The death of my LBS

[mattr]

He said then that they are selling them as fast as they can get them in. Maybe some of the reason is that Swinley is close, and that there is a reasonable amount of money in the area.

Sounds like a thriving shop to me, not a dying one.

Most of the shops near me (ok, within an hours drive) are stocking somewhere between 10-25% E-Bikes. But then, the small local trader type shop has fallen by the wayside, so pretty much everyone has at least 300+sqm of display space, so can keep many many different types in stock.

 

[frobisher]

Re: Re:

Ebikes - you're only two wheels away from a mobility scooter....

So true

If I keep trying to cycle up Dorset's hills on a steel bike with a 53/39 & 11/25 I will need a mobility scooter

Me too!

 

[drcarlos]

"I still feel that variable gears are only for people over forty-five. Isn't it better to triumph by the strength of your muscles than by the artifice of a derailer? We are getting soft... As for me, give me a fixed gear!" Henri Desgrange

Gears don't provide any outside assistance though do they? These e-Bikes are effectively a low powered electric motorbike. Totally different really. Gears may have seemed back then to be 'witchcraft' but at the end of the day the cyclist still provided all the power.

The regular road type e-bikes are probably easier to regulate as they can just be classed as a powered vehicle for use only on the roads and require insurance to do so. Also to be fair with the assistance they'll probably mix better with traffic that a regular bike. I can see the attraction and totally concede that they are better than cars and motorbikes for the non-cyclists especially for a short commute.

These e-MTB's though aren't likely to sell if they end up being regulated or banned on multiuse paths, fireroads and bridleways. If someone riding one hits and kills a pedestrian/horse/regular cyclist when riding around off road it will happen. They'll end up like those hoverboards which were a big thing for about a year and have all but disappeared now as you can't use them anywhere.
Once people change shop and get the service they desire elsewhere they aren't likely to return, so a couple of e-MTB's in the windows was a good idea, but usurping the rest of the quality MTB range for a shop full of them probably not wise.

They've survived a few challenges from newer and more 'trendy' shops over the years too, with even the current trendy challenger up for sale, so only a few more months until they start to take that business back too.

I had a look at Bird bikes and they look nice, i'd like one a lot, but sadly they are out of my budget. I'm not going to push the economics boundaries on this one as it's a second modern MTB that will definitely play second fiddle to my hardtail 29er.

Carl.

My girlfriend lives in Crowthorne so we ride Swinley (alot!) Popped into the same shop a few months ago for a couple of spares and got chatting to the owner on a business level (as I used to run a couple of shops in my earlier years). Said then that I was amazed at how complicated the whole bike business had become, the huge range of BB sizes and types, the niche marketing of mountain, all-mountain, freeride etc etc and the rise of E-bikes and how (IMHO) that isn't REAL mountain biking. He said then that they are selling them as fast as they can get them in. Maybe some of the reason is that Swinley is close, and that there is a reasonable amount of money in the area. Maybe in 20 years when I want to continue biking but the body is no longer fully up to it I will look at one, but not yet

If you want to test ride a proper mountain bike or three then pop over to Mountain Trax in Wokingham and speak to Luke.

If you ever fancy a riding pal over at Swinley then drop me a line

Ade

We have a little group that does some local rides around Wokingham/Bracknell, Yateley/Bramshill and Swinley you are welcome to join us, it's a real mixed group with some guys that are into Epics, a few roadies who enjoy a bit of MTB and a few like me who are 100% MTB but trying to keep fit. We have a route around Wokingham that is mixed riding and about 13 miles, it's good for about an hour in the evenings, a similar route in Yateley/Bramshill. We do tend to ride modern bikes and I'm the only one with retro rides so I mostly use my 29er, that said I have at times taken out a retrobike when it's dry.

WRT Berkshire Cycles, I think the way they are going is fairly typical shortermism as I think that e-bikes are likely to be regulated on road and banned off road but we'll see. After this if their traditional customer base has been alienated they might struggle.

By the way I bought a used 2008 Kona Dawg in the end (shop soiled condition and only £400 as it's a 26er) so didn't throw money at any shop in the end.

Carl.

 

[Bats]

Getting people onto feeble motorbikes with life-limited bespoke drivetrains is not the 'best hope of getting more normal people out of cars and onto bikes for short journeys'. It's the best hope of getting BSOs with expensive motors onto garage walls for several years before they inevitably go into landfill unserviceable though.

Have you actually seen an ebike in real life?

They're usually quite well built proper bikes with mudguards, bags, chaincases, roller brakes and internal gear hubs. The only unique ebike bit that can actually wear out is the battery, which is again almost always a standard form factor (a rectangle under the rack) that you can just swap out for another one.

The motorbike comparison doesn't work because you need to pedal them. All the motor does is give an extra push which is proportional to the effort you've already put in. It's basically a strength doubler. The practical application of this is that it's actually possible for ordinary people to get to work on time when it's windy. That's it. It's a push bike that levels out hills and ignores wind.

This is good. This is why here in Holland half the bikes I see are ebikes. This is why 65 year old women can ride bikes ten km to work and then back again every day, because it is easy and practical. The british obsession with bikes as some kind of sport equipment has merely made millions of people buy naff mountain bikes, struggle to ride them up hill once and then decide they don't like cycling.

 

[mk one]

I think that e-bikes are likely to be regulated on road and banned off road but we'll see.

Carl.

bikes that use public roads already fall under regulations, just mainly overlooked. And there are lots of places that have already developed terrain especially for e-bikes, i dont think they will be going away anytime soon.

Everything is called a fad, you can still buy penny farthings you know

mark

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

E bikes got fingered well and truly in norn iron. Were only one high profile death away from it happening on the mainland.

And I don't blame our obsession with bicycles as sporting items for the lack of take up. Prior to the 50s when car ownership started to become more common place then most people either got the bus or cycled. They didn't have any choice but to cycle 22 miles each way to work as my grandad did right into his 60s. The only difference is the modern generation are a bunch of weak, soft, self entitled lazy sods and would rather lay on the floor and whine like losers as they go to their death, than expend a bit of physical effort to save themselves.

It aint the fault of bikes, sporty bikes, or Lance Wiggman - it's the fault of a generation lightweight nancies.

 

[drcarlos]

I think that e-bikes are likely to be regulated on road and banned off road but we'll see.

Carl.

bikes that use public roads already fall under regulations, just mainly overlooked. And there are lots of places that have already developed terrain especially for e-bikes, i dont think they will be going away anytime soon.

Everything is called a fad, you can still buy penny farthings you know

mark

The current rules only govern max speed. If as the eu propose, they be classed as powered vehicles and need insurance things will change.
It will be up to individual places, but where they mix with children and animals landowners are going to want to cover their backsides if the road going version require insurance. It remains to be seen as to what action they’d take. Easier to ban outright than to police documents. If they are not allowed in large areas of private land or countryside trails they will become very very niche.

 

[FluffyChicken]

...
Everything is called a fad, you can still buy penny farthings you know

mark

A chap down the road from me makes them.

 

[Chopper the ex Copper]

I think that e-bikes are likely to be regulated on road and banned off road but we'll see.

Carl.

bikes that use public roads already fall under regulations, just mainly overlooked. And there are lots of places that have already developed terrain especially for e-bikes, i dont think they will be going away anytime soon.

Everything is called a fad, you can still buy penny farthings you know

mark

The current rules only govern max speed. If as the eu propose, they be classed as powered vehicles and need insurance things will change.
It will be up to individual places, but where they mix with children and animals landowners are going to want to cover their backsides if the road going version require insurance. It remains to be seen as to what action they’d take. Easier to ban outright than to police documents. If they are not allowed in large areas of private land or countryside trails they will become very very niche.

They're already fairly niche here, because the lazy ass British would sooner spend a grand or more buying a used car than a pedelec.

 

[legrandefromage]

Ribble have a new 11kg electric road bike

The end is nigh!