Thanks David for your reply and extremely detailed information, and congratulations on the police order. Congratulations also on putting together an excellent line-up, from the competitively priced entry model up.
Seeing as you ask what we think, what I would most like for Christmas would be a cross between three of your bikes.
From the basic 905 I'd take:
no front suspension, basic Shimano bits, no disk brakes,
...with the power system from the 905se Sport
13.8a 36v Li ion, 250w brushless, 7 gears, hand throttle, off/on switch on handle bars, off road turbo switch,
...and some trimmings from the City:
full polycarbonate mud guards, rack
Effectively that would be your top of the range performer but without the bells and whistles like disk brakes, suspension forks and over-specced components which, at best, don't add to its appeal as a cyclists bike. If you made that model, which could be priced towards the upper end of your range, I'd order one tomorrow!
The questions which I guess you have implicitly answered with this range are:
'Do people need to be offered the bells and whistles to induce them to pay the premium for the better performing bike?' and
'Can a bike justify premium pricing based on selling the benefits of better performance?'
Obviously, where the answer to the first is no or the second is yes, you are sacrificing margin by providing the bells and whistles!
Frank
Seeing as you ask what we think, what I would most like for Christmas would be a cross between three of your bikes.
From the basic 905 I'd take:
no front suspension, basic Shimano bits, no disk brakes,
...with the power system from the 905se Sport
13.8a 36v Li ion, 250w brushless, 7 gears, hand throttle, off/on switch on handle bars, off road turbo switch,
...and some trimmings from the City:
full polycarbonate mud guards, rack
Effectively that would be your top of the range performer but without the bells and whistles like disk brakes, suspension forks and over-specced components which, at best, don't add to its appeal as a cyclists bike. If you made that model, which could be priced towards the upper end of your range, I'd order one tomorrow!
The questions which I guess you have implicitly answered with this range are:
'Do people need to be offered the bells and whistles to induce them to pay the premium for the better performing bike?' and
'Can a bike justify premium pricing based on selling the benefits of better performance?'
Obviously, where the answer to the first is no or the second is yes, you are sacrificing margin by providing the bells and whistles!
Frank