Crazy Lenny's July 4th Sale or Markup?

[Johnny]

FWIW I didn't mean that the total price of a good quality ebike should be $800 but that being the base bike. Add a thousand for the motor and battery and a total of under $2,000 rather than $3,400 they were asking for the Gravel X.

I understand and agree with you. What I meant was today's prices for the componentry makes it very hard to keep gravel x below 2k as is. Just the Shimano 105 disc groupset is $600-700(it is equal to ultegra in performance just heavier and much better than the 1x mtb systems you will find in many ebikes). However these components are not necessary and for $2000 very nice bikes can be made even today. For example it is baffling to see how expensive the internally geared hubs are. If there was enough demand I am sure we would have been seeing better hubs for a fraction of the price.

Biria Easy Board which is about ~$600 for the bike alone. They add a common geared rear hub motor and battery then ask over $2,200 for it, worse still is Pedego Boomerang at over $3,500, crazy.

Those are very steep prices for what those bikes are. It is not a good time of the year but why don't you take a look at Raleigh's offerings like Retroglide. It is step-through and a nice bike overall (their hub offering is even cheaper at $1400 I believe).

 

[EMGX]

My wife has really bad knees and is very limited even after surgery. She has a couple non assist bikes with much lower step over than the Retroglide that she can barely get her leg over the cross bar on those. The super low step over Biria easy boarding bike would be the best choice for her. I rented one several years ago on Mackinaw Island and rode it all over the island, I thought it was a great bike.

 

[byunbee]

The 3 companies I noted are US companies. If they are to make it in the ebike business they have to make it here in North America. They sell elsewhere, but other continents have plenty of other brands. The masses in the US do not want ebikes, unfortunately.

I don’t think this is true. The more accurate assessment is that masses in the U.S. have never ridden an ebike, so they don’t yet realize the benefits or the enjoyment that ebikes offer.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

What I find amusing is that, there are folks here trying to dissect this advertisement of Lenny's.

But, I was speaking to their marketing manager yesterday and they have sold 112 bikes in the last 7 days. Majority of them in their store (~90) and few online.

While we spend tons of time on EBR forum, the reality is his customer base is not dependent on what this small sub group of people think.

 

[jbizzybiker]

I still have hope that pans out, but we've been saying that around this forum for 6 years.

Talking to an industry insider the other day and he said the North American market has a lot of issues to sort out before ebikes become mainstream here. The biggest issues are the laws are all over the place, and there are dozens of outlaw sellers willing to sell bikes outside the laws that are in place. They even will give the buyer whichever class sticker they want. Honest brokers don't have an even playing field to compete. We'll be lucky if US companies Trek, Specialized and Pedego make it to a mature US ebike market.

what do u mean by last sentence?

 

[jbizzybiker]

I don’t think this is true. The more accurate assessment is that masses in the U.S. have never ridden an ebike, so they don’t yet realize the benefits or the enjoyment that ebikes offer.

few in general population know about ebikes. everyone I tell about mine find it a great and desirable product to check out.

 

[byunbee]

What I find amusing is that, there are folks here trying to dissect this advertisement of Lenny's.

But, I was speaking to their marketing manager yesterday and they have sold 112 bikes in the last 7 days. Majority of them in their store (~90) and few online.

While we spend tons of time on EBR forum, the reality is his customer base is not dependent on what this small sub group of people think.

When I started this thread, it was just meant to offer some humor. I wasn’t trying to dissect their advertisement.

You’re statement is a bit snobbish and offensive Ravi. I don’t believe anyone on this forum believes that we make up the majority of the customer base that the bike manufacturers or retailers like Crazy Lennys are focusing their strategy on.

If you think that, then you have a really low opinion of your fellow EBR forum members’ intellect.

We come to the forum to discuss variety of topics that pique our interest. Some discussions diverge into something different. But at the ended of the day, we do it for enjoyment more than anything similar to having a chat with your buddies sitting around the couch.

In similar vein as, “Is Mighty Mouse Stronger or Superman?”

 

[onlineaddy]

Apparently even Superman thinks Mighty Mouse is stronger.

Ref: #441 of Adventures of Superman

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

On a lighter note,

Kanye West is running for president.

"Always court attention at all costs" is a move that works well in marketing but backfires in a lot of ways.

All PR is good PR and you guys have fun. I am voting for Kanye

 

[J.R.]

I don’t think this is true. The more accurate assessment is that masses in the U.S. have never ridden an ebike, so they don’t yet realize the benefits or the enjoyment that ebikes offer.

Both statements are true. The masses don't want it because they don't know any better.

 

[TomD]

But, I was speaking to their marketing manager yesterday and they have sold 112 bikes in the last 7 days. Majority of them in their store (~90) and few online.

But how many Eflow Flights were sold?

 

[J.R.]

what do u mean by last sentence?

We've seen some of the best and well known names in ebikes withdraw or outright fail in North America. Haibike (Accell) sold it's distribution for NA to a sub contractor, I think it's a 2 year deal. BH pulled out, Stromer is so limited here now, it's almost non existent. iZip was one of the first big ebike companies here. They were really big, now? BionX. There are many other stories to tell. There are certainly many factors at play with these companies, but NA has been a tough nut to crack.

I'm hopeful, guardedly optimistic though. Trek, Specialized and Pedego have the best infrastructures here. I love 'em all! Just from my own research and listening to people in the industry I'm guarded.

 

[jbizzybiker]

We've seen some of the best and well known names in ebikes withdraw or outright fail in North America. Haibike (Accell) sold it's distribution for NA to a sub contractor, I think it's a 2 year deal. BH pulled out, Stromer is so limited here now, it's almost non existent. iZip was one of the first big ebike companies here. They were really big, now? BionX. There are many other stories to tell. There are certainly many factors at play with these companies, but NA has been a tough nut to crack.

I'm hopeful, guardedly optimistic though. Trek, Specialized and Pedego have the best infrastructures here. I love 'em all! Just from my own research and listening to people in the industry I'm guarded.

Guardedly hopeful, I get it—the potential is more people wander into these three with their well-established brand stores, and ”meet” their first ebike as part of what is offered.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I'm hopeful, guardedly optimistic though. Trek, Specialized and Pedego have the best infrastructures here.

Infrastructure means nothing if the prices keep most away. That is the biggest hurdle the top manufacturers have to contend with, and the reason why the direct-to-consumer companies sell the majority of e-bikes.

 

[Chancelucky2]

My non e-bikes are all quite old. Two of them were bought in the eighties and were less than $350 new. The third is from roughly 2009 and was about $850. I got interested in e-bikes partly because I was riding my ancient bikes less, but when I started looking at prices for e-bikes I was kind of blown away by the prices. Now that I've had a chance to adjust to prices for quality bikes in 2020, e-bikes prices (most of them anyway) aren't that crazy.

A good gravel bike without a motor can easily cost more than $2000. A carbon fibre road bike often costs a lot more than that. I honestly don't think e-bike prices are any more inflated than quality bike prices in general.

 

[FlatSix911]

What I find amusing is that, there are folks here trying to dissect this advertisement of Lenny's.

But, I was speaking to their marketing manager yesterday and they have sold 112 bikes in the last 7 days. Majority of them in their store (~90) and few online.

While we spend tons of time on EBR forum, the reality is his customer base is not dependent on what this small sub group of people think.

Ravi, you are right, they appear to be doing very well... their listed inventory is significantly reduced and they only have 2 demo bikes for sale.

DEMO – Crazy Lenny's Electric Bikes

www.crazylennysebikes.com

 

[J.R.]

Infrastructure means nothing if the prices keep most away. That is the biggest hurdle the top manufacturers have to contend with, and the reason why the direct-to-consumer companies sell the majority of e-bikes.

Oh it means a lot. I haven't been in the bike business, but I have been in manufacturing with a service component. We were never the cheapest guys in town, but very successful due to our infrastructure, reputation and superior product.

Trek, Specialized and Pedego aren't going to put a chicken in every pot, but they know how to service the middle and upper ranges of the market. The average bicycle rider on the MUP would never consider the very average thousand dollar hybrid fitness bike, but Trek and Specialized make a living selling them. There are a lot of riders of bikes that would never consider a Walmart bike, just as there are riders not interested in a 13 pound carbon fiber road bike.

 

[Nova Haibike]

The average bicycle rider on the MUP would never consider the very average thousand dollar hybrid fitness bike, but Trek and Specialized make a living selling them.

I wouldn't say they are making a living out of selling them. They are more akin to the high-end than the average bike. What I mean to say is that while they are in no danger of stopping production, I question how much market share they are ever going to have if the prices don't come down more. Most people just aren't going to consider spending over $2K for a bicycle, even one with a motor.

 

[Johnny]

Infrastructure means nothing if the prices keep most away. That is the biggest hurdle the top manufacturers have to contend with, and the reason why the direct-to-consumer companies sell the majority of e-bikes.

Exactly.

As a matter of fact these big companies' effect is the opposite, just because they are popular they are overpricing their offerings. They are actually pushing reasonably priced equivalent offerings out of the market. So overpricing the bikes will bring them to masses ?

Small newly established companies/individuals are bringing better bikes for significantly less money, that is how bad these so called big companies margins are (I am talking about the budget built lesser bikes here, same or better components but sometimes thousands of dollars cheaper).

 

[bob armani]

On a lighter note,

Kanye West is running for president.

"Always court attention at all costs" is a move that works well in marketing but backfires in a lot of ways.

All PR is good PR and you guys have fun. I am voting for Kanye

Will be interesting to see what percentage of the votes Kayne receives between him, Biden and the Trumper. Seems likely he could take away some votes from either Biden or Trump, perhaps the latter. We shall see.