Reilly Brennan | May 6, 2025
The Customized E-Bike Edition
On double-phone mounts, delivery workers, and invention.
Reilly Brennan (RPB) co-founded Trucks and is the author of the widely-followed Future of Transportation weekly newsletter. Past contributions to WITI include the Nancy Meyers Leaf Blower Edition.
Reilly here. If you’re the type to lose yourself in New York City people watching, might I suggest a new companion experience? Observing the radically customized E-Bikes of the city’s delivery workers.
Although electric bikes were originally designed for sweat-free commutes and Marin County pleasure trips, they have since proved to be one of the most efficient point-to-point ways to cover complex cities. Just look at how they became the preferred chariot of the world’s delivery workforce. Within New York City’s network of over 1,000 miles of bike lanes, about 100,000 E-Bike delivery workers consider these paths their ‘very crowded office.’
Why is this interesting?
The average New York City delivery E-Bike might be two rotations away from the original concept of a bicycle. First, they’re powered by more than the driver alone: an ‘E-Bike’ has a few different definitions—some only provide assist when you pedal, others can move with a twist of the throttle—but all have low-cost, powerful batteries and small motors that can make them twice as fast as a pedal bike.
They’re also accessorized for running hard through four seasons of New York City streets. You simply won’t find a NYC E-Bike running in stock trim. Nor would you want to: Just look at some of the most interesting adaptations and exploitations of the form (above), all of which I captured over the last few weeks in the city.
All of the modifications you see in those pictures were done in the name of utility:
Removable, lockable battery: Allows for intra-day swaps, or safe storage at night
Handwarmers: Keep hands dry and warm through all seasons, plus an additional level of protection against stones and road debris
Extra cargo: Workers will use front and rear boxes and sometimes hang extra bags from handlebars
Exterior floods: Extending the visual presence of the bike for safety
Hi-viz vest: A quick, inexpensive way to remain visible
Mud flaps: Keep your clothes and cargo dry
Double phone mount: Workers will use apps from multiple delivery services, or keep one open with just navigation on display
Frame wrap: Both for safety (visibility) and for frame protection. If it’s a particularly nice frame, this also conceals it against theft
Ad-hoc rain cover: Quick overnight shielding.
Necessity remains the mother of invention. (RPB)
Quick links: