Wasn't the Aurora an illegal bike? Please correct me if I am wrong,but that would make its market very limited.
KudosDave
KudosDave
Alien bikes - ceased trading
- Thread starter rustic
- Start date
Yes, it was openly acknowledged by Alien to be illegal under pedelec laws, but was very popular and sold well as far as I could see. A number of members bought one and many aspired to it.
In fact it was probably as legal as some of the e-bikes with BPM motors and the like, but preceding them made it a bit of a pioneer, so Alien were understandably cautious about it's status.
In fact it was probably as legal as some of the e-bikes with BPM motors and the like, but preceding them made it a bit of a pioneer, so Alien were understandably cautious about it's status.
Around 12 months back when I was considering the purchase of a kit I considered Alien first as they where the nearest supplier to me.
I didn't buy from them for the following reasons:
They wanted an extortionate extra delivery cost for the Highlands though being only a few miles outside the Highlands themselves,
they where more expensive for what appeared to be a similar kit from elsewhere,
they did not acknowledge or respond to my polite emails.
If I had run my business along those lines I would have expected to have little success.
I didn't buy from them for the following reasons:
They wanted an extortionate extra delivery cost for the Highlands though being only a few miles outside the Highlands themselves,
they where more expensive for what appeared to be a similar kit from elsewhere,
they did not acknowledge or respond to my polite emails.
If I had run my business along those lines I would have expected to have little success.
Member Bigroy seemed to speak for them on a number of occasions, including answering queries about their bikes, but I was never sure about his status.
C
Cyclezee
Guest
All this just speculation, there could be multitude of reasons for ceasing trading other than purely financial.
Maybe BigRoy would care to enlighten us or not.
I dealt with them on one or two occasions and Jim was both helpful and courteous.
Maybe BigRoy would care to enlighten us or not.
I dealt with them on one or two occasions and Jim was both helpful and courteous.
Thank you, thank you and one more big thank you John. On today's special menu is thank you with a complimentary glass of wine thanking you all for being so thankful.
MS.
John....speculation is bound to happen,when you just have a brief message 'ceased trading' without any qualification as to reason.
The little contact I had with BigRoy,I found him a very open and affable guy.
Flecc...the market has matured over the last 5 years and surprisingly the customers,even aside from the Pedelecs forum,have become more mainstream and more knowledgable. So many know about the illegal bikes and are not interested.
Speaking to other traders and from my own experience the Pedelec forum has stayed with an interest in DIY bikes,many building their own bikes often from Chinese sourced parts with the personal latitude of whether to build illegal or otherwise. But this represents a tiny portion of the e-bikes sold per annum, most customers these days come from 'walk into the bike'shop whether it be dedicated electric bike shops or normal bike shops with the
odd electric bike. The super finance deals that the likes of Raleigh and KTM are offering to the bike shops are making it tough for the smaller companies to compete-which is a shame because it will restrict the choice available.
Those whose business was based on illegal bikes seem to be pretty much finished,there is almost no market left for such product and those who want it seem to enjoy building their own machines.
I thought at one time that internet based sales would dominate,due to their lower cost base and cheaper prices but the majority of customers still want to 'try before they buy'. So the majority of sales are by the good old fashioned way of walking into a bike shop,albeit maybe a specialised e-bike shop.
The only thing that is restricting the market is that the shops just don't have the stock to try. The London Electric Bike Company shop is just amazingly successful because it has 40 plus bikes to try,the guys at Swindon have big stocks and big sales,50 cycles is expanding its outlets,Fosse electric bikes is doing a good job,just because they are offering choice,we have all come to the same conclusion....you want a shop locally that has a good choice to try,there needs to be more of them
KudosDave
The little contact I had with BigRoy,I found him a very open and affable guy.
Flecc...the market has matured over the last 5 years and surprisingly the customers,even aside from the Pedelecs forum,have become more mainstream and more knowledgable. So many know about the illegal bikes and are not interested.
Speaking to other traders and from my own experience the Pedelec forum has stayed with an interest in DIY bikes,many building their own bikes often from Chinese sourced parts with the personal latitude of whether to build illegal or otherwise. But this represents a tiny portion of the e-bikes sold per annum, most customers these days come from 'walk into the bike'shop whether it be dedicated electric bike shops or normal bike shops with the
odd electric bike. The super finance deals that the likes of Raleigh and KTM are offering to the bike shops are making it tough for the smaller companies to compete-which is a shame because it will restrict the choice available.
Those whose business was based on illegal bikes seem to be pretty much finished,there is almost no market left for such product and those who want it seem to enjoy building their own machines.
I thought at one time that internet based sales would dominate,due to their lower cost base and cheaper prices but the majority of customers still want to 'try before they buy'. So the majority of sales are by the good old fashioned way of walking into a bike shop,albeit maybe a specialised e-bike shop.
The only thing that is restricting the market is that the shops just don't have the stock to try. The London Electric Bike Company shop is just amazingly successful because it has 40 plus bikes to try,the guys at Swindon have big stocks and big sales,50 cycles is expanding its outlets,Fosse electric bikes is doing a good job,just because they are offering choice,we have all come to the same conclusion....you want a shop locally that has a good choice to try,there needs to be more of them
KudosDave
There is no doubt we live in a land of plenty when it comes to choice.
Whatever consumer goodie you want, there is usually dozens to pick from.
The ebike market is tiny, and like Dave, I wonder if the wide choice is sustainable.
I think it is, and it favours businesses with deeper pockets.
I often wonder what is the split between Chinese and German shares of the market.
Is it coming up to 50/50?
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D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
I can't understand why they didn't update it with a CST motor and a decent battery. I'm sure it would have been very popular and "legal" with the "250w" motor.
Actually the foregoing raised a number of intuitive and searching questions. As John has said we must not jump to conclusions as to why Alien has 'ceased trading',so my comments should be considered as general,
I have been involved in e-bikes for about 4 years and I have seen the market change considerably in that time,not necessarily getting much bigger just change.
When I started there were internet traders who we're selling a lot of very cheap bikes,because there was no local shops providing any choice...now there are pockets of excellence where customers can buy locally having a choice between cheap(£700)up to expensive(£3000)...I should have noted the future with the success of On-Bike in the Presteigne-Kidderminster area,a good local company doing a good job. So the necessity to buy from the internet is reduced,obviously there are areas where no local good e-bike shop exists but these areas are becoming less.
Looking at my own business we are strong in the south east and London and in areas where our local dealer is doing a good job but there are still some barren areas where we have very little business.
So those companies that 5 years ago had only a small local business but relied heavily on internet sales across the UK are now finding it tough to compete with good local businesses.
Also companies like Raleigh or KTM are now making their product more widely available, are taking sales off the internet traders.
The type of bike we now expect our e-bikes to be are more leaning towards mountain bike style,this is a particularly UK fashion but there is enough bikes from Kudos and KTM to satisfy this style. We want our bikes to be good hill climbers and in the past this could only be achieved by illegal power but the BPM motored bikes and their like can now offer strong hill climbing ability without illegality,that probably reduced the need for such bikes as the Aurora.
Arbol,the market is still in its infancy,90 per cent of the population still don't know what is an e-bike but as customers buy one,are pleased with it and sing its praises to friends the market is slowly growing. What is maturing is that some customers are now on their second e-bike and are prepared to pay for what they know they want,so the sales of more expensive bikes is growing but the volume limit still seems to be about £1200.
The 'El cheapo' Chinese bike with poor quality parts and no service back up seems to have almost disappeared.
My personal assessment of the current state of the market.
KudosDave
I have been involved in e-bikes for about 4 years and I have seen the market change considerably in that time,not necessarily getting much bigger just change.
When I started there were internet traders who we're selling a lot of very cheap bikes,because there was no local shops providing any choice...now there are pockets of excellence where customers can buy locally having a choice between cheap(£700)up to expensive(£3000)...I should have noted the future with the success of On-Bike in the Presteigne-Kidderminster area,a good local company doing a good job. So the necessity to buy from the internet is reduced,obviously there are areas where no local good e-bike shop exists but these areas are becoming less.
Looking at my own business we are strong in the south east and London and in areas where our local dealer is doing a good job but there are still some barren areas where we have very little business.
So those companies that 5 years ago had only a small local business but relied heavily on internet sales across the UK are now finding it tough to compete with good local businesses.
Also companies like Raleigh or KTM are now making their product more widely available, are taking sales off the internet traders.
The type of bike we now expect our e-bikes to be are more leaning towards mountain bike style,this is a particularly UK fashion but there is enough bikes from Kudos and KTM to satisfy this style. We want our bikes to be good hill climbers and in the past this could only be achieved by illegal power but the BPM motored bikes and their like can now offer strong hill climbing ability without illegality,that probably reduced the need for such bikes as the Aurora.
Arbol,the market is still in its infancy,90 per cent of the population still don't know what is an e-bike but as customers buy one,are pleased with it and sing its praises to friends the market is slowly growing. What is maturing is that some customers are now on their second e-bike and are prepared to pay for what they know they want,so the sales of more expensive bikes is growing but the volume limit still seems to be about £1200.
The 'El cheapo' Chinese bike with poor quality parts and no service back up seems to have almost disappeared.
My personal assessment of the current state of the market.
KudosDave
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Trex...in terms of numbers of bikes sold I think it is 60/40 Chinese/German but in value it is probably 50/50.
KudosDave.
C
Cyclezee
Guest
A bit out of date with regards to OnBike Dave, they closed their Presteigne shop quite a while ago.
Pete Mustil along with two of the other directors have moved on to other things including electric bike tours http://toursdepresteigne.wordpress.com/
John,thanks for pointing that out...I did realise they had closed the Presteigne shop. But my posting was looking back to the situation 4 years ago when they had established a good customer base in a very remote area just by offering a good choice of bike with good customer service in an area that without them would probably have never heard of an electric bike.
I suppose I was looking back at what they achieved and comparing it to the situation today....a strong local company was the preferred choice against the internet traders...there are many similar examples today but the situation is hardly national,there are still many barren regions....Maybe Scotland being the worst example.
KudosDave
C
Cyclezee
Guest
When talking about "barren regions" I think you need to take into account population density, climate and several other factors, England is second in the European league with 10 times more people per square kilometre than Scotland and the majority of the population is concentrated in the central belt.
Therefore it is hardly surprising that there would not be a huge number of retailers north of the border.
Therefore it is hardly surprising that there would not be a huge number of retailers north of the border.
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According to the Department of Health, the bulk of the population is bulging over the central belt.
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