Review: Jackrabbit Bike

Here is the first thing you need to know about the Jackrabbit micro bike: You will attract attention. I couldn’t wait to unbox my bright-yellow bite-sized ride, immediately taking a bunch of videos to send to all my friends.

I rode it to the post office and someone stopped me at the bike rack. When I parked it outside the brewery for outdoor lunch, a car pulled over and rolled down the window to ask me about it as I scooted past. In my opinion, such extreme cuteness is a hugely underrated aspect of riding a micro vehicle. Not only is it way more convenient, but you’re also way more likely to ride if you experience constant validation every time you go out.

As ebikes have gotten bigger and ever more motorcycle-like, several companies have turned in the exact opposite direction, making bikes that are easy to throw in the trunk of your car or stow in the corner of a dorm room. The Jackrabbit is the first of these that I’ve tested, and it’s by far the cutest. It does have its flaws, but unless you’re transporting a kid, a lightweight and relatively affordable micro ebike like this one might be the best solution for you.

Photograph: JackRabbit

The Jackrabbit is tiny right down to the box. The wheelbase, or the distance from axle to axle, is a microscopic 26 inches—my extra-small road bike, in comparison, has a wheelbase of about 40 inches. It weighs just 24 pounds. There are road bikes and even carbon-fiber ebikes that weigh this little, but not many, and definitely not at this price.

The assembly process is easy, and also translates to easy transport—you just fold down the handlebars and take the seat post out, and you can squeeze it almost anywhere you like. It fits neatly both in my crowded garage and in the trunk of my car next to my kids’ scooters and everyone’s helmets on the way to the park, which makes outings with my family a little bit easier.

The Jackrabbit doesn’t have pedals. There are two footpegs, but you don’t have to pedal to propel the bike forward. Instead, you use a thumb throttle on the right hand, which may be awkward for any lefties. The lack of pedal power puts the Jackrabbit in a gray area when it comes to legislation. The New York State DMV, for example, classifies the Jackrabbit as a seated electric scooter; they're currently working on attaching operable pedals, which would then classify it as a class 2 ebike that's legally allowed to top out at 20 mph. 

CEO Jason Kenagy notes that they haven't hit any legal hurdles yet, which confirms my suspicion that any electric vehicle that looks mostly like a bike instead of a motorcycle will get treated like one by authorities.

Getting used to not having any pedals is harder than you might think, but I got the hang of it; maintaining a constant speed on the thumb throttle was difficult until I realized I could just jam it down full-time. It has a 300-watt rear hub motor that’s powered by a 36V battery in the down tube. You can remove the tiny battery easily, or charge it in the frame since the bike is so light. It has a stated 12-mile range. Five years ago, this might have been decent. Right now, most ebikes can go more than twice that far. 

It took awhile to recalibrate my riding habits. What I thought would be a quick morning trip to a skatepark 1.5 miles away from my house had me walking a mile back home, carrying a micro bike on my shoulder. The battery will also not last very long if you take it somewhere and let all your friends take it for a spin around the block. I suggest bringing an extra battery for longer ride time.

Photograph: JackRabbit

When you see a person riding around a tiny bike, the first thing that most people think of is a BMX bike. Besides the fact that BMX bikes have pedals, you’ll note that they also have slightly different geometry. You’re supposed to do tricks on them, so the seat and headpost have slightly different angles for better maneuverability.

The Jackrabbit has more of a cruiser-style seating geometry. You’re supposed to sit upright with your body in a straight vertical line. That works fine for me (I’m 5'2"). You’re technically able to ride it if you’re as large as 6 and a half feet tall (Kenagy notes that it’s a big hit with the Stanford football team). However, when I asked friends 5'10" and taller to ride it, they complained that they felt cramped and that they missed the more obtuse angles of a BMX-style seat post and handlebar stem.

I’ve already mentioned that the battery life wasn’t the greatest that I’ve tried, but neither was the power of the motor. Kenagy clocked himself at 19 mph on the flat street in front of my house, and has tested it to reach up to 20 mph. I don't think you should consistently expect to reach this speed; it's a tiny bike and it has no pedals to supplement the motor. When I did random speed checks around my neighborhood on slight inclines or against headwinds, I was more commonly in the 8- to 15-mph range. 

The lower speeds were fine, especially when you consider that it only has a rear hand brake. I did not have any issues with stopping, but I would like the reassurance of front brakes if I weighed a bit more or was coming down a big hill.

Despite the downsides, in my time with the Jackrabbit I found myself reaching for it a lot. I have a lot of ebikes; I ride a cargo ebike to the grocery store and to take my kids to and from school. But when it comes to quick errands like meeting a friend for lunch, picking up lemons at the store, or even chasing my kids around the park on their scooters, it’s so much easier to grab a bike that doesn’t require a 3-point turn to lurch out of the garage.

I don’t think I could recommend the Jackrabbit if you were a bigger person or if you needed to travel more than a mile or two to your destination. But if you’re a college student who needs to get around campus, a city commuter who frequently brings a bike on buses or light rail, or me, who just needs to pop over quickly to the store and is tired of falling off a wet skateboard, the Jackrabbit is pretty much perfect.