The Cowboy Cross Is A Smooth New Urban E-Bike – CleanTechnica

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The Belgian bike company Cowboy has just launched a new model of e-bike, called the Cross, which it says is “a design icon in the making.” And to be sure, the frame features super smooth joints, the company’s unique approach to the handlebars add to the smooth look, and with the front suspension fork and suspension seat post, plus slick 60mm street tires, the Cross ought to also deliver a smooth ride on the road.

A quick search of the CleanTechnica archives uncovered the fact that there has been exactly one article published here about Cowboy and its e-bikes, and that one was from back in 2021, so it’s about time we wrote more about this company’s offerings.

The Cross, which to my eyes is sort of VanMoof-ish in appearance, is a single-speed e-bike and is solely pedal-assist, with a 25 km/h top speed — which is the EU limit. The 250W rear hub motor is belt-driven, and uses Cowboy’s AdaptivePower system, which the company says enables its bikes to “think for themselves” and adapt to changing route conditions such as riding uphill, into the wind, and deliver the right amount of power.

“Our goal is always to make the bike as simple as possible whilst being totally obsessed with the ride feeling, meaning the rider can just get on and ride exactly like a normal bike, but not have to think about buttons or gears. Delivering something this simple yet magical requires complex tech under the surface. AdaptivePower is the evolution of this goal – the ultimate contextual ride, allowing the bike to think for itself in real time.” — Tanguy Goretti – Cowboy Co-Founder & CTO

One of the big selling points for the Cross seems to be its connectivity, with a smartphone running the company’s app docked on the handlebars serving as the dashboard. The Cowboy app has a number of functions available, from mapping to crash detection to a Share My Ride feature to integration with health devices and apps, plus a Find My Bike function, theft alerts, and a proximity-based auto-unlocking feature, among others.

The aluminum-framed Cross is powered by a removable 540Wh battery that allows for a range of up to 120 km (74.5 miles) per charge, with a charge time of less than 4 hours, and the bike with the battery installed weighs 62 pounds altogether. The frame also has an integrated rear rack that looks like it just floats above the rear tire.

One component of the Cross that stood out to me was its handlebar, which appears to be a proprietary design and looks to be a one-piece unit instead of having a separate stem. Aside from being a non-standard bar and stem that could be interesting to have serviced or replaced, the stem and handlebar combo does not look like it can be adjusted at all, which doesn’t seem like a great choice when it comes to fitting the bikes to their owners, but perhaps it’s a non-issue for the bike’s target market. [As a side note, a Belgian company choosing to use the brand name Cowboy is quite the curious choice, but then again, perhaps there is some marketing mojo in naming a Euro e-bike company that, and with no other bike brand having the name already, perhaps it was a great choice. However, just Google “Cowboy Cross,” and you’ll get plenty of decidedly non-bike search results, especially in the US.]

Cowboy lists the price of the Cross at $3999 on its website, although the US version of the site says that all of the Cowboy e-bike models are currently sold out. My two cents on the Cross is that for almost $4k, with its current specs, would probably not sell very well in the US, as the rather small motor and low top speed would be competing against the specs of more powerful and faster e-bikes here. However, for the EU, with the wattage and speed limits being much different than in the US, the Cross could end up being a popular bike — at least in that price range. Full details on the Cross are on the Cowboy website.