Optibike was started in Jim Turner’s Boulder, Colorado garage with a simple vision: Make the World’s best electric bicycle, with no compromises in quailty, performace or style.
Jim Turner races moto-cross for the Suzuki Factory Team and wins the Canadian National Championship. Not without a quality mechanic, Jim traveled with then mechanic Mike McAndrews, now Specialized Bicycle Components Suspension Director.
Muddy from head to toe, Jim Turner in his early moto-cross racing days. Jim would later help shape the moto-cross industry through racing and technological developments.
Jim joins the Fox Racing Team, developing and testing the worlds first long travel moto-cross suspension complete with a season racing throughout Europe. Jim’s mechanic in Europe, Keith Bontrager, went on to found Bontrager Bicycle Components which are a staple to the Trek brand.
The 1978 Fox Racing Team. Jim Turner #95, would later develop and test the world’s first long travel moto-cross suspension.
Jim raced in the 250cc World Championship in Europe then “retires” from professional moto-cross.
Determined moto-cross champion Jim Turner gets ready to compete in The 1980 250cc World Championship.
Jim begins to train and compete as a semi-pro tri-athlete while attending Stanford University.
Studying human/mechanical integration in the prestigious Mechanical Design Division. Jim intensely studied anatomy, nerve and muscle actuation, and tendon and joint movement in order to integrate human movement and mechanical design in a synchronous system.
After graduation from Stanford with a Masters in Mechanical Design, Jim is recruited by Ford Motor Company as a Senior Product Engineer in the Advanced Vehicle Controls Division. At Ford, Jim worked on the next generation of electronic suspension systems.
Jim began an around the world cycling trip.
Jim purchased his first electric bike, manufactured by California based ZAP. Jim thought the idea was good, but the first generation of electric bikes would not climb hills, and the weight distribution, handling and range were all very poor.
Having had bikes on the market for a few years, Jim rolls out the flagship of the Optibike line, the Limited Edition Optibike OB1. The first OB1 was quickly snagged up by the California Academy of Sciences Museum who called it, “The Future of Transportation.”
Jim left Ford Motor Co. to begin an illustrious career in chemical dispensing, where he patented a revolutionary chemical dispensing system that quickly became the world standard.
Jim worked in the rapidly expanding Silicon Valley semiconductor industry. It was here that Jim designed the equipment used to scribe and break silicon wafers used in cell phones around the world. His machine has been the standard of the industry for over a decade and is capable of accuracy to a 50th of a human hair.
Jim set out to merge his expertise in human muscle/mechanical integration, high performance suspension and vehicle design, and his years in the saddle of custom moto-cross bikes to design the world’s best electric bike, the Optibike.
To this day, Optibike manufactures, assembles and conducts research to develop the next generation of electric bicycles in Boulder, Colorado USA.