Test rides

[jackhandy]

I follow what you are saying & yes, times are very hard for any retailer....
But, knowing that doesn't help me buy an ebike. We have just one lbs & a Halfords in the biggest connurbation in Cornwall: The next dealer is 20 miles away & neither has a single ebike in the shop.
Not just lack of a demo bike; Choose one from a brochure & we'll se if we can get one in.

There is no way I can buy like that.

 

[SRS]

Well, I think I travelled 100 miles each way to test ride several before purchasing mine.
Not ideal but if you want one, you may well have to travel more than 20 miles.

Hopefully this will not be the case in the future but for the time being it seems to be.

 

[GORDONAL]

Well, I think I travelled 100 miles each way to test ride several before purchasing mine.
Not ideal but if you want one, you may well have to travel more than 20 miles.

Hopefully this will not be the case in the future but for the time being it seems to be.

Similar story , i live in mid-Wales and travelled to Swindon , Loughborough , Kidderminster probably about 400 miles all in to test various bikes . Roadshows and similar events (Camping/motorhome exhibitions) offer a slim glimmer of hope for those of us not in the favoured areas BUT it still means very extensive travel .Luckily my "local" e-bike dealer (100 mile round trip) in Kidderminster usually have a very good range and lots of demo bikes so a detailed comparison test can happen

Alan

 

[oigoi]

I follow what you are saying & yes, times are very hard for any retailer....
But, knowing that doesn't help me buy an ebike. We have just one lbs & a Halfords in the biggest connurbation in Cornwall: The next dealer is 20 miles away & neither has a single ebike in the shop.
Not just lack of a demo bike; Choose one from a brochure & we'll se if we can get one in.

There is no way I can buy like that.

Jackhandy are you in truro?The bike shop near burger king has some raleigh electric bikes and also the bike shop in penzance has wisperbikes, also sometime this year kudos is coming to the eden project

 

[jackhandy]

My point was not really about the need to travel - that's a given down here - but that, when you phone these shops, they tell you they sell ebikes; which they do - they just don't keep Any stock, not just demos.

Good to hear Clive Mitchell now has stock: Hopefully not just the odd bike got in for a customer & not picked-up yet.

ps: Last time I asked, none of the locals had a mechanic able to deal with the electrics, so purchasers are really at no disadvantage buying online.

 

[Kudoscycles]

I absolutely agree with all the foregoing....I would never buy a bike without testing....for us at Kudos its just as frustrating as you guys....we currently have over 400 bikes in stock,we have good stocks of every single bike.
Its really a chicken and egg situation. What is needed is for the market size to grow such that a number of dealers grow into bigger ebike dealers covering say a 50 mile radius and offering multi marque sales-you would then have the confidence to travel to that dealer and view a number of different bikes.
To be honest many of the lbs are really not interested in selling ebikes,some are openly hostile to them-they dont like the concept ( the guy from UK Cycles was trying to ban ebikes from the London Excell test track,completely up himself, he tried to keep us off the track) and maintaining the electrics frightens them. What is needed are dedicated ebike dealers like Onbike,Atmosphere,Ebikes Direct-these guys do a good job in their locality but there needs to be more of them.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Kudoscycles]

I follow what you are saying & yes, times are very hard for any retailer....
But, knowing that doesn't help me buy an ebike. We have just one lbs & a Halfords in the biggest connurbation in Cornwall: The next dealer is 20 miles away & neither has a single ebike in the shop.
Not just lack of a demo bike; Choose one from a brochure & we'll se if we can get one in.

There is no way I can buy like that.

Jack-I ticked 'like' on your posting but really I don't like the current situation. We are currently talking to some new dealers who are interested in stocking Kudos (one in Exeter) but I really cannot expect them to hold more than a couple of bikes-a good spread of ebikes will be a £20k stockholding and most businesses just dont have the spare cash.
There is so much knowledge on this forum,in some cases so much more than a lbs would have,can I persuade some members to start up an ebike business selling and maintaining these bikes-it does not need high street expensive premises,the little nursery unit is ideal.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Old_Dave]

can I persuade some members to start up an ebike business selling and maintaining these bikes-it does not need high street expensive premises,the little nursery unit is ideal.

Indeed you can... Providing that the stock is supplied on a sale or return basis

 

[Kudoscycles]

Indeed you can... Providing that the stock is supplied on a sale or return basis

Dave.....why would you not buy the stock?
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[Old_Dave]

Its a cash flow / venture capital issue (there ain't none), lol

 

[Kudoscycles]

Its a cash flow / venture capital issue (there ain't none), lol

I respect and anticipated your answer and in one sentence you have answered this whole thread...there is just such a shortage of cash,the various governments over the last few years have drained small to medium businesses of cash and are continuing to do so-the big companies with multinational locations have an army of clever accountants which allows them to hoard cash in offshore holdings.
I would love to free issue stock on a sale or return basis but I just cannot trust many of these dealers to pay for them when they sell them,the honest ones are very few. We had a dealer in the early days of Kudos who could not afford to stock our bikes,he was in a part of the country badly served by dealers so we free issued 6 bikes on a 'when you sell one you pay for it deal' Some months later I had reason to be in that area so I dropped into the dealer,he had only 2 bikes left in stock-sorry no money left in the pot,I will pay in instalments over the next year,please take back the remaining 2 bikes.
Unfortunately that story is the norm-hence why few ebike suppliers are willing to supply on a sale or return basis without some security.
Dave
Kudoscycles

 

[muckymits]

Its a cash flow / venture capital issue (there ain't none), lol

Snap. Business wise you need to keep paddling like hell or sink, there is just not enough customers around at the moment.

 

[jackhandy]

I'd love to give it a go - but what he said

If I'd been allowed to invest the pension savings I recently had to buy an annuity with, I'd definitely give it a go.
The return, in using the money to promote something that I enjoy as much as ebiking (even breaking even) would have to be worth more than the pittance I'll get from a working-lifetime's savings. (Less than £600.00/annum per £10,000 "invested").

Bloody stupid rules preventing little blokes like me from self-funding a small-business startup......

Nurse - where's me medication - they've set me orf again!

 

[Electrifying Cycles]

Some interesting funding models out there with banks still reluctant to lend to SME's. Crowd funding being one, be great to see an electric bike company funded in this manner!