Spark Cycleworks is Shaping the Future of E-Bikes with Custom Laser Cut Parts

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The Spark Cycleworks team has a poster in their shop – “All Work, All Play”. This small team of seven (and their shop dog Bricks) are living and working by that motto as they hand craft frames and shape the future of electric motorbikes. Leveraging almost every single one of SendCutSend’s services to get these bikes on the road for commuters and two-wheel enthusiasts across the United States, the Spark team is able to fast track their design process while keeping costs low for themselves and their customers. Learn how they’ve turned what was once a college senior design project into a small manufacturing business by harnessing the power of technology with SendCutSend.

Company: Spark Cycleworks
Product: Electric Motor Driven Cycles
Industries: Automotive
SendCutSend Services: Custom Frames & Parts

Fast Tracking Innovation and Manufacturing with SendCutSend 

Back in 2017, Matt, Spark Cycleworks’ founder, used all his savings to import a 20-foot shipping container full of e-bikes from China to Connecticut. He had identified a growing industry abroad that hadn’t yet caught on in the U.S..That 20-foot container soon turned into a 40-foot container before he realized, as a mechanical engineer, it would be easy enough to build them himself. 

Fast-forward to today, Matt and his team import only the motors and batteries, while using nearly all of SendCutSend’s processes to build their custom electric motor driven cycles from the ground up. 

Matt wants to keep their reputation as a small specialty shop rooted in a bunch of makers hand building bikes in the U.S…

“SendCutSend has fast tracked our innovation process and allows us to iterate on the design faster than imagined possible. They’ve helped us reach our price targets and allowed for a design that can be continuously improved. This has enabled us to keep our inventories very small and reduce risks – two things that are huge to a small manufacturer.”

SendCutSend Helps Small Manufacturers with Big Goals

Over the past two years, Spark Cycleworks has developed a new technique in frame building that allows them to reduce costs and keep the bikes manufactured in the U.S.. “This would not be possible without SendCutSend,” said Matt. 

This group of high school best friends is assembling everything using a tab and slot system Matt designed for a senior design project in college. The main frame and sub assemblies are built as a modular system of laser cut components. Once all the sub assemblies are complete, a whole bike can be built in two hours – drop it in, bolt it on, connect the wires. 

Their frames and swing arms are laser cut steel, the panels are laser cut aluminum, they use SendCutSend’s hardware installation service for PEM inserts for mounting, and powder coating services for smaller components. Customers even have the option to use colored acrylic panels so they can see inside the bike and light up the frame. 

Just-In-Time Manufacturing to Meet Demand

Matt took a welding class several years ago so he could build all the prototype frames. He was working on the concept but at the time there wasn’t anything like SendCutSend. When they came through on his radar it really allowed Spark to harness innovative manufacturing techniques.

 “Our small team can compete against the titans in the industry,” shared Matt. “It’s not only good for small production runs and rapid prototyping. It allows us to scale as our projects and business grow”. 

Because of SendCutSend, the team has been able to move to a just-in-time manufacturing method, creating bikes to meet demand, increasing efficiency and without surplus. This also means they can offer customers the ability to spec their own bike, swapping panel colors and materials so they can really ‘make it their own’ – showcasing what the Spark brand is all about. 

“Development costs can really kill a small team when you’re trying to make something like this. SendCutSend has made it so that worry has gone away. We can really try things,” explained Matt. “Let’s say I’ve got three ways I want to try and approach something, we’ll just make one of each, we’ll get it on the bike, and we’ll see what’s going to perform the best. We can do that now without losing 3-4 months.”

Hand-Built by a Group of Makers

What began as a way to get his wife out on rides with his buddies, has turned into a niche business and a team that is working to support and grow the industry in the U.S.. Now suburban commuters from New England to Nevada can skip the moped and hop out of the bike lane onto the Javelin; no motorcycle license, registration, or insurance required. 

Spark Cycleworks is one of the only companies who are making non-proprietary parts and building things for people who love to build e-bikes – creating things and helping people who like to create things. 

“The goal is for people to know that a lot of love went into it, it isn’t mass produced, a robot didn’t weld it, it’s a hand made thing from a group of makers trying to build bikes in the U.S.,” expressed Matt. 

The team is heavily invested in encouraging local growth in this market. The demand is there, product orders are coming in, but they’ve encountered challenges with overseas shipping delays, revealing a need for American companies to manufacture e-bike batteries and motors. 

It isn’t just about their product line and revenue growth for the Spark team. They’ve designed a whole line of products with SendCutSend that will be releasing soon for e-bike DIY’ers. Simple components like kickstand brackets and brake upgrade kits, allowing people to take their regular mountain e-bike and upgrade them to motorcycle grade safely. 

“You put a 150 pound battery on your mountain bike, it’s going to fall over. Add an insane motor to your bike, you’re going to need brakes to match,” jokes Matt. Their mission? Standardize some components that even their competitors can use, agree upon some parameters, ensuring that everyone can work together – and more importantly shops can repair customer’s bikes without a headache.

“There’s a human being riding the bike,” Matt emphasized. “Safety, reliability, and serviceability are critical to everything we do.”

What’s Next? Let’s Hear About It!

Be sure to follow along with the Spark Cycleworks team’s “All Work, All Play” mentality on their Instagram @sparkcycleworks, maybe even catch Bricks’ antics in a story or two and check out their website for the latest utility bike model on pre-order, the Brute, the ‘pick-up truck’ of e-bikes. 
Are you working on your own innovative design and bringing it to life with Send Cut Send? We want to hear about it! Fill out our Partner with Us form and we’ll be in touch!

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