Wheels’ shareable e-bikes now come with what?

It isn’t mandatory to wear the helmet, but riders are incentivized to do so. Wheels will give a 20 percent discount to anyone who wears the included helmet for the duration of their ride.

But how does the company know if a rider actually wears the helmet? Do they have employees follow the riders and watch them? Thankfully not — they know because the helmets tell them. The devices, which come locked to the bikes’ rear fenders, have special sensors that can tell when they are being worn. 

Wheels, created by the founders of the popular dog-walking startup Wag, operates pedal-less e-bikes that it claims offer four times the range of other e-bikes because they have swappable parts and batteries. The bikes are available in 10 locations including Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, San Diego, Stockholm and Scottsdale, Ariz.