Is Sondors next?

[BigNerd]

Electrek had an interesting article speculating that Sondors might go the way of VanMoof:

Signs point to e-bike company SONDORS in peril, leaving riders stranded

SONDORS, maker of countless electric bikes and the Metacycle electric motorcycle, may be in financial distress.

electrek.co

Has anyone here bought one of their e-motorcycles?

 

[Rexlion]

Promising a new product so they can harvest down payments, which they turn around and use to buy & ship the previous product inventory. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. It almost sounds Ponzi-ish.

The manufacturing capability is set up, so no doubt we'll see similar electric motorcycles offered by other (better) companies.

 

[J.R.]

In the US, a motorcycle has to be approved by the USDOT to be sold for use on public roads. Everything has to be approved; lights, tires, horn, brakes... the list and costs are crazy. Once approved, the MC can be sold in any state. Sondors MC didn't even submit his motorcycle for approval. Like moped level ebikes, the only place they are legal is off road, on private property or where off road MCs are allowed. Seems Sondors put everything into a motor vehicle without a plan to actually sell them for what they were intended for.

 

[PedalUma]

Sondors

My friend has had four Sondors bikes. The cruiser rear hub was a huge disaster. It took a whole custom wheel build and new drivetrain. It cost as much as the bike to repair it. The hub was made with junk parts that cannot handle the torque of the motor and it is true that it is an electric motorcycle with afterthought pedals, like Barney has arms.

 

[JRA]

Never thought that the $500 fat bike would be delivered so no surprise here. Amazed Sondors had the run it did, as well as the amount of faithful it gathered. PT Barnum was so prescient.

Every day now getting emails about some brands heavily discounting their bikes or at least some models. Every time there is a burp in the universe bicycles come good and then as soon as things die down they go bad. So it goes.

 

[scottsdalecommuter]

I kicked around getting one and passed. Not shocked they may be going bust. I think the rollout of the metacycle was pretty rough and kept kicking out deliveries.

 

[mschwett]

Here in the US - the major U.S. bike brands who have European Market Share stick to Euro Class 2 for the US market...

this simply is not true. for the US market the US bike brands (who also have a presence in Europe) stick to the three US classes, with many class 1 and class 3 bikes offered.

the “big four” are specialized, trek, cannondale, and giant.

specialized sells lots of class 3 bikes in the US. Vado, Creo, etc.

giant has the fastroad e+ ex, the explore 3+ etc etc

trek has more than I can count, verve+ allant+ a million flavors of domane+ etc etc

i‘m sure cannondale is the same.

while it is difficult to sell speed pedelecs in Europe, it’s very easy to make a European version of a bike which complies with various local classes, which is exactly what all those manufacturers do. and then they sell the 28mph version in the US.

 

[gromike]

Gee, hearing the news about Sonders makes me now want a metacycle! Apparently a rarity to be, a true collectors' item.
Conversely, I hope there are containers full of metacycles somewhere, and we will one day get to bid for them on ebay. If that ever becomes the case, I'll take two!

 

[harryS]

Sondors was pretty sharp about using OPM, other peoples money, to import his bikes. I think all of his inventory was crowd funded. If he brought those metacycles into the USA on his own dime, I would be surprised. He might have lost money on spare parts,

 

[sc00ter]

The Sondors guy can go partner with Elio Motors. Another company that takes deposits and spends it on personal stuff. My friend got screwed out of $1000 on the Elio scam.

 

[PedalUma]

I do not want to be beholden or stuck up a creek without a paddle. In five years I can replace the external batteries on these two bikes with whatever I want. In ten years I can replace the mid-drive motors with whatever I want because the mounting is universal, not proprietary.

 

[Mike TowpathTraveler]

The Sondors guy can go partner with Elio Motors. Another company that takes deposits and spends it on personal stuff. My friend got screwed out of $1000 on the Elio scam.

Sondors did go the 3 wheeler way. But it looks like his website for the car is pretty much dead. i wonder if he refunded all of the money back from those who invested in the car.

In headier, more optimistic days, here's a story from Electrek about the Sondors EV: https://electrek.co/2017/12/01/sondors-3-wheel-10000-dollar-ev/

 

[BigNerd]

I haven't checked in a while but it does look like Sondors went under.

 

[Slaphappygamer]

I do believe you are right.

 

[Rás Cnoic]

Exclusive: E-bike maker SONDORS up for sale as company enters receivership

The latest event in e-bike maker SONDORS' financial struggles has seen the company enter receivership and begin searching for a buyer.

electrek.co

 

[gromike]

I wouldn't mind if I could get a Metacycle or two at liquidation pricing.

 

[Taylor57]

I almost bought a Rockstar a few years ago and instead went for a Frey CC. Loved the Frey while I had it and would not hesitate to purchase from Frey again...

 

[BigNerd]

Exclusive: E-bike maker SONDORS up for sale as company enters receivership

The latest event in e-bike maker SONDORS' financial struggles has seen the company enter receivership and begin searching for a buyer.

electrek.co

That was in December.

Haven't heard of anything about them since.

Just like Electric Vehicles... companies going out of business.

 

[Neverlost]

I saw a video with Sondors pitching the Rockstar. He seemed like he was way out on the spectrum. I bet he was horrible to work for.

 

[ElevenAD]

I saw a video with Sondors pitching the Rockstar. He seemed like he was way out on the spectrum. I bet he was horrible to work for.

Saw that as well, he made me want to NOT purchase a Sondors.