Flip the Swytch: ‘The mission is to make e-bikes accessible for everyone’

Rebecca Bland speaks to Swytch co-founder Oliver Montague about the new Go Kit and the opportunities it presents for expansion via retailers.

This piece first appeared in the July edition of BikeBiz magazine – get your free subscription here

The name Swytch has almost become synonymous with electric bike conversion kits in the last few years.

Founded by Oliver Montague and Dmitri Khroma in 2017, the brand was born out of a want for a more ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to conversion kits, rather than the often confusing and difficult to install options already available.

The brand used a mixture of investment funding and crowdfunding to get started, and offered discounts to those who pre-ordered the products ahead of manufacturing.

This is still the case, even with their newest product – the Go Kit – which launched earlier this year.

The brand offered a 50% discount (£299) to those who were prepared to wait until later in the year to get hold of one, or customers could buy now from a limited stock at £600.

We spoke to co-founder Oliver Montague to discuss the new Go Kit, where the brand has come from and what’s in store for Swytch’s future.

The mission

Firstly, it’s important to understand exactly what Swytch’s mission is, and how they are looking to add to the ever-more crowded conversion kit marketplace.

“Ultimately, the mission of Swytch is to make electric bikes accessible for everyone. Pretty much everyone has a bike at home, and if you use the bike you already have, it really doesn’t cost much to put a good quality kit on.

“And if you’re making 10s of 1000s of the same product, you can charge the consumer lower prices than if you’re just making 10 of one and 10 of that one. So Swytch is one kit, that is very easy to install by anyone, that will fit basically any bike and at an affordable point.”

The Go Kit

Earlier this year, the brand launched the Go Kit, their cheapest conversion kit offering yet. It’s the successor to the Air Kit, which is one of the lightest conversion kits on the market.

The Go Kit uses the same framework, with a hub powered motor and a battery that connects externally to the frame, but Swytch found that consumers were after something a bit more cost-effective, even at the expense of weight and user experience.

“I think one and a half to two years ago, lots of people were getting hit by the cost of living crisis, and we were seeing our rate of demand lessen a bit. We were still selling more kits every month, but demand was slowing. So we did some testing, and we realised that a year ago, people had £500 to £700 to spend on a conversion kit, but now all of a sudden, there was much more demand for something cheaper.

“We found that people were interested even if something has a few less features, but cost more like £300 to £500. So last year we started looking at the version of the kit we could offer at that price point, and the result is the Go Kit.

“The power, the battery quality, the battery safety, the performance, the waterproofness, all of the important bits are actually just the same as our older kit, but we’ve made a few compromises in user experience.”

For the user, this boils down to a slightly heavier battery (2-2.5kg versus 700g) and instead of clipping the battery to the handlebars via a mount, it’s attached to the bike frame using velcro mounts.

For Swytch, it’s not about offering a lesser product, but more about “expanding the product range with more choice.” So, if customers don’t have the money, or the want, for something really tiny and lightweight for their bike, they can choose the Go Kit.

It has the same functionality, but in a slightly bigger package.

And it looks like it’s paid off.

Swytch has just sold out of the 50% off pre-orders, and the brand has even seen success in the USA.

Which bodes well, as the brand’s plan for expansion entails a “huge pipeline of retail opportunities in Europe, the UK, and the USA.”

Currently, there are a little over 70 bike shops in the UK that can install Swytch kits and be a customer’s point of contact (although the Swytch customer service team is also on hand for any queries). But, this is set to change.

Over the past few months, Swytch has been trialling distribution with Tandem Group Cycles in the UK, and has seen a great reception from over 40 bike shops so far.

They’re also in the process of discussing a deal with a retail giant, which would put Swytch physically into almost every major city in the UK.

“We have obviously proven incredible demand for our product, B to C, and we already have 30 shops we sell to in the UK, directly, some independent shops. So this time next year, what we’re looking towards is a scenario where we’ve taken off, not just in the UK but also across the world, through retailers.”

Currently, customers can buy the kits online, but opening up a retailer network will undoubtedly boost the brand’s presence by having the product physically in front of customers – as well as the expertise from bike shop staff in not only installing the product to bikes but offering advice and servicing as well.

Any interested retailers in becoming Swytch stockists should contact Director of Bike Sales, Matt Rudd on matt.rudd@tgc.bike.