Citi Bike’s electric bikes return to NYC after being pulled due to COVID-19

NEW YORK CITY — The electric bikes will ride again. Citi Bike’s 900 e-bike fleet returns to New York City this week, almost a year after a brake problem that had people flying over their handlebars forced the company to pull the bikes, officials announced.

Nearly 900 newly designed pedal-assist bikes were added to the bike-share system about 10 months after the recall, officials from the Department of Transportation and Lyft, the company that operates Citi Bike, confirmed.

“We’re thrilled to power up Citi Bike rides as we launch our brand new ebike fleet,” said Lyft representative Caroline Samponaro.

“With the Citi Bike e-bike, riders can conquer hills and cross the East River bridges without breaking a sweat.”

E-bikes first entered the system in 2018 but were removed in April when riders reported “stronger than expected braking force on the front wheel,” Citi Bike announced at the time.

The bikes are part of Lyft’s $100 million to double the size of its service area and triple the number of bikes over the next five years, officials said.

Citi Bike plans to expand into the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan later this year.

Members will pay a dime per minute more to ride the new e-bikes and non-members will pay 15 cents, according to Citi Bike.

“It’s great news that Lyft has reintroduced the very popular pedal-assist bikes that Citi Bike first introduced into the fleet in 2020,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.