About

Custom Electric Bikes was founded by Danu Huber after running a city/cruiser bike shop for 7 years in East Vancouver. It is the result of over 25 years in the bicycle industry as well as over 28 years of mountain biking and commuting experience.

Danu moved to North Vancouver in 2001 to be closer to the core of the growing freeride mountain bike movement. He built and designed his custom mountain bike prototypes utilizing a Moto Inspired Design philosophy with a single pivot design shared by all motorcycles. His first 10 of 40 Hukk prototypes were built in 2001 in his hometown on Vancouver Island. Another 30 were built in North Vancouver in 2006.

While building and testing his mountain bikes, Danu continued his philosophical journey riding the North Shore and started doing cruiser rides in the city. It was then that he discovered a different way to ride a bike, cruiser riding in the city. This had been happening in the Vancouver since the mid 80’s by some of mountain biking’s early adopters. This was a new relaxed and social approach to cycling that sparked a new perspective on cycling for Danu. It was a different type of Freeriding but still fully captured the essence of that freedom. This approach could be taken to the mountains as well. This had a great influence on Danu’s approach and attitude toward mountain biking and cycling in general.

During this time he immersed himself in the cruiser scene and discovered the root of the “cruiser”, a balloon tire Schwinn! He began riding them, then mechanically modifying them not realizing he was doing what the early founders of “mountain biking” had done. A Schwinn was actually the original “mountain” bike that had inspired people to a different way to ride a bike. In fact Schwinns were the primary bikes used from the early 70’s to the early to mid 80’s for mountain biking, they called them Klunkers. Some real mountain biking happened during this period on pre-war Schwinns. Of course the Schwinns were the only bikes that did not break during this time.

While riding a balloon tire Schwinn as a commuter bike Danu continued to modify them to make them as efficient as possible. Over time it became apparent that these bikes were just too heavy to use as a daily rider. He eventually realized that the bikes were heavy not because they were cheap but because they were built to be mini motorcycles and have a motor added. It just so happens these bikes were built in 1940’s as a motorcycle for kids, they were built to accommodate a 138cc four stroke motor called a Whizzer. With this new found inspiration Danu went about creating the first electric Whizzer and began testing and developing his custom build putting together the needed components and frame modifications necessary for optimal performance and reliability.

This brings us to where we are today. Danu has moved operations back to North Vancouver, and is currently building a collection of unique and one-of-a-kind Custom Electric Schwinn Whizzers. Make an appointment to drop by the shop to check them out and/or demo ride at 114 – 400 Brooksbank Ave in North Vancouver.