MARCH 2019 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 27
BIG CAT
PREMIUM ELECTRIC BIKES
By CLAUDE SOLNIK
They say that adversity is the mother
of invention. In Vincent Gebbia’s case,
his Holbrook-based company came
out of an effort to solve a problem his
mother faced.
Gebbia founded Big Cat Premium
Electric Bikes after his mother and
father went cycling in Bellport Village
in 2012.
“She couldn’t get up the hill on her
traditional bicycle,” he recalls. “She
was crying that she couldn’t be mobile.
She was distraught.”
Gebbia, who had seen electric bikes
while in China, designed his own version
for her and then for the general
public.
“I said, ‘I’ll create a bicycle for her,’”
Gebbia says. “I created a prototype
with my mom in mind.”
He created a basic design
that he tested and tweaked
based on his mother’s and others’
input. The result was a unisex
frame with a motor, battery
centered for weight distribution,
sweeping handlebars
and other features.
While the bike lets riders tap electric
power, making cycling easier, it can actually
let a rider go further, which can
lead to a good dose of exercise. Gebbia’s
mother lost 40 pounds and put in more
than 500 miles on the bike in the first
summer alone.
But what’s with the name?
“Big Cat is my nickname,” adds the
44-year-old CEO. “I adopted it, created
a company. And I thought it was a
memorable name.”
The Big Cat name (no connection to
Big Cat Week on the National Geographic
Channel) is on the license
plate of his Cadillac Escalade these
days as well as the bikes his firm
produces.
His family was in the laundry and
dry cleaning business. He was a
salesman for that company for 10
years and became a licensed real
estate broker at age 21. He started
and sold a business called the Back
Rubber, distributing chairs
nationwide for massages
in places like malls and
airports. Then the Big
Cat electric bike business
was born. The
bikes are designed in
the U.S.A., although
they’re made in China.
The firm has grown to earn nearly
$1 million in annual sales, he says,
including 11 national dealers and
online sales as well as test models in
Walmart. Big Cat on Long Island operates
a corporate store in Holbrook.
The saying that a cat has nine lives
seems apt for Gebbia.
“I’ve lived a lot of lifetimes,” he says.
“I’m a big cat. I got nine business lives,
right?”
WHOLLY MOLI
Big Cat Premium Electric Bikes
are the brainchild of a Long
Islander.
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