D
Deleted member 4210
Guest
Heard from one of their dealers they've pulled the plug on US MARKET, and a number of their US people just got let go. Can't confirm this, but just an fyi.
TomD
Well-Known Member
It seemed likely considering Lenny's 50% off and BicycleBlueBook's $777 pricing:.
electricbikereview.com
No regrets here. Personally quite thrilled with the bikes I was able to purchase for a song.
Overstock on BH Easymotion Bikes over 50% off on some models
2018 was only confirmed for the ones on bicycle blue book. Lenny never said 2018 AFAIK. Pretty sure these are 2019 although there is no real difference between 2018 and 2019 on the Easy Motion / BH website. I kinda soured on the Brose version after looking more carefully at it. The battery...
electricbikereview.com
No regrets here. Personally quite thrilled with the bikes I was able to purchase for a song.
Yamahonian
Active Member
I have heard from another major BH dealer who I won't name that they pulled the plug on USA and canada, and will honor warranty claims through BH Spain. Not sure how that will pan out.
Still, i got a 5000 dollar ebike that i could never afford for half that price, so cant complain.
The BH phone number on their website has gone straight to voicemail since end of 2019, but they seem to still respond to emails timely.
Still, i got a 5000 dollar ebike that i could never afford for half that price, so cant complain.
The BH phone number on their website has gone straight to voicemail since end of 2019, but they seem to still respond to emails timely.
D
Deleted member 4210
Guest
D
Deleted member 4210
Guest
It's a lot easier to build, and market your ebike product in countries like Europe or the Netherlands (two of many examples) where speed limits are restricted lower, more people are utilizing the ebike for their primary transportation, better all around biking infrastructure, and that leads to more year round use, and likely an appreciation and willingness by the consumer to spend more money. The US market is quite a bit different, where it's more recreational use, more price sensitivity, and actually considerably more competition for far fewer sales. A number of ebike companies based (or headquartered) outside the US have had to re-trench and re-think their ambitions here in just a few short years as the US is less mature for ebike adoption than some of the other countries where this took off much earlier than here. There will be a lot more of this going forward, and it will be both large and small firms pulling out of here, more new ones that will come out of nowhere to try their shot at it.
TomD
Well-Known Member
I think it comes down to not being able to compete in countries not limited to euro-spec. How do you convince customers to pay 2-3x as much for an e-bike that is limited to 20 mph and no throttle? Maybe you can if you are a brand like Specialized with customers happy to pay a premium.
LimboJim
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
I'm sure it was a whole-company-survival move, but their motivation to support US customers might well be gone; why even try to maintain a reputation in a market you have no presence in?
If they're truly long-term thinkers, which I find few corporate types to be (beyond their own immediate careers), they'll realize that the US ebike market is likely to continue to skyrocket, and that they may well want to return to it in a decade-plus.
If they're truly long-term thinkers, which I find few corporate types to be (beyond their own immediate careers), they'll realize that the US ebike market is likely to continue to skyrocket, and that they may well want to return to it in a decade-plus.
J.R.
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Piedmont Highlands
I agree with not spreading rumors, but you constantly bash bikes and accessories you've never owned. Just because someone else posted a bad experience or you think so. You just did that about a Topeak grocery basket/trolley I suggested to another member. Physician heal thyself! Take your own advice.
pxpaulx
Well-Known Member
This is pretty much it - bikes as transportation is simply a foreign concept in the US - the vast space that many people's day-to-day living occupies simply doesn't translate to biking (think 5-10 mile drives to super center shopping, 20+ mile commutes) - in Europe people tend to live much more centrally, have access to close local shopping, high quality public transport and dense urban areas that lend themselves to biking - not to mention decades of biking infrastructure built and maintained just for bikes!
Painted lanes, long distances to daily places of work, goods and other things make the US much less amenable to acceptance of cycling as a primary mode of transport. I do think the younger generations are more likely to slowly adopt change (you can see it in terms of real cycling infrastructure in many places) and it will become much more common place, however that will still likely be decades in the making.
At the moment most see bikes as a means of recreation, or simply as toys - only the small population that chooses them for recreation is willing to pay for quality...and many of them are already established in their ways - at best ambivalent towards electric bikes (or at worst actively against them). As soon as Ebikes started to become more common place, and not a niche, the big regular store brands rolled in and have effectively dried up what little market was available to BH, Bulls, Haibike or any other number of European brands.
The reason brands like radrover are doing so well is that they source base level parts allowing them to sell at a price that Americans can stomach for something they would consider a fun venture (but not much more), and not wanting to commit to a hefty price tag on a first time purchase.
I don't think it is so much about the premium, it is about most buyers not knowing the difference between quality components and entry level. Now, I say that for seveal years BH tried to get away with base level components in many of their bikes, but the premium didn't match up over something perhaps radrover would offer. I think now that they have attempted to understand that and offer higher quality as a differentiation, they found they couldn't charge the premium price any more - partly because of relatively low cost entry level bikes now competing with them, but also with the regular dealers carrying known-name brands that have just joined in the e-bike market.
It will all be interesting to see how things progress over the next 5-10 years!
Over50
Well-Known Member
Yes, the pot calls the kettle black. One of his infamous posts along the same lines (never could get him to reveal which Fazua bikes he had owned or ridden):
Ebiker01
Well-Known Member
That Is true, i must admit it. Will try to not intervene when there's brands that i did not own.
excluding Stromer, i did a few test rides with their models and i was not impressed.
Ebiker01
Well-Known Member
In some cases there's no need to own the product in order to give a honest opinion.
For ex . Trek has the LT with Fazua (250wh battery , 20mph max.) and the +HP with BOSCH Gen 5(1000WH, 28mph. max.) FOR almost the same price.
Which one do you think is selling the most ?? Better Technology wins all the time and sells products.
The Fazuas It may be assembled , tested in Germany but all the parts (battery, motor, bms) are from overseas. Most of our consumer goods in the western world are made in Taiwan/China/ and other asian countries but by a huge margin China is nr.1.
We make their economy very strong , but we didn't have a choice. The companies greediness choosed a very , very low production price and high margins by selling to the western world. We throw and discard perfectly good or almsot good items by hundreds or thousands (not sure) of tons /yearly.
Ex.- A pair of leather boots (Eastland) made in VT, USA is 300$ , same pair made overseas is 95&. Big difference in the leather quality and other details. First i bought the asian one, after few months i threw it away and bought the real original one. It has happened with other brands as well..
Bach to the topic , the issue is that for over 70% of millenials an ebike over 2grand is just a dream. For Gen. Z even a 500$ scooter is a BIG achievement. This are people with college degrees that the market denies to employ for their worth. For Many stores with entry level jobs their employees are college educated young people....in their 20's or even 30's. That is a problem.
With a 12$/hour job for most , buying an ebike for 3k is like trying to land on Mars.
In Western Europe a lot of costs(education, healthcare) are free , ebikes subsidized and that's why Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and others have 100k + ebikes (in each country) on the roads.
And with only Trek, Specialized, Cannondale, Giant investing in ads, opening bike shops and doing marketing , the other good brands have no chance for a strong presence here unless they sell for a low price. I see Aventon, Radpower, Magnum as high sellers for under 2k and truthfully even that is NOT affordable for most people here. Sometimes when i ride in a poor area , i get many "How much was that bike "
sincere questions and wonderful compliments too.For 599, 799, 890,999$ they would sell by the millions. The whole 40-50 BH ebikes lot on bicycle bluebook with 799$ prices sold out in a few days ! True , a few EBR members helped a lot
in spreading the word, but if they hadn't been at that price , very few would have bought them.
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D
Deleted member 4210
Guest
Larry is no longer with the company. Do you know even know that, or are you just going to bash people like you do so many ebikes you've never tried ?
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Yamahonian
Active Member
For 599, 799, 890,999$ they would sell by the millions. The whole 40-50 BH ebikes lot on bicycle bluebook with 799$ prices sold out in a few days ! True , a few EBR members helped a lot
I do think that the $777 bikes feel like they are using cheap components all around. I can't imagine anybody would buy this at full retail price of $3399. Shocker that they even listed that as the MSRP.
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