ALSO TM-B First Ride Review: Can This E-Bike Handle 30+ MPH Gusts?

A Bike Insurer’s First Ride on ALSO’s Award-Winning TM-B

Quick take: how does the ALSO TM-B ride?

• Stable in strong wind. The TM-B felt planted in gusts over 30 mph, on a morning I wouldn't have taken either of my road bikes out.
• Easy to handle at low speed. Its turning radius was a non-issue on the tight 180-degree switchbacks of Ledger's bike ramp.
• Start at assist level 4. Level 5 of 10 is where the bike really came alive for me, and I never even tried the five higher levels on the tour.
• The ride is the standout. The TM-B is packed with features, but the way it rides is what impressed me most.
• No cycling kit needed. With a belt drive and a covered crank area, street clothes work just as well.
• A display you read at a glance. The TM-B's Portal screen shows speed so clearly that you spend less time looking down and more time watching the road.

A windy first ride on the ALSO TM-B

On Friday, October 16, 2026, the final morning of PeopleForBikes' SHIFT'26 summit in Bentonville, Arkansas, ALSO brought six TM-B e-bikes to Ledger for a study-tour ride. I'd had my eye on the TM-B for a while. When I research products, I often turn to the Red Dot Design Award site, and the TM-B won a 2026 Red Dot Award for product design, with a jury that praised its "innovative modular design."

I wanted to try one, but I hesitated, and not because of the cold. It was in the 40s, and at home, in my ASSOS winter gear, there's no temperature I won't ride in when the wind is calm. That morning, it wasn't calm. Gusts were topping 30 mph.

On any bike I own, wind like that would have kept me home. Instead, it turned out to be the best possible test of what ALSO has built.

Why I usually skip windy rides

For most of my adult life, I rode a sub-15-pound Trek Madone carbon road bike on Bontrager or Zipp carbon wheels. Whenever my weather app showed winds above 10 mph, I usually stayed home. A bike that light gets pushed around by gusts, and being blown across the road never felt safe.

In recent years, I moved to a Trek Domane+ SLR, a Class 3 pedal-assist road e-bike with a 28 mph maximum pedal-assisted speed and a weight of about 27 pounds. It runs on Bontrager Aeolus Pro 51 carbon wheels, whose 51 mm (2-inch) deep rims catch more crosswind than shallow ones, with Continental Grand Prix 5000 S TR 700 × 32 mm tubeless tires. Even so, it cuts through low-double-digit winds with confidence. But make no mistake: I would never have taken the Domane+ out in Bentonville's gusts that morning.

Still, I knew those conditions would show me more about the TM-B than a calm day ever could. So I pulled my hoodie up over my ears, strapped on the helmet ALSO provided, and rolled out for the Bentonville by Bike study tour.

Starting at Ledger, Bentonville's bikeable office building

Ledger is a six-story office building in downtown Bentonville with zigzagging bike ramps up its exterior. According to Ledger, the ramps climb 66 feet from street level to the rooftop at a gentle grade of about 5%, with 180-degree switchbacks at every turn, and the full ride up and down is about three-quarters of a mile. Inside, riders find secure bike storage and e-bike charging (AISC). It's often billed as the world's first bikeable office building (Fast Company), and it's the perfect place to start a ride in Bentonville.

After a thorough briefing from Matt Liddle, ALSO's Director of Physical Experience, it was time to ride down Ledger's ramp on the TM-B I'd be responsible for over the next hour and a half. I set off just ahead of the group. I knew I was in for a learning curve, and I wanted to take the ramp's tight 180-degree turns slowly, without other cyclists around me.

The first lesson was turning radius, and it turned out to be nothing to worry about. The TM-B handled every switchback with comfortable ease.

What is an ALSO test ride like?

Early in the ride, I heard, "Buzzy, is everything OK?" I looked over to see Helen McKeon, ALSO's Senior Manager of National Events and Community, checking in with a caring smile.

It's one thing for a bike brand to hand you a test bike. It's something special when a knowledgeable rep rides alongside you, makes sure you're comfortable, and gives you the information you need to enjoy the experience. That's the kind of care ALSO's team brought to the ride.

How does the ALSO TM-B handle in strong wind?

Standing next to it, the TM-B looks structurally solid. Riding it, that look becomes a feeling. With gusts pushing across the road, I felt safe the entire time.

Weight is part of the story. My Madone weighs under 15 pounds, and my Domane+ SLR about 27. The TM-B Performance I rode, set up as a commuter and cargo bike with front and rear cargo racks, weighed about 95 pounds. That weight kept it planted in gusts that would have pushed my road bikes around. Yet, counterintuitively, it never felt heavy. It always felt nimble.

What do the ALSO TM-B assist levels feel like?

The TM-B Performance I rode isn't a traditional pedal-assist e-bike like my Domane+ SLR, where the motor adds power to my pedal stroke through a chain. The TM-B is a Class 3 e-bike with a 28 mph maximum pedal-assisted speed, but it gets there differently. Its DreamRide system is a series hybrid drive: there's no mechanical connection between the pedals and the rear wheel. Instead, pedaling turns a generator that feeds the battery, and software tells the bike how to go (ALSO).

You can ride in auto, where you pick a pedaling cadence, and DreamRide adapts to the road to hold it, or in manual, with software-defined gears that shift instantly. On top of that, you choose an assist multiplier: up to 10x on the TM-B Performance, compared with 5x on the base TM-B. A button-activated throttle lets you cruise instantly at up to 20 mph.

Matt suggested starting at level 4. I rode more than comfortably there until about half an hour in, when I felt confident enough to try level 5. I told Helen: "I just went to level 5, and I feel like a superhero." And that was only level 5 of 10.

That was the moment it clicked. The TM-B looks fundamentally different from any other e-bike, and ALSO packed it with useful features. But what impressed me most is that they mastered the most important element: the ride itself.

What does the ALSO TM-B sound like?

My Trek Domane+ SLR, a Class 3 e-bike with a 28 mph maximum pedal-assisted speed, runs a TQ HPR50 mid-drive motor made by Germany's TQ Systems. It's virtually silent and so seamless that unless you know the model, you'd never look at the bike, or ride beside it, and guess it was anything but a traditional road bike. The TM-B is different: its series hybrid drive gives off a relatively quiet hum. To my ear, it felt like a subtler take on the sound of ALSO's Rivian roots.

An almost therapeutic hum, the ALSO TM-B's sound is noticeable at first, but after a moment, it simply blends into the experience.

Can you ride the ALSO TM-B in regular clothes?

Yes, and it was one of the starkest contrasts with how I usually ride. On my road bikes, I dress in cycling gear matched to the weather, and my Fizik Vento Powerstrap Aeroweave shoes clip into Look Keo Blade Carbon Ceramic pedals. On the ALSO tour, I wore regular street clothes and my Norda trail shoes, pedaled away on the TM-B’s standard platform pedals, and never gave it a second thought.

The drivetrain is a big reason why. On a traditional bike or e-bike, the exposed teeth of the chainring can eat up a pair of jeans. The TM-B runs on a quiet belt drive that ALSO describes as carbon fiber, and the area where the cranks meet the frame is enclosed in a covered housing on both sides. Any commuter can hop on in whatever they're wearing and ride without worry.

How does the ALSO TM-B display compare to a Garmin?

For decades, I've ridden with Garmin's latest Edge cycling computers. They've always been terrific, especially because you can configure each screen to show exactly the data you want.

But nothing I've used compares to the Portal, the TM-B's integrated 2.75-inch touch display. On an hour-plus ride on unfamiliar equipment, a glance was all it took to see exactly what I needed, even for a rider whose eyes aren't 20/10 anymore. The speed readout was so crisp it felt billboard-sized.

That makes the ALSO TM-B's Portal more than a nice feature. It's a genuine safety enhancement: the less time you spend reading a screen, the more time your eyes stay on the road.

What lights does the ALSO TM-B have?

I've always made a point of running discreet front and rear lights on my matte black carbon road bike. But space is tight. I record every ride with two GoPro cameras, one under the cockpit and one under the saddle, and I also run a Garmin computer and a Garmin radar. Up front, a Ravemen light sits centered on a K-Edge Garmin-and-GoPro combo mount, just below my Garmin. In back, I'm limited to a tiny Knog Blinder Mini, because the camera and radar already take up most of the room.

I've often wished my bike had integrated lighting like the TM-B's. For years I've thought the spot on the front of the frame, where nearly every mainstream brand puts its logo, could hold a high-tech integrated light. That's exactly how ALSO designed it.

The TM-B also includes a red brake light, plus features like turn signals, which I didn’t try on the tour. For commuters especially, that’s visibility built into the bike, not bolted on.

Does the ALSO Alpha Wave helmet have lights?

Yes. When ALSO launched, I researched its full lineup, and one product stood out: the Alpha Wave, a $250 helmet with integrated lighting. According to ALSO, it has two front-facing LEDs, a 200-lumen headlight and a 75-lumen task light, plus two rear-facing LEDs.

It packs in more. ALSO's HighBar System replaces fiddly strap adjusters with one-handed fit adjustment. Speakers above the ears play your media while still letting you hear what's around you, and the helmet syncs with the TM-B so you can choose media right from the Portal. Noise-canceling microphones handle phone calls. And ALSO says its Release Layer System, four panels designed to release on impact, helps dissipate the rotational forces linked to concussions.

I've always invested in top-of-the-line helmets from POC, Giro, and Specialized, and none of the ones I've owned had integrated lighting. That's something ALSO got right.

With BikeInsure, the Alpha Wave can also be covered for accidental damage when it's listed on the policy. That isn't hypothetical. When a policyholder's $300 KASK Protone cracked in a riding accident, BikeInsure covered the helmet as part of an $8,266 claim.

What is it like to ride Bentonville by bike?

Led by Brady Carman, PeopleForBikes' Northwest Arkansas Business Innovation Program Manager, the study tour set out to show how infrastructure, investment, community, and culture come together to make Bentonville a model city for bicycling. From the saddle, it showed.

The roads were well maintained. Protected bike lanes kept us separated from cars, and in places they sat at a different level from the adjacent sidewalk, so riders, walkers, and drivers each had their own space. At one stop, where the gusts felt like they topped 40 mph, we learned how the city designed those lanes and sidewalks to work together.

The trails were immaculately kept. We rode through fall foliage as the leaves were turning, and over bridges so substantial they felt more like architecture than crossings.

Bentonville has built this network deliberately. A 1.5-mile stretch of Eighth Street, for example, reopened in 2024 as a boulevard with a two-way cycle track and safer crossings for people on bikes and on foot (Burns & McDonnell). Earlier in the week, walking to a SHIFT session at Compton Gardens, I passed Walton’s 5&10 on the downtown square, where Sam Walton opened the store that grew into Walmart.

What does the ALSO TM-B boost feel like?

I saved the boost for the end of the tour. Our group was on a flat, straight road with Ledger in view up ahead when two high-end road bikes, an Enve and a Specialized, passed us. I checked over my left shoulder, saw it was clear, and pressed the boost. Instantly, the TM-B surged forward toward the two road bikes.

We'd started the morning by riding down Ledger's ramp, and I finished by riding back up it: six stories and 66 feet to the rooftop. I eased slowly through each 180-degree switchback, boosted up the straightaways, then slowed again for each turn as I zigzagged up the ramps.

It was an exhilarating yet safe way to finish my first ride on the ALSO TM-B.

How do you insure an ALSO TM-B?

I ride bikes for joy, but I insure them for a living. BikeInsure covers bikes and e-bikes from more than 200 brands. Tern, known for e-cargo and commuter e-bikes, is among the top five brands by number of bikes covered.

Tern owners and TM-B owners have a lot in common. They've invested in a premium, do-everything e-bike that can replace car trips, and they want peace of mind that the investment is protected.

The TM-B's auto-lock, location tracking, and sturdy build make it a hard bike to steal. Nevertheless, any bike or e-bike can be stolen. One BikeInsure policyholder locked their Tern GSD e-cargo bike outside their own home with a U-lock and the frame lock that came with the bike. They could see it from inside, yet by the end of the evening the bike and the U-lock were gone.

E-bike theft remains one of our highest claims-loss categories. When that Tern GSD disappeared, BikeInsure paid the theft claim, a reminder that security tech lowers the odds but can't remove the risk.

With BikeInsure, theft coverage is optional, so TM-B owners choose the protection that fits how and where they ride. Pairing accident and damage coverage with theft protection means your peace of mind doesn't end where the technology does.

ALSO TM-B e-bike insurance FAQ

Can you insure an ALSO TM-B?

Yes. BikeInsure offers dedicated e-bike insurance for the ALSO TM-B, with accidental damage coverage and optional theft coverage. Policies are underwritten by Great American Insurance Group, rated A+ by AM Best, and available in all 50 states and DC.

To compare your options, see our e-bike buyer's guide to the best e-bike insurance, or get a quote for your TM-B.

Does homeowners, renters, or auto insurance cover an e-bike?

No, not in any policy I've read. Homeowners and renters policies typically exclude electric bicycles. Auto policies typically define a covered vehicle as having four wheels, so an e-bike doesn't qualify there either.

Even for a non-electric bike, I'd never file a claim through a homeowners policy, even with a scheduled rider. I learned this firsthand: after a riding accident destroyed my road bike, I found that those policies aren't built to handle bicycle claims. The claim lands on your CLUE report, the insurance industry's claims-history database, and it can mean significantly higher home premiums or even non-renewal of your policy altogether. That experience is why I founded BikeInsure.

Your e-bike needs its own standalone policy. BikeInsure policies are completely separate from homeowners or renters insurance, so claims never touch your home insurance record. BikeInsure’s Electric Bike Insure policy offers nationwide coverage for riding accidents and transit, plus optional theft coverage, with a low deductible. Get a quote.

Does BikeInsure cover theft of an ALSO TM-B?

Yes, when you choose it. Theft coverage is optional with BikeInsure for a reason. Many competitive riders rarely carry a lock or leave their race bikes unattended, so they may not want to pay for theft coverage. E-bike owners are different. They commute, run errands, and park their bikes outside, so for an e-bike, I consider theft coverage essential.

Every e-bike owner is weighing the same thing: they've made a real investment, and they want to protect it against the two things that hurt most, a riding accident and theft.

Theft is the worst case. If a riding accident damages your e-bike, repairs are usually manageable. If a $4,000 e-bike is stolen, it's a total loss.

In BikeInsure's claims, e-bikes are stolen far more often than non-electric bikes, and they're the only category where theft outpaces riding accidents. The TM-B's auto-lock and location tracking make it hard to steal, and theft coverage adds real peace of mind: if the worst ever happens, you're just a small BikeInsure deductible away from getting back on the road.

Can I insure my ALSO Alpha Wave helmet and accessories?

Yes. BikeInsure covers accessories and aftermarket components that didn’t come stock on your e-bike, as long as they’re listed on your policy. That includes ALSO’s $250 Alpha Wave helmet and add-ons from ALSO’s gear collection, such as the swappable Solo, Bench, and Utility Top Frames, the Front Rack, Fenders, and Cargo Buckets.

About the author

Buzzy Cohn is the founder and CEO of BikeInsure, which offers dedicated bicycle and e-bike insurance in all 50 states and DC. A lifelong road cyclist and USA Cycling member, he founded BikeInsure after a riding accident destroyed his road bike, and he discovered that homeowners insurance isn't built to handle bicycle claims.