Saskatoon company marketing new electric fatbike

A pair of Saskatoon brothers are hoping their novel take on the fatbike is a hit.

Roshan and Rethanjee Thomas are the founders of Biktrix, a new start-up working to bring an electric powered fatbike called the "Juggernaut" to market.

Their design uses a small, rechargeable electric motor which makes pedalling easier, overcomingone of the trickier aspects of riding the large-tired bikes.

"(Fatbikes) have really thick tires, so you have to put in a higher effort when you start off," said Rethanjee Thomas during an interview with CBC. "(Because) this has the assist... it's actually easier than a regular bike to start off with."

Thomas and his brother are using the crowd-funding site Kickstarter to raise money for their new product. So farthe campaign has made a strong showing, meeting the majority of the$50 thousand fundraising goal in just over a week.

Thomas said he hopes the Juggernaut makes fatbikes more accessible to casual commuters.

"When you look at it, it looks like a monster of a bike and you might not imagine yourself riding it but the electric assist makes riding it way easier."