So we introduced the Horizon with Tri-pin hand controls. 

It's built for quadriplegic riders, as well as anyone with reduced hand motor function, whether it's from MS, ALS, CP, etc.

Next we had individuals contact us that had a spinal cord injury that resulted in paraplegia.  There are some offroad bikes out there for paraplegia, but there were still a couple of lingering problems that hadn't been solved.  The first problem: choose front wheel drive and simple hand controls, with limited traction... or choose rear wheel drive and gain traction at the expense of two separate and awkward hand controls: one for steering and one for pedaling.  The second problem: if retrofitted with electric drive kits, these machines still had trouble keeping up with friends on typical mountain bikes, and range was limited.  We innovated by creating a rear wheel drive electric handcycle that is shaft driven with cable operated steering, so it has the benefits of the traction of rear wheel drive.  It's piloted from just one set of controls, so you can pedal and steer with both arms simultaneously.  Our other innovation is that this is purpose built to be an electric handcycle, so it has significantly more torque for steep and technical terrain, and a much longer range battery pack, up to 100 miles offroad.  We've created this machine in two flavors: the off-road Horizon Handcycle, and the all-terrain Nomad Handcycle, which excels both on and off the road.

As we discovered the offroad potential of the Horizon, we started to imagine other applications for this vehicle.  It could be equipped with a variety of user interfaces: the Horizon Pedal + Electric (L) for those that want a comfortable off-road electric bike, or the above configurations, or the Horizon All Electric (A) configuration for those who want an extremely lightweight, all-electric offroad vehicle.

As the all-electric (A) Horizon started to find its way into tour operations, especially the excellent Biltmore Estate Outrider Offroad Tours, we began to often hear of the desire for ATVs and ATV tours at these properties, but of how they had been prohibited because of the noise, accelerated trail erosion, and environmental concern, and we began to realized that there wasn't yet a good solution or alternative.  We soon made the connection that there are many applications where an ATV is desirable, but the noise causes problems.  There are many examples, a few of them being hunting, frequent use near other homes, on resorts, etc.  The problem was clear, there isn't an ATV alternative that is utilitarian, capable offroad, compact, and quiet.  This led us to our most recent solution, which is very compact, powerful, quiet, and capable.  It is also much smaller and lighter than an ATV, so it can be carried in the back of a SUV, wagon, or van.  We've named this machine the Outrider Coyote.

An Outrider in the simplest sense is a solution.  One that was created on a blank slate, etched from scratch.  It is a personal vehicle that is tailored to your needs, and is built with pride in the USA.  It is innovation, it is performance, it is a tool in your hand.  It's a standard, and it is a bold move into new territory.

outrider

(ˈaʊtˌraɪdə)