Blog

Thanks to everyone who came out to our open house celebrating the 20 years of bringing EV magic to the world. It was great having so many people from different periods come out to say hi and see what's up!

One of the highlights for many people was using our CNC and laser machines to make souvenir gifts including an All-Axle motor decorative ornament, a fully functional machined metal yo-yo, and a stainless keychain mutiltool device. 

If you missed out on the party but want one of these souvenirs to stuff your stocking or someone elses, we've got them available to purchase on our merchandise page. And until Christmas time we'll include one for free with any order over $1500, just include your preference in the order comments. 

Christmas Hours

Grin will be open for business up until Dec 23rd.   During the week between Christmas and New Years, we will continue to package and ship online orders but the store front will be closed until Jan 2nd. 

A heads up that our store will be closed this Friday as we take a day to celebrate Grin's 20th Anniversary!

Our sales and support staff will be unavailable and phones won't be answered, but don't worry, our online store will be operating as usual so you can still place orders.

We wanted to take a moment to say a huge THANK YOU to all of you who have been with us over the years. Whether you've been building ebikes since the early DIY days or just discovered us recently, you are the reason we've been designing and innovating for two decades and counting. Your projects, questions, feedback, and enthusiasm for electric vehicles have shaped who we are and where we're going.

Here's to 20 years of electrifying whatever...and to many more!

It was on a cold fall day in Vancouver, Canada, the 30th of November 2005, that a handful of UBC classmates who thought motorizing bikes and skateboards was the the most fun thing ever came together and officially incorporated the “The Renaissance Bicycle Company”. It was a time when ebikes as a thing were still mostly unheard of, and the early adoption was primarily driven by DIYers with an eye for the future, and we wanted to make more parts and kits available for such enthusiasts.

We had no idea where things would lead to in 5 let alone 20 years, but it’s fun to reflect on that journey and the many forks (no pun there!) it’s taken to where we are as Grin Technologies today! Over that time our core mission of designing and supplying parts for DIY electric vehicle builds has been unwavering, even as the global ebike movement has gone massively mainstream.

Hello there, summer vacations have come to an end and kids are back in school and what a whirlwind the last week has been:

USA Shipments

Last weekend, the US fully eliminated the $800 de minimis rule which has shaken most of the world's online ecommerce businesses, and could have a large impact on our american customers. Fortunately many items from Grin are CUSMA compliant and duty free to the USA. We've summarized the details in this link. Quick nutshell though:  

• Grin no longer ships to the USA via postal service (only DHL and UPS).
• We recommend purchasing All-Axle kits and not the less expensive Chinese motors, as the price after duties will be comparable. 
• Be prepared to pay a duty on any battery shipment though, as the downtube packs are assembled in China. 
• Our latest LiGo 10X batteries ARE duty free (but naturally at a much higher base price than downtube packs) 

Our checkout page has been updated for shipments going to the USA to preview what items in your order will likely be subject to duties and allow you to edit your cart if needed. 

Fully Charged Show  

While Grin does not have a booth at the Everything Electric EV show this weekend, we do have some some tickets available to local customers who want to attend, and many of our staff will be perusing the event.  If you are a fan who would like tickets to attend then please send us an email! Include a bit of background on why you want to come and we'll award day passes accordingly. 

Gallery Prizes are Back

After some hiatus, we're back to offering prizes for our ever growing customer project gallery. Every week we'll be awarding another $100 customer credit reward to staff picks selected from the last 6 months of submissions. Upload your build today!

First recipient goes to Sam from Australia and his Yuba Mundo Big Bike build, which has a detailed writeup with some great pictures to boot. 

We're only halfway through digesting the stories of Aaron's west coast shop tour road trip earlier this year and compiling them into shareable vidos for you. Most recently released is part one of our visit with Paul Freedman and his Rock the Bike operation from Oakland California.

We've known Paul since the early days of longtail cargo ebikes and have rocked out at many pedal generated sound stages over the years. His profound interest in creating a broader appreciation of power and energy usage is something we share to a great degree, but we were simply blown away at the scale of his activities coming from his Oakland operation.

And if you missed them we've captured Mike Lee with his motorized Whisky Charriot, Paul Daniel of Revel Propulsion who fabricates a custom mid-drive system, and Brad Davis of Nomad Cycles, a ebike shop in Portland that does much more than meets the eye.  

You might only hear about big brand ebikes and cheap import ebikes, but peel back from the consumer noise and there is a thriving community of small businesses out there doing original stuff! 

Aaron has finally returned to Grin's headquarters in Vancouver after an epic 8000 km van trip to San Diego and back. We want to thank the hundreds of shops, individuals, and businesses who took time to meet up and make this tour so memorable! 

Right now we are still unpacking all the feedback and the role that Grin can continue to play in facilitating the ebike and PEV movement in the decade ahead. Much has changed since we first started in 2005, but the need for innovation in this space has not and the current state of ebikes could use a little shakeup.  

In the meantime, we've got tons of great footage of the various operations who've been touched by Grin and will be releasing at least a dozen more stories on our youtube channel, following these profiles of Bike Swift, Switch Lab, and Calfee Designs.

Well before any of the current political shenanigans we were planning a Cascadian road trip to spread awareness about our All-Axle hub motor kits among bike shops, dealers, and ebike enthusiasts. We didn't expect to take off right at the start of a trade war but so it is, and that has not deterred our enthusiasm to build business relations up and down the coast.

Our Videographer Aaron set off mid-march with some demo ebike builds to showcase these systems and has had a great time meeting folks all over Washington State and northern Oregon.  

In the coming week we'll be stopping in Corvalis, Eugene, and Ashland, before making our way though all of California. If you happen to have a business that is curious about Grin Kits and wants to a chance to see them in person, or if you are a long term customer with cool builds to show off, then please drop us an email with your coordinates!  If it works Aaron will swing by in the tour van to talk shop, go on test rides, troubleshoot issues, or just hang out. 

This time of year is the "slow and quiet" season for the bike industry, with ski gear rather than bike gear on most people's minds. Yet many determined souls continue to ride their ebike through the winter, braving the cold, dark, and wet (or snowy) morning and evening commutes on two wheels.

We want to celebrate all those people who choose to ebike year round and highlight customizations to their rig to make that safer and more comfortable. This can include wind shields, heated gloves, ear warmers, studded tires, special attire, impressive lights.

Share your all season riding story in pictures and words by uploading them to our customer project gallery and be eligible for a bunch of prizes we'll be giving away starting Feb 14th, both with staff pics and random draws.

Hello everyone and wishing a Christmas cheers from the team here at Grin. Our staff got inventive with party activities for the annual Christmas bash, and we hope that all of you will be out enjoying the holiday season too!

As can be expected, the staffing levels at Grin from Dec 23rd to Jan 2nd will be much reduced as people are travelling home to their families. We'll still be processing shipments and basic orders except on statutory holidays, but more complicated builds and support may need to wait until the new year.