e-bike guru: "Enjoy the Ride"

[ORMojo]

https://youtu.be/vAGrrtDf8KE

[mhespenheide]

It's cute, but I'm not buying an e-bike from Harley Davidson if or when I ever buy an e-bike.

[Nomadmax]

I've ridden Harely Davidsons for decades (and still do). That said, unless you're willing to pay tomorrow's prices for yesterday's technology; you should probably steer clear.

[benb]

I thought it was hilarious, but also contrived that anyone who would be buying one of their bikes would act like that.

For $4500 I'm not sure I wouldn't pick the Serial 1 over a similarly priced Trek or Specialized though.

The Serial 1 has a belt drive (smart), has a CVT instead of derailleurs (smart), and has a 700Wh vs a 500Wh battery for the same price and basically weighs the same. The CVT likely translates into energy savings and longer range versus anything but an expert cyclist perfectly managing the derailleurs on a competing bike, and it's an overall lower maintenance setup.

It differentiates itself in some nice ways, it looks way more like a purpose built well thought out eBike than a regular bike with the motor tacked onto a parts bin of regular bike stuff.

Regardless of the tech in their bizarre vintage cult of motorcycles they have way more legitimate engineering on staff than any of the bike companies. Of course is this thing just another Taiwan special?

[pasadena]

great commercial
all ebikes are going to dominate the market.

[duff_duffy]

Hate the styling of it but what a great commercial! Pain cave, wind lightning, gram savings, cotton guy, avoiding bathroom….on your left! Great stuff, still would not buy it but damn that was funny to me.

[unterhausen]

Having more engineers isn't always better, especially if they think they know better than all the people that have been designing bikes before them.

And the guru guy definitely has bad breath.

[charliedid]

[benb]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

Having more engineers isn't always better, especially if they think they know better than all the people that have been designing bikes before them.

LOL which large bike companies have been building bikes longer than H-D? Which ones built a bike which used rider power + motor/engine power before them? Certainly not Trek and Specialized. Maybe there are a couple European brands that have been in continuous operation that long.

These eBikes are essentially pre-1910 motorcycles with the electric motor & battery subbed into the frame versus a tiny weak ICE engine.

Tacking a derailleur and cassette onto the design and having to use a high-dish rear wheel is not an improvement.

There's no reason an eBike that is allowed to weigh 50lb+ should have any of the design compromises and maintenance foibles of modern performance pedal bikes.

These bikes would be even cooler if they could ditch the CVT in the rear hub (too complicated) and move the entire transmission into the housing at the BB area.