Electric assist, fat tire bikes make it easier to ride through freezing streets When crowds begin arriving in Minneapolis later this month in anticipation of Super Bowl 52, the city?s transportation infrastructure will be tested. Public transit and companies such as Uber and Lyft need to prepare for the roughly one million fans expected in the Twin Cities during the 10-day of festivities leading up to the game on February 4, as well as temperatures forecast to be in the teens.
A pair of Midwest startups believes part of the solution lies in a novel winter bikeshare system.
A partnership between Koloni Share, an Iowa-based sharing economy startup, and Defiant, an electric bike company from neighboring Saint Paul, plans to set up and operate an temporary, app-based bike share system equipped to withstand Minnesota?s frigid temperature. Defiant?s fat tire bikes boast wider tires and treads to plow through ice and snow and electric-assist technology, making it easier and faster to travel across town and navigate roads with ice and snow. ?Transit it really going to be limited,? says Kyle Sheker, a co-founder of Koloni who will be on-site in Minneapolis to help run and troubleshoot the temporary system. ?With lots of options like Uber, taxis, and mass transit being full, this?ll be an alternative if you want to get across town quickly.?

Courtesy Koloni Share

Rides will cost $2 for 30 minutes. This temporary bikeshare system will operate from Januar...