new electric bike project on Kickstarter

[trex]

I chose carbon to save weight and to have a better design and harmony of this Urban e-bike. Rear hub is not connected directly with carbon frame but we have special aluminium insert to make the structure more solid.

I agree with you that's why i need your support, otherwise i wouldn't need kickstarter and i think that with £50k you can't make a good marketing strategy

I like what you have done. However, I think you can't get into the e-bike business with less than £500k in paid up capital at the very least. The risk of under resourcing your project is simply too great. Let's say you reach your goal of 128k Euros. That may be enough to build and deliver 50 bikes but then, what's next?
You need to resource the project with enough capital to set up sales and support for at least the first 3 years while the income is usually maigre and the outgoings high.

 

[flecc]

why do I think you have someone on ignore ?

I haven't, but when I quickly scanned I didn't see another reply, so must have missed it.
.

 

[doctor_t]

I believe very much in this project and I will work strong on it.
I agree with trex about money and 500k is almost the figures of my busness plan.
may be with kickstarter i can find a venture capitalist that will be happy to invest in my project

 

[trex]

£500k not big enough for VCs, they are usually interested in young businesses with gross profit at over £1m and growth potential. You may find investors here, among members. The biggest problem is the lack of successful carbon framed e-bikes. Alienozo tried last couple of years without much success. They were selling off 2015 model at below cost last April.

http://www.alienozo.cn/product/60467672042-801031264/elektrische_fiets_carbon_fiber_koolstofvezel_omlijsting_mountainbike_met_mid_motor.html

 

[doctor_t]

I saw thery bike that is now on Kickstarter as well!!! but there is almost no info on their project.
do you mean member of this forum or memeber of kickstarter?
i will be happy to meet someone that can be interested on my project and would like to invest on it

 

[trex]

I meant members of this forum. If the kickstarter does not work, I'd suggest you come back here to discuss plan B.

 

[doctor_t]

If you can address me to someone i will be happy to start discussing about plan B already. I'm ready to share my idea to make this business working.

 

[trex]

I'd suggest plan B is to collaborate with an existing distributor like Amps. You can't market a bike that's not fully debugged for that sort of money outside kickstarter. Take Amps for example, they distribute for R&M, so they know how to sell quality and expensive bikes. They can help you to improve your bike and more importantly, to distribute them. After you have a distribution deal, you can raise capital privately among members.

 

[doctor_t]

So i will be on Kickstarter for other 48 days, may be someone will knock to my door

 

[trex]

cheer up! my son used to say every time I thought I had an eureka moment, dad, google it, somebody has probably done it. It's true but that has never stopped me. Member Mechaniker has done something similar with his Radon Spire carbon 12.7kg e-bike. I think it costs him about 1800 Euros. His company (Lishui) sell a bluetooth controller.
http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/threads/12-7kg-pedelec.23279/

 

[doctor_t]

in step 2 i already thought about a race e-bike of 9,9 kg
but first need to pass step 1

 

[soundwave]

this is a review of a down tube motor

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/bikes/electric/product/review-gruber-assist-conversion-kit-42720/

 

[doctor_t]

but with gruber you can't you need to pedal at least 70 rpm otherwise your will brake the gear

 

[soundwave]

thats no good then lol there are others but none cheap

 

[chr4]

It's a great looking bike designed with attention to detail. The battery looks very stylish. You might try publishing on other websites like cleantechnica, treehugger, gizmag etc. I hope you succeed. All the best!

 

[soundwave]

http://ebike-news.de/offen-fuer-alle-das-open-bike-system/118629/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ebikenewsde+(ebike-news.de)

now thats a app, if it ever works lol. i only have 1 app that works and thats the flash light lol.

just seen this and same price and sold out

http://ebike-news.de/frei-finanziert-12kg-e-bike-geht-in-produktion/8942/

 

[chr4]

http://ebike-news.de/offen-fuer-alle-das-open-bike-system/118629/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ebikenewsde+(ebike-news.de)

now thats a app, if it ever works lol. i only have 1 app that works and thats the flash light lol.

just seen this and same price and sold out

http://ebike-news.de/frei-finanziert-12kg-e-bike-geht-in-produktion/8942/

Yes, Freygeist is a great bike too. On the one hand having a battery hidden is great but on the other not being able to remove it might be a problem in colder climates.

 

[Kudoscycles]

It's all very interesting but is it commercial.
From my hard earned 6 years experience of selling e-bikes I have the following comments.
UK customers expect to get a complete bike,that is with mudguards,lights,kickstand....it rains and gets dark in the UK !
UK customers like to go to a local dealer to try the product,a dealer chain is necessary unless you are very cheap,when they will take a gamble.
UK customers don't usually want to spend more than £1000 on an e-bike,they will in smaller numbers go up to £2000, but that product has to be an established brand like KTM or Kalkhoff,£3000 plus e-bikes are a very rare sale.
UK customers want a product and want it now,the idea of pledging a deal is a turn off for many,younger people are more attracted to Kickstarter projects but younger people in the UK are cash strapped and not normally the buyers of e-bikes.
We have seen some nice sport style e-bikes presented to us on this forum,like the Coboc and the Freigeist,but at £3000 plus are they value for money? Have they sold any?
Germany may be a more receptive country to your Kickstarter project,it has a more established electric bike market which has matured into the desire for more expensive bikes. I noticed that the Coboc has a fully developed dealer chain,you will be expected to offer a margin of minimum 30% to the dealers. Holland is a big e-bike market but too traditional for this product.
Just my tuppence worth,I don't agree with Trex that you need £500k to get such a project away,it can be done with £100k but you do need a unique product and the help of a dealer chain,that depends upon your salesmanship skills.....why not present your prototype to the Coboc German chain,their dealer list is on the web....you need to do the legwork but you say you are passionate about your product,you need to assure that others share your passion before robbing the kids piggy bank.
Good luck.
Dave

 

[trex]

Going down the route of distribution, you'd need to finance at least 30 bikes per EU country for your initial load: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, UK to start with, that 150 bikes. You will need to keep an inventory of at least 60 days of sales or 150-200 bikes at the main warehouse. Your bikes will be sold on credit, that means 60 days of sales that you either need to factor or to finance on your own bat. Then you still have to pay deposit toward bikes on order, pay staff salary and premises. These costs add up quickly. It's true that you don't need to spend all the money at once but it helps to have some in reserve.
These things add up to about the equivalent of 6 months to 12 months turnover. When you build a business model, you start with the value of the market share you intend on taking. If you are planning for £1m sales in the next 12 months for your product(s), then a minimum of £500k will be needed.

 

[Kudoscycles]

http://ebike-news.de/offen-fuer-alle-das-open-bike-system/118629/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+ebikenewsde+(ebike-news.de)

now thats a app, if it ever works lol. i only have 1 app that works and thats the flash light lol.

just seen this and same price and sold out

http://ebike-news.de/frei-finanziert-12kg-e-bike-geht-in-produktion/8942/

The Freigeist was the inspiration behind the new Kudos Alamo and Stealth but at a price point of £935.00 much more attractive to most UK buyers.
Obviously we couldn't put the spec of the Freigeist at that price point,Ultegra gearing for example,but the idea was to maintain the spirit of the design but avoid the expensive detail.
We spent a lot of effort to make sure that the mudguards did not spoil the look of the bike and the semi integral battery is a good compromise...the Freigeist needs the forks removed to remove the battery!
Someone commented that the Kudos Stealth would have been a good spec for the G-tech bikes.
KudosDave