I don't mind if people want to invent labor saving devices. But I don't recall the Bicycling Magazine of the 1970s reviewing mopeds. The fact that the power is provided by an electric motor seems to blind people to the fact that this is not a bicycle, except in the sense that the original term for motorcycle was motor-bicycle. Yes, it has pedals and uses a lot of the same componentry. That in itself is a problem, when a 50- to 75-pound vehicle is using a suspension fork and brake system designed for something that weighs 25- to 35 pounds. Wheels and tires are gradually mutating to reflect the actual loads involved. This leads to other problems when the motorcyclesque tire for a given smokeless moped gets dropped from production. I ran into this working on a couple of massively heavy models from A2B. The only tire available to fit the rims is definitely not for a 75-pound behemoth. The rubber will melt away.
The bike industry, desperate for cash after they destroyed the mountain bike boom, is grasping at every straw, including electric wires. I suggest attaching those to the genitals.
You can't stop progress. You also can't stop diarrhea.
Electric vehicles are great. They are a separate thing and need to be considered as such. Quit dumping every whacked piece of crap with pedals onto hardworking little bike shops. Improvement is one thing. Over-sophistication is something else. The minority thrilled by space age, temperamental componentry is vastly outweighed by the people who want a relief from that crap, who were perfectly satisfied with simpler mechanisms, well made, and ask only for safe riding conditions.
It's still winter here, but a pretty crappy winter, so I have too much time to think about the next season and the technological marvels that are imposed on us in a deeper and deeper pile every year. Tool up! Study up! One or two people might need something annoying and expensive worked on! Meanwhile, all the older stuff still needs its routine attention.
The industry's ideal is to make bikes that are addictively attractive, that can't be serviced. Customers will buy them, ride them into the ground, and replace them eagerly, because we all have that kind of money. What happens to the carcasses of the dead? Who cares? Maybe someone will develop a feel-good, token recycling program to salvage the 10 percent of the content that can be. And environmental groups will start reporting on how the remaining detritus has been pulled from the gullets of the last few whales, or something.
2 comments:
Well... I see things differently, but the same. I know all of the growth in the bike industry is eBikes now - so retail survival will mean embracing that. It's not for me (even at an advanced age) although as an alternative to not getting on two wheels at all it is preferable. But what does that say about those younger people? Are they even in the market?
If you look back at the history of bicycling, you'll see that some bright spark added a small motor at some point. I've seen Motobecane bicycles parked next to Motobecane "motorcycles". But then they diverged. There are many flavors of motorcycles now - trials, dirt, adventure, cruiser, crotch rocket (I'm sure to have missed some). You'd no more take a HD cruiser on an African adventure than you'd ride a KLR650 cross-country on the Interslab. eBikes are in their infancy. Some are merrily burning down repair shops while others are busy bankrupting their makers. Early days. I can't imagine that any eBike bought today is current (or even repairable) in five years. No matter. Those that want them are not fussed. So take their money.
My understanding of a bicycle is that it is the most efficient way to move a person from Point A to Point B. It weighs about 25 lb, costs about $500 (these days) and lasts pretty much forever. If you pay $5000 instead, you don't get much more for your money - just for your ego. eBikes are different. At least twice as expensive. Lifespan of a few years at best. Zero ego factor. What is the attraction? A motor. Has to be. It's the only difference.
But a motor requires a battery which weighs a lot and is destined to be the weak spot of the whole deal. Anyone who has ever "invested" in a battery-powered drill will understand that even the "standard" batteries from Makita, Sears, Dewalt, Milwaukee or Ryobi have their issues (failures) and built-in obsolescence. Bad enough when it's another $50 from Home Depot - crushing when your crappy eBike needs another destined-to-fail $1000 battery - it will be more cost effective to buy another new one.
My ability to predict how Americans (for the most part) embrace tech is not 100%. I thought Nespresso would go nowhere, but it's big with the 1% (K-cups are more mainstream). And cycling in the US is mostly for kids and then a few wannabe racers in Lycra. I'm not even sure cycle commuters would accept being labeled cyclists these days. I do think an actual eScooter could be successful in Europe. The US is far behind on inner-city pollution controls (and moving backward) so it won't be the driver. Where do you park a scooter in Paris? Anywhere. Where do you park a scooter in NYC? A what? But with major Euro cities banning diesels, and cars in general, I can see an eScooter, with a 100 mile range and a "standard" battery pack, being very popular. It works in a European context. What would you want an eBike, which has no room for your shopping or a passenger? So go mopeds
Excellent analysis. As for cyclists in the USA, everyone here knows their category. There are mountain bikers who actively hate roadies, and transportation riders who hate roadies, and a group that seriously calls itself "wheeled pedestrians," that hate everybody who doesn't stay on the sidewalk. There are gravel riders, and path riders. Some specialist riders are okay with diversity. Some riders like to check out different styles and venues. It's more expensive to be a generalist anymore, because the specialist bikes each cost a good chunk. And you have to divide your time among them. So much for minimalist simplicity.
At the heart of the ebike wave is unwillingness or inability to propel the bike adequately by muscle power alone. The ringleader of the Millionaire Motorbike Club in Wolfeboro had little use for actual pedaling. He adopted ebikes early, and has been an evangelist for them ever since. Among his friends, most converts have come from aging riders who compensate for infirmity by adding the motor. None of them are hurting for cash. They also don't live here year-round, so they make very few major purchases here. Among them, they have dozens of ebikes. At least it seems that way. They're certainly up to their first dozen. More keep materializing each year.
AS a resort town shop, we have always tried to be ready to help whoever may wash up here. The proliferation of technology makes it harder and harder. We have to buy parts and tools. I believe that the industry should issue them, since the market is driven by direct advertising from manufacturers to consumers. I see very little that I would have felt inspired to invent among the steaming pile of innovations laid before the eager masses.
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