Maybe electric bikes have some positives...

[Rocan]

like making your own sound files to imitate engines... have a bike that sounds like a screaming v10 turbo....


or this...


http://www.wimp.com/enginesound/

 

[redbiker]

ummm, can you make those noises in German for the new BMW electric scooter?

 

[AgentX]

Or, in this case, being a lot faster than the equivalent MX racer...

https://www.faster-faster.com/index.html

 

[redbiker]

wow! those are cool. I really like the police 'street' bike. hhhmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

 

[SeekingZero]

Or, in this case, being a lot faster than the equivalent MX racer...

https://www.faster-faster.com/index.html

Right in my back yard. Thinking about getting one for the commute. I would be able to plug it in at work too. ;D

 

[AgentX]

Right in my back yard. Thinking about getting one for the commute. I would be able to plug it in at work too. ;D

Tell Marc that AgentX sent ya. He's an old mountain biking buddy of mine.

 

[620dark]

They do have some negatives too - one for every positive terminal on the batteries!

You could always build your own bike...

http://hackaday.com/2012/02/16/build-an-electric-motorcycle/

 

[redbiker]

wow, 13k for an electric bike? they actually sell these at that price? wow, was I in the wrong business.

 

[AgentX]

wow, 13k for an electric bike? they actually sell these at that price? wow, was I in the wrong business.

13k for a bike that doesn't require gas or the heavy maintenance that a petrol MX race bike does.

And it's a pretty frickin' exclusive boutique product. They pretty much had to develop every single piece in-house (edit: excepting interchangeables; sorry for the hyperbole). Adn they are physically producing a lot of things themselves. It's just what the bike costs to make. (edit again: and what the business costs to start up...the gigantic CNC machine that makes the frames? Not cheap!) Most people won't buy one because it is, in fact, expensive, but they can't sell at a loss.

They're not sitting around eating wine, cheese, and lobster while sitting in hot tubs full of money. They're scraping by in one of the most expensive places in the US (good for their target market of wealthy people interested in electric toys, bad for them trying to live day-to-day) while wagering their livelihoods on a product they're building out of passion. The CEO and most of the staff left lucrative jobs to do this full-time, and IMHO they at least deserve some respect for having the balls to try it.

So they found a pricepoint where wealthy San Franciscans might buy one as a commuter, and MX racers who spend more than that on a bike and maintenance for a season might see it as a value, especially given the allegedly superior performance. Hope they succeed. That'll bring the price down, too.

And yeah, although this is the first production run, I think certain people are knocking down their doors to get one reserved, so good on them!

 

[redbiker]

I really didn't mean to insult them re: their price. I'm sort of the middle of the spectrum. How much are new Harleys or BMWs? more than 13k I bet. Haven't looked at them since they are out of my price range too. I guess electric cars aren't inexpensive either. It's like organic foods, cost more than regular so lots of people don't by them. Like me. Then there's the organic or holistic treatments for some diseases. Great idea, too bad insurance companies don't think so. I've been through times with no insurance and had to pass up Rx's due to price. ah well, it is what it is.