System Integration
Motor, battery, controller, and frame are designed as one machine. No mismatched parts, no firmware patches to paper over hardware shortcuts — every component speaks the same engineering language.
Engineered for the road ahead.
Customem began in a Rotterdam workshop with a single belief: the future of urban mobility deserves the same engineering rigor as a performance machine. Eight years later, that belief powers every bike we ship.
The Origin
A workshop above a bike shop. A stubborn idea.
In 2017, our founder Linnea Vos watched three delivery riders abandon a brand-new e-bike on the same corner in one afternoon. The motor was loud, the frame flexed under load, and the battery died before the shift ended. That evening, she sketched what a commercial-grade electric bike should actually feel like — quiet, unyielding, and honest about its range.
Customem started as a six-person team hand-building frames in a converted garage above a Rotterdam bike shop. We refused to ship a single unit until the torque curve was smooth at 0% battery and the welds passed magnetic particle inspection. That early stubbornness still shapes how we design. Every Customem frame is engineered around its drivetrain, not the other way around — battery, motor, controller, and chassis are co-developed as a single mechanical system. The result is a bike that feels welded, not assembled.
Engineering Philosophy
Three principles, every bike, no exceptions.
We don't follow trends. We follow tolerances, test cycles, and the small details that decide whether a bike still feels new in year five.
Honest Specifications
Our range numbers are measured at 75kg load, 18°C, mixed urban terrain — the way you actually ride. If we say 80km, we mean 80km in the conditions that real riders face, not a lab-tested best case.
Serviceability First
Every Customem is built to be opened, repaired, and upgraded. Standardized battery modules, swappable controllers, and open service documentation mean your bike outlives the trend cycle it was born into.
By the Numbers
Eight years, one standard.
From a six-person workshop to a team of 140 engineers, designers, and riders across three European facilities. These are the numbers behind every Customem that leaves the line.
42,000+
Bikes delivered across 23 countries since 2017
97%
Five-year component reliability rate on flagship models
68%
Recycled aluminum content across the current frame lineup
140
Engineers, designers, and technicians in the Customem team
Milestones
Eight years of building forward.
A timeline of the moments that shaped how Customem designs, builds, and ships — from a single workshop frame to a continent-wide service network.
2017
Founded in Rotterdam
Six engineers, one CNC mill, and a patent-pending battery housing design filed in the first quarter.
2019
First 1,000 units shipped
The Customem One commuter launches across the Netherlands and Germany, with 98% of units still in active service two years later.
2021
Cargo line introduced
Customem Cargo debuts with a reinforced mid-drive chassis designed for 200kg payloads and 60,000km commercial use cycles.
2023
Recycled aluminum program
We transition the entire frame lineup to 6061-T6 aluminum with verified 68% post-consumer recycled content.
2025
Service network reaches 23 countries
Authorised Customem service partners open across Europe, with standardised diagnostic tooling and a 48-hour parts guarantee.
The People
Built by riders, engineers, and stubborn craftspeople.
Half our team rides a Customem to work every day. The other half builds them. Every senior engineer has logged at least 5,000km on production bikes before signing off a design.
Linnea Vos
Founder & CEOFormer aerospace composites engineer. Rides a Customem One, every day, in every weather. Still personally signs off the first unit of every production batch.
Read her engineering notesMateo Herrera
Head of DrivetrainDesigned the torque-sensing controller that became the heart of every Customem mid-drive. Obsessed with silent gear transitions and sub-10ms response curves.
Drivetrain engineeringAiko Kjellberg
Sustainability LeadJoined Customem from a circular materials lab in Stockholm. Owns the recycled content roadmap and the take-back program that recovers 94% of end-of-life battery cells.
Sustainability report
Sustainability Commitment
Built to be repaired, not replaced.
An electric bike that lasts a decade produces a fraction of the lifetime emissions of one replaced every three years. Every decision we make — from fastener choice to firmware update policy — is filtered through that single question: will this bike still be ridden in 2035?
-
Closed-loop battery program
Every Customem battery is tagged at production. After end-of-life, we recover 94% of cells for second-life stationary storage or material recovery.
-
Open service documentation
Full schematics, torque specs, and firmware are published for every model. Any qualified mechanic — ours or yours — can service your bike.
-
Verified material sourcing
68% recycled aluminum frame content, audited annually. Conflict-free battery minerals documented down to the smelter for every production run.
-
10-year parts guarantee
We commit to stocking replacement drivetrain and battery modules for a full decade after the final unit of any model ships.
Read the engineering documentation behind every Customem.
Full technical specs, service manuals, and the open drivetrain documentation we publish for every model — written by the engineers who built them.