Meet the DoubleDown, Nomad Cycles’ Portland made e-bike – BikePortland

When it comes to bicycles, lifelong Portlander Brad Davis has always been more interested in the machine than the act of riding. Now, as the owner of Nomad Cycles on Northeast Sandy Boulevard for the past nine years, he’s finally able to offer a bike of his own.

The new DoubleDown electric bike is Nomad’s first model. It represents over 20 years of Davis’ insights and experiences in the e-bike industry. A former mechanic at (now closed) Coventry Cycle Works, Davis cut his teeth in the e-bike world at EcoSpeed, which he claims was the first e-bike company in Oregon. He met the founder at the Oregon Country Fair and was “Blown away by the social and environmental implications of e-bikes.” EcoSpeed made motors and batteries that could be fit onto existing bicycles. It was at EcoSpeed where Davis filed for a patent for a mid-drive electric motor system way back in 2003. By 2014, Davis had gone from the company’s first employee, to its owner, and the products had such a strong reputation that he sold 94 EcoSpeed units and raised nearly $100,000 in a Kickstarter campaign.

Davis, now 46, started Nomad Cycles in 2016 and has built it into the go-to destination for high quality e-bike conversions.

“It’s always been my dream, since before I even opened the shop, to launch my own bike brand,” a smiling Davis shared in my backyard on Thursday. He and Tim Weeks, Nomad’s designer and fabricator, rolled by to show off the new rig (they came to me because I’m unable to ride due to my knee replacement surgery rehabilitation).

Davis’ expertise is batteries and motors, so he needed a bike builder. He found Weeks to be an extremely capable and willing partner.

“There are a lot of bikes out there that are mass-produced and don’t meet basic comfort standards,” Weeks said. “You can ride a lot of e-bikes that don’t feel like they’re riding a bike, and that’s kind of It’s a bummer. Why not have an e-bike that actually feels like riding a bike and makes it a little easier for you to get around?”

Going into the project, Davis and Weeks had three goals: They wanted a bike that was: fun to ride; had enough power for serious hauling and hills; and that would be modular and “future-proof” so customers could choose their drive system and update it without the bike becoming obsolete.

“Future-friendliness was a core part of the idea,” Davis explained. “It’s not built around a Shimano or Bosch system; we made it so you can use any battery or motor.” That being said, Davis is in love with one drive system in particular — it’s from CYC Motor in Hong Kong. “This is by far, hands down, the best battery on the market that I’ve ever seen,” Davis gushed.

The DoubleDown was also built to be more easily serviced by the end-user than most e-bikes. The bottom bracket has a relatively standard 73 millimeter spacing holding on the rear wheel is a 142 mm thru-axle. If you don’t want a mid-drive (where the motor is near the bottom bracket in the middle of the bike), there’s also a hub motor option available.

The frame itself was designed to be resilient. “It works on a cantilever design, so it actually has some amount of give to it,” Weeks shared. “What that does is smooth out all those bumpy Portland roads.” Davis calls the tubing design a, “passive suspension” system. “It rides like a custom bike and it feels great. I think that’s pretty dope.”

For an extra $400 on top of the $5,500 retail price you can get a very cool front basket rack made by Weeks. It’s got an integrated lock carrier and a spot to hold a drink cup. 

The bike can be a Class 2 or Class 3, meaning it can go up to 20 mph with a throttle or up to 28 mph with just pedal-assist. battery is a 10 amp hour. 52 volt battery. It also can have a 15 amp hour 52 volt battery.The 750 watt CYC Motor drive system (paired with either a 10Ah or 15Ah, 52V battery) gives the bike plenty of power. That’s something that sets Davis apart from some local bike shops: he embraces power.

“I like enough power to get up to the top of Mount Tabor,” Davis said in what sounded like a defense of strong e-bike motors. “I know what it feels like to ride with power and be able to haul a load and be able to do all the things. Some people might be afraid to talk about it, but that’s why electric-assist is a democratizing force in the the world of cycling.”

So far Weeks and Davis feel like they’re onto something. They haven’t even launched the bikes and they’ve sold two. Shop customers saw them on the showroom floor, asked to test ride them, and came back sold. The bike will launch officially at the MADE Bike Show in Portland on August 22nd. Davis plans to use Kickstarter for the first batch of customers.

This dynamic duo of Weeks and Davis know the challenge ahead. The bike industry can be brutal and we’re in especially tricky times.

The DoubleDown name comes from the bike’s distinctive twin downtubes. When I asked about that, Weeks replied with laughter, “It’s also kind of like what we’re doing with this launching a handbuilt e-bike. We’re doubling down.”

“Yeah, we’re all in,” Davis added.