Electric Bike Co. in Newport Beach has an update on Henry Ford’s dictum, “Any color you want, as long as it’s black.”
For OC’s No. 8 fastest-growing small private company (see list, page 50) the rule is roughly, “Any color you want.”
That’s it.
“If you can give us a Pantone code, we can match it,” founder Sean Lupton-Smith said last week during a trek through a handful of industrial spaces he’s cobbled together to craft bikes here.
Customized service has helped drive EBC to $3.2 million in annual revenue, up 146% in two years.
The company works with two dozen base colors, 10,000 total options.
“More than black” is the new black.
Tesla Red is popular.
Gloss or matte finish; add a logo if you like.
Send a vector file: “It goes inside the paint.”
Now, how about the seat?
180 Parts
Lupton-Smith, 50, is from South Africa.
His electric bikes are American-made.
Parts can come from overseas—as Italian marble or Canadian lumber, say, for a custom home in Corona del Mar—but bikes are built and painted in OC.
“180 parts go into a bike,” he said.
His frames are thicker and sturdier than typical bikes, he said. Brakes are hydraulic disc, not cable; an automatic motor is internally geared.
He employs 16.
During the tour, an employee built a battery, another played wheelwright; others assembled bikes for shipping. Online buyers customize rides—the image changes as they enter color and style choices—and get 30 days for a return, “no questions asked.”
About “1 in 1,000” have sought the money-back refund, he said.
The Founder
Lupton-Smith grew up overseas. His brothers played tennis; one turned pro; he turned to the restaurant business, ran them in Atlanta earlier in his 20 years here.
He started Electric Bike seven years ago.
The founder talks bikes effusively, incessantly, colorfully.
“I was making bikes myself in one unit, now we’ve got five,” he said. Part of one space is planned for a small showroom.
The shop has three 3D printers to make parts and develop new ones.
Shelving maximizes space; boxes slide in, fit just so: “We use every cubic inch,” he said.
Lupton-Smith lives a mile way; his son attends school even closer.
He likes Newport Beach, doesn’t want to move.
Costs are an issue, especially as EBC grows.
Ocean Cruise
He focuses on cruiser styles.
Prices start at $1,500 for a 1,000-watt battery bike; $1,900 for the 1,300-watt models. Top speed is 28 miles an hour with pedal assist—double European models, which are one-third to one-fourth the wattage, but buyers can set that speed lower if bikes are meant for kid
Retractable cords and an anti-theft device are part of the package.
Saddlebags, baskets—attached to the frame not the handlebars, so they don’t move—and solar chargers are options.
The rear of the bike allows bolted-on bits, including a way to attach a surfboard.
A third party, Velofix, does repairs.
Satisfaction is high, he said.
“It’s direct from the factory, personalized to your door.”
“When people ask about an order, they don’t say ‘where’s your bike?’” he said. “They say, ‘where’s my bike.”
