Car makers entering the e-bike world

[mark sutton]

Have to say I have slept on this topic until recently, but having looked myself and subsequently been contacted by the chap below, i'm wondering if the electric bike business is soon set for an invasion of sorts:

http://www.cyclingindustry.news/guest-comment-car-makers-in-the-cycling-biz-wake-up-bike-world/

 

[mike killay]

Very persuasive writing.
But, think of shoes, been around far longer than bikes and cars.
I wonder what he would write about the shoe industry.
The big problem for the would be innovative bike designer is rain.
Next is hills and head winds.
Then comes climate control.

 

[flecc]

I'm afraid he makes the same mistake that so many do, of dismissing the argument that the fundamental bicycle diamond frame geometry is as perfect as it ever will be.

It simply is, and every attempt to depart from it loses efficiency. And thus it ever will be until human beings drastically change their shape. That's the bit that would be designers so often forget, it's all about the human, not the bicycle, the bicycle has to follow human form and function.

As for the motor industry involvement, Toyota, Honda and Peugeot are also bicycle manufacturers with a very long history of doing that. Peugeot in particular made many a race winning bike in the past so know plenty about bicycle efficiency, but have stuck to the tubular diamond frame.

The motor industry isn't new to e-bikes either, back in 2001 Mercedes made one for a while and more recently their Smart division made one too. Neither brought anything special to the scene and neither ranked anywhere near being the best.
.

 

[RobF]

Is he paid by the word?

 

[mike killay]

The only successful alternative to the triangle frame that I can think of is the pressed steel girder frame used on many of the 1950s mopeds such as the
NSU Quickly.
But, for them, weight was not a problem

 

[anotherkiwi]

He doesn't seem to know much about the European bike industry. Maybe someone should tell him that frame factories are moving back from third world countries to places like Portugal and The Czech Republic and (gasp) France has always had a frame factory which is capable of churning out bikes that retail at under 200€.

Is it a bad thing that bikes are made by human beings and not robots? I bet the human beings making bikes are very happy every month to have a pay check.

 

[trex]

the guy is a bit unfair comparing the achievement of modern bikes against modern cars. A drivetrain of a car will weigh 10-100 times more than a whole bike. If bikes are to compete against cars, we'll need to pitch e-motorbikes against cars, not EAPCs.

 

[flecc]

A drivetrain of a car will weigh 10-100 times more than a whole bike. I

Yet a bike's derailleur drivetrain is far more efficient than any car drivetrain. He wouldn't like me pointing that out though!
.

 

[KirstinS]

Caterham ducked out of this mad machine

I like the looks but it makes no sense on any level. (Not to me anyhow)

http://www.gizmag.com/moto-parilla-carbon-e-bike/43224/

 

[flecc]

The only successful alternative to the triangle frame that I can think of is the pressed steel girder frame used on many of the 1950s mopeds such as the
NSU Quickly.
But, for them, weight was not a problem

They don't have to be made of symmetrical metal tubes of course, monocoques of other light materials are perfectly ok for some purposes.

The key thing is the geometry of the traditional diamond frame. So long as the functional points of that geometry are adhered to, the frame can be good, whatever it's made of and whatever shape it appears to have.
.

 

[D8ve]

But if you want efficiency and comfort. A recumbent leaves the saftey bicycle in its dust. The diamond frame is a simple but inefficient design.