ALSO TM-B: At 4 Percent the Assist Was Gone
Electrek, 29 October 2026, reports that Launch Edition owner Aaron Draczynski ran an ALSO TM-B down on purpose. From 23 percent to 13, the max assist fell from level 8 to 5. At 4 percent the assist was gone and the bike shifted by itself. He called the last state Infinite Turtle Mode: flat ground felt like fourth gear, a hill like seventh or eighth. Left near 70 percent, the bike read 40 that evening and 18 the next day, then asked him to install a battery that was already in. Seventy minus 18 is 52 percentage points. This desk does not have the watt-hours, so that is not a drain in watt-hours. There is no chain from the pedals to the wheel.
By SickEBike desk
The short answer
Aaron Draczynski ran an ALSO TM-B Launch Edition down on purpose. From 23 percent to 13, max assist fell from level 8 to 5, then to nothing at 4 percent. He called the last state Infinite Turtle Mode. Left near 70 percent, it read 18 the next morning and asked him to install a battery that was already in.
The ALSO TM-B does not have a chain from the pedals to the rear wheel. The pedals talk to a motor. When the pack is empty, there is no second path. Electrek, 29 October 2026, says Launch Edition owner Aaron Draczynski ran his down on purpose, starting at 31 percent, to see if the bike would strand him. The September note on this desk was about a $4,500 Launch Edition that was late. This page is what one of those bikes did at the bottom of the gauge. It is his ride, reported by Electrek. It is not a SickEBike test.
The steps down
Electrek's account of Draczynski's run. Levels are the bike's boost steps, not watts. He started the experiment at 31 percent. The first cut Electrek prints is the band from 23 percent to 13.
| Gauge | What Electrek says happened |
|---|---|
| 23% to 13% | Max boost fell from level 8 to level 5. |
| 10% | Limited to level 4. |
| 8% | Level 3. |
| 5% | Level 2, then only level 1. |
| 4% | Conventional assist gone. Software gears shifted on their own, several times a second, in a mode he had set to manual. |
| Below that | An infinity symbol. He called it Infinite Turtle Mode. |
Electrek's reading of that last mode is that the bike tries to pass pedaling energy through the electronic drivetrain, the way a crank flashlight lights only while you crank it. Draczynski told them flat ground felt like a normal bike in fourth gear, with resistance at the pedals and a pace he could hold. A hill felt like seventh or eighth, and the manual shift was gone because the gears were software. That is a feel sentence from one rider. It is not a gear ratio this desk measured, and it is not a watt-hour. The range guide is why a percent on a display is not a distance until someone prints the pack size and the loop.
At 4 percent the assist was gone. The bike was still a pedal-by-wire machine. It was not a bicycle you could push home in a low gear, because it does not have that gear.
The night it sat still
A separate sit, in the same Electrek story: he left the bike near 70 percent, unplugged. That evening it read 40. The next day it read 18. Seventy minus 40 is 30. Forty minus 18 is 22. Seventy minus 18 is 52 percentage points, with the bike parked. This desk does not have the pack's watt-hours, so 52 points is not a number of watt-hours and not a parasitic-draw test. The screen then said a bike issue was detected, and "Install battery to ride," with the battery already installed. The charger would not start. The pack would not eject. A physical reset under the frame made the bike see the pack again, and it charged. Draczynski's guess, which Electrek prints as his guess, is that the bike was hunting a cellular signal in a garage with no reception. Electrek does not confirm that. A normal e-bike does not spend half its gauge overnight. One bike did. That is not yet a fleet.
What this is not
It is not a Class 1, 2, or 3 failure in the statute sense, and it is not proof the $4,500 bike is unsafe to pedal home. It is proof that "pedal-by-wire" means the dead state is a software mode, not a freewheel. The app lock and unlock dropped out in the low-power state. The touchscreen still worked. If you own one, do not plan a last mile at 5 percent on a hill, and do not leave it for a weekend at 70 percent in a dead-signal garage until ALSO says what that sit was. The charging guide is the brick. The class chart is a bicycle with a chain. This one is not that bicycle when the pack is at 4 percent. Electrek credits a film on the channel @papermodelplane. This desk did not open a watch page, so the film is not embedded. This desk did not ride it.
Questions people ask
What happens when an ALSO TM-B battery dies?+
On this Launch Edition, assist stepped down and was gone at 4 percent. The owner called the last state Infinite Turtle Mode. Flat ground felt like fourth gear. A hill felt like seventh or eighth. There is no chain from the pedals to the wheel.
Did the ALSO TM-B lose charge while parked?+
Electrek says this bike was left near 70 percent and read 18 the next day. That is 52 percentage points. This desk does not have the pack size in watt-hours, so it is not a measured drain in watt-hours. A reset under the frame made the bike see the pack again.
Is the TM-B a normal e-bike when the battery is empty?+
No. Pedal-by-wire means the dead state is a software mode. It is not a bicycle you coast home in a low gear, because it does not have that gear.
Keep riding
ALSO’s TM-B Is on Tour. Some Buyers Are Still Waiting.
The $4,500 Launch Edition was supposed to arrive in spring 2026. Electrek’s 16 September story says waves run into early November, and a demo tour is already on the road.
SEP 27, 2026
E-Bike Range: How Far Can You Actually Ride?
A brochure mile is not a loop. On the Lectric XP4’s 500 watt-hour pack, the claim is 50 miles and Outdoor Gear Lab’s throttle loop was 19.1. Five hundred divided by 19.1 is about 26.2 watt-hours a mile. Do not average that with an Eco ride.
OCT 3, 2026
How to Charge an E-Bike Battery: 62 of 106 Fires Started Plugged In
CPSC staff, in the June 2026 proposal, found fire in 106 of 145 e-bike investigations. Sixty-two of those 106 started while the bike was charging. Sixty-two divided by 106 is 0.58. Of 19 e-bike fire deaths, only 2 were filed as while charging. Be in the room. Use the brick that came with the bike. Unplug it when it is done. Do not sleep on it.
OCT 12, 2026