Beachman’s e-bikes in Toronto find inspiration in vintage motorcycles

Steve Payne and Ben Taylor , co-founders of Toronto-based Beachman, created an eco-friendly travel option with a range of 90 kilometres and a top speed of 32 kilometres per hour.Handout

At Toronto-based Beachman, inspiration for a line of stylish e-bikes comes from the vintage café racers of the 1960s. With their Beachman ‘64 E-Bike, co-founders Steve Payne and Ben Taylor created an eco-friendly travel option with a range of 90 kilometres and a top speed of 32 kilometres per hour.

Beachman the brand started out in 2016 as an Instagram account, where Taylor would share lifestyle inspiration while developing various products such as portable speakers and timepieces. “My spare money always went to creating these cool product ideas. After a long while, I kind of settled on this bike idea and it wouldn’t go away,” he says. It wasn’t until the co-founders met at a coffee shop in Toronto in 2019 that this new idea started to take shape. Payne, who had experience building electric cars, convinced Taylor to take their design from gas to electric. When their first order of 30 bikes sold in under 48 hours, they knew they were onto something.

When it came to opening the first Beachman retail shop, the duo decided to include food and beverage options for their clients who were shopping or bringing their bikes in for service. “We had this idea, let’s put an espresso machine in just so people have something to do, like at the Porsche dealership,” Taylor says. The brand has also expanded to include apparel and accessories.

Beachman, 2879 Dundas St. W., Toronto, beachman.ca.