Seattle area ‘e-bike rescue’ company will help you get your bike to a shop whether planned or not

Whether you are broken down on the side of the road or just need to get your bike to the shop for a tune-up, Speedy's will have an electric van ready to head your way and transport your ride to your preferred bike shop.

(Full disclosure: Speedy's advertises on Seattle Bike Blog, but this post is not sponsored. Seattle Bike Blog does not publish sponsored posts)

Founder Tyler Swartz got the idea for Speedy's after both he and his brother encountered the same issue with their e-bikes.

My brother had an e-bike in Miami, and he had a lot of trouble getting it into his car," he said. I ran into the same issue with my big cargo bike." E-bikes and cargo bikes be difficult to transport by car or even SUV if the need arises, and that's assuming you even own a vehicle in the first place. The service could also be useful for anyone who has trouble lifting and carrying these heavier bikes if the need arises.

Everyone wants to make it more enjoyable to own a bike and operate a bike, so we're just trying to figure out a way to remove some of those painful errands and burdens you have with a bike," said Swartz, who launched the business in February.

Since these bikes are only getting more popular, the number of people with the same issue should keep growing, as well. So he started working on a business that could solve this issue in his hometown of Seattle and maybe help folks get out of some tough binds at the same time.

The result is Speedy's, an e-bike rescue" service based on an annual subscription model. For $200, you can register up to two bikes and receive two scheduled pick-ups (sign up at least 24 hours in advance) and one emergency pick-up for a full year. For $300, you get up to four bikes, three scheduled pickups and two emergency pickups. Extra pickups are $75 each. And yes, you can also use the service with a non-electric bike.

Speedy's purposefully does not offer mobile repair services. Instead, their model is to work in conjunction with local bike shops. My relationships are with the bike shops, and they're the specialists in that," said Swartz. This decision also allows Speedy's to hire drivers who do not have specialized bike mechanic knowledge. It's possible they will be able to help with very small tasks like flat tires, but the company is not trying to build out a fully-functional mobile bike repair shop.

A major benefit to this approach is that people can get their bikes to their preferred shops even if it is not the closest shop to their homes or workplaces. Not every shop is equipped to work on every type of e-bike, and not everyone is lucky enough to live near a shop that can work on their bike.

Swartz settled on an annual subscription model rather than on-demand payment because it will help them keep their operations in scale with their customer needs while also offering a year-round service. I need to know how many vans, how many drivers I'll need to cover Seattle" and nearby suburbs, said Swartz. Speedy's also has potential as a perk workplaces could offer to their biking employees. Or perhaps shops could sell it as an add-on with a bike purchase.

For now, pickups (both scheduled and emergency) are available 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekends. These hours could expand as their driver base grows.