Experimenting with e-Bikes: QuietKat and BULLS

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by Ashleigh Rose
Colorado State University Police Department

Photo: D Allen with the BULLS Sentinel.

Colorado State University (CSU), located in Fort Collins, Colorado, is home to 34,166 students as well as 8,000 faculty and staff members. In 2017, the CSU Police Department’s bike unit started researching the options of transitioning their bike fleet from conventional bikes to e-Bikes. This was done in support of the Department’s efforts to educate and enforce the University’s growing population about alternative transportation (pedestrians, scooters & e-scooters, bikes & e-Bikes, low-powered scooter, cars, and everything in between) and to help maintain CSU’s Platinum Status in the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle-Friendly Universities program.

In 2018, the department purchased their first two e-Bikes: the QuietKat Denali and Apex. The bikes were selected because they were equipped with fat tires and have Class 3, throttle-driven motors. Two officers were assigned these bikes to test them on their daily bike patrol shifts and during football tailgate party enforcement. CSUPD sent three officers to the 2019 IPMBA Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, to attend the Bicycle Response Team Training (BRTT). Two of the officers brought the QuietKats to test their suitability for bicycle response team operations.

The officers found the QuietKats to be a great tool for community interaction. The throttle provides a quick response to calls and traffic stops with little to no effort from the officers. Additionally, the fat tires are great to have for all terrain types and weather conditions.

Unfortunately, the QuietKat Apex weighs approximately 75 pounds (34 kg) without additional gear. This weight created extra challenges for the officers during the BRTT. The QuietKat was great for rolling forward or blocking out individuals, but not ideal for lifting, dragging, or tight maneuvering. The officers also found out these bikes did not hold up to the kind of daily riding done by the officers.

With the help of the CSU Alternative Transportation Fee Advisory Board, CSUPD was granted the funds to purchase three additional e-Bikes, fully equipped for patrol use. CSUPD worked with Small Planet E-Bikes in Longmont, Colorado, to demo and eventually purchase the BULLS Sentinel.

CSUPD’s bike fleet now consists of five BULLS Sentinels and the two QuietKats. The Sentinels are assigned to CSUPD’s five bike officers for regular use, and the QuietKats are pool bikes which the bike officers can check out if they want to use the fat tires in bad weather. Additionally, each bike officer is assigned a conventional Fuji police bike.

CSUPD’s bike unit plays an active role in community safety. The bike unit also serves as the University’s Tailgate Enforcement for all football games, with the help of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) Bike Unit and Loveland Police Department’s (LPD) Bike Unit. The e-Bikes have played an essential role in the bike unit’s success at large events. They enable the bike officers to out-maneuver and arrive more quickly than any patrol car and ATV on the CSU campus during major events.

The Sentinels propel the bike officers across campus within minutes and can easily maneuver through the dense pedestrian and bike traffic that floods the campus during class changes. During routine enforcement, they have enabled the officers to catch up to all modes of transportation with ease and little fatigue, which was not the case with the conventional bicycle.

The CSUPD and LCSO bike units are working towards creating a regional bike team using BRT as their basis and the e-Bike as a tool. Since the IPMBA Conference, the CSUPD has employed their BRT skills at both university football games and the Turning Point USA Event. Their plan is to continue to train team members and apply BRT techniques and tactics whenever the bike unit is deployed for events.

Ashleigh is employed at the Colorado State University Police Department (CSUPD) in Fort Collins, CO, and currently holds the rank of Corporal. During her thirteen years as a member of the department, she has worked in Patrol and the Support and Events Division. Her focus has been building the department’s bike unit and defensive tactics team. She is currently the bike unit supervisor, joining the unit in 2009. As a native Coloradoan, her love is for the Rocky Mountains, where she adventures with her husband and four children. She can be reached at ashleigh.rose@colostate.edu.

Photos courtesy CSU except as otherwise noted.