Dutch e-bike maker VanMoof goes bankrupt, leaving riders stranded
npr.org
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VanMoof took everything that is right with bicycles - standardisation, resilience, ease of repair - and deliberately ruined it. I'm happy to see that business model fail.
1: https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2020-05/c54c62b...
https://www.specialized.com/lu/en/turbo-como-sl
This bike costs less than VanMoof with generally better parts.
Specialized has a few proprietary parts but otherwise it's what VanMoof was dreaming to be :-)
Edit: And don't get me started with what's available in Europe. Gazelle makes 3x the commuter bike for the same money or less, all with standard components of great quality.
Bosch, Brose, Yamaha, Bafang, Shimano.
Probably the safe bets when looking for a ebike (check for local repair shops to be sure).
Shimano Nexus 7 internal gear hub, super solid.
Yup, looks like a great commuter bike build!
And in both countries, showers are pretty much required by local regulations in office buildings.
We normally just don't cycle hard enough to build up to much of a sweat.
However hot summer days are a challenge.
It might be a lifestyle thing, but sweating is not really an issue. Like, a lot of people in this country have been biking their way to school and/or work their whole life, they can handle a leisurely pace on mostly flat terrain without sweating. Biking around like that is not exercise to me, it's relaxing.
I'm not saying bikes are not a valid commuting method outside of NL. Just that in NL they are particularly well adapted
The average (non-electric) city bike speed here is probably around 10-15km/h, which makes a bike commute not any more strenuous than a literal walk (not jog) in the park. Nobody here expects people to shower after a walk. Of course it also helps that the country is very flat, the climate is mild, and cities are compact.
[1] https://www.wolterskluwer.com/nl-be/expert-insights/as-a-cli...
My original comment was about cheap bikes no one wants to steal. Realistically for mass bike use ebikes are the way and that solution doesn't work. Ebikes are targets for thieves.
Or just don't cycle on the hottest days, but only on the 'reasonable' ones.
No one says you have to do so every day.
I actually don't think the weather is even the limiting factor here in Texas. It's that it's literally unsafe to ride a bike on the vast majority of streets here under fear of serious injury or death.
People bike in any kind of environment and terrain, it's up to you to understand that ultimate convenience is not the bike's proposal, it's a simple, reliable, and fun tool to use to transport oneself when walking would take too long.
I live in a hilly place, with freezing winters (Stockholm), and I bike every single day of the year. I need 2 bikes for that: one for when it's not frozen outside and another that can take me safely on frozen/snowy ground. That's it.
When I lived in Brazil I also used to bike, in 30-40C, on a very hilly city (São Paulo) that was absolutely not made for cycling, we barely had bike lanes at that time in the city, it was still doable when distances were anywhere between 2-15km.
So yes, it's not the ultimate convenience as sitting inside your own personal refrigerated metal box but it's absolutely doable.
So yeah any starry eyed biking idealism dies in Texas.
I also lived in Sweden (Malmö) and it was fantastic for biking. Sweden is extremely spoiled for biking infrastructure, however. In Malmö you get dedicated bike paths that are separated from the road in a raised manner (eg above the curb) and also from pedestrians. The biking infrastructure in Sweden is probably second only to the Netherlands or Denmark in that regard. And the gap between what these countries offer and what something like the USA or Brazil offers is just massive, as you almost certainly already know.
I agree that most weather situations are pretty tolerable for biking. But there are some extreme temperatures (40C, -20C) that are not conducive to biking. As long as where you live doesn’t have that as a decent chunk of a season you’re fine to use it as a commuting tool, all other things considered. The problem is really rather whether getting on the road makes you actually legitimately in a statistically founded fear for your life, as is the case in Texas.
On the other hand, if we're both stuck in chilly weather with just shorts, a t-shirt and an unlimited supply of calories, you'll probably be the first one to freeze to death :-p
Growing up in the US, moving here has really opened my eyes. I used to think the same as you, but it is truly easy to bike everywhere when the city you live in has invested in proper infrastructure. (Note that this infrastructure is cheap as hell too, and it really doesn’t take that much redesigning..)
IMHO anyone 5km from the office who's considering commuting by bike should give it a try - you certainly don't need lycra, a $1000 bike or Lance Armstrong levels of fitness.
Good bike infrastructure helps a lot too. 5 kilometres in Berlin is fun. 5 kilometres in Istanbul is not.
I cycle in exercise clothes just not to get my clothes dirty, but I dont really need to shower when getting into work (and i get like super sweaty when i work out).
I try to adjust my pace in order to not get to warm, but it still goes way faster than the alternatives. I ride straight past the car traffic which is stuck in traffic jam every morning, and the buses are stuck there as well.
It's also an amazing way to start the day!
2. Sweating will not cause you to stink: if you shower at home before you leave, and your skin is fairly clean, then there will be no/little bacteria to cause smells by the time you arrive at work in the morning.
3. How much you sweat is up to you: if ridden at a leisurely pace (after the above few-week 'shape-up' period), you probably will not sweat. If you want to get in some cardio, then you will sweat more (but still not stink, if you pre-shower). If want a work out, you can also wear 'workout clothes' for your ride and change in a bathroom stall.
I have lived on earth for a few years and I have very strong experimental evidence that you are incorrect.
We should be encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles, rather than discouraging them. That is especially true for those who have sedentary jobs.
We need to be realistic about how it becomes that.
* I always took a spare t-shirt with me and put it on after arrival no matter how clean and dry I felt. Taking a shower in the morning helped anyway.
* In the autumn, heavy rains were a problem: I bought special trousers and shoes not to get wet but they increased perspiration. Taking a pair of socks with me and changing my shoes and trousers solved the problem (yes I had a separate pair of trousers in my office).
* In the winter, the problem was with ice - local authorities obviously prioritize cars and pedestrians, so I had to drive slowly and avoid dedicated bike lanes.
* Always drive slowly when getting closer to the streets. I saw so many accidents - mainly young people, in professional gear but they seemed to have no imagination. Personally I cross the street only after getting visual contact with the eyes of the driver - when I'm 100% sure they see me, I can cross the street.
The disadvantage is the smaller wheels and being lower to the ground, it forces you to keep your hands on the handle all the time as it's not self-balancing like a bicycle, makes going up curbs trickier (you have to take them face-on, you'll tip over approaching them with too steep of an angle), and scraping the ground if you're going down a tight slope/leaving the ramp of a flight of stairs (the platform isn't that much higher than the wheels)
I have one of those 'funny' interview stories where the candidate turned-up with large scrapes all over his face attributed to falling off a scooter which suggests your data-point-of-one is contradicted by my data-point-of-one.
Most people try to regain control and straiten their legs when in fact you have to abandon it and bend your knees. Less height, less pain.
Small injuries happen more often than on a bicycle by a margin
If I get a scratch I get a scratch, I'll trade that for a shorter commute
What I really care about are real injuries. Those are from drivers and they are the same whether you're on a bike or anything else
Everytime I read comments like this I feel dumb. I'm fixing my own bikes, but it takes a lot of time and quite a few tools. Just learning how to properly adjust the derailleur took me quite a few hours. Youtube university forgot to mention that Shimano GRX 400 front derailleur has intermediate gears.
Many bike parts are not really standardized. It seems almost impossible to know in advance whether some part fits on my bike, I mostly have to try. Also, manufacturers keep changing how certain things work, and then Youtube university may be misleading because they show a previous generation.
I'm building a gravel bike with drop bars, disc brakes, a steel frame and an Alfine 11 hub gear and a belt drive. I can't wait to ride it.
The rear derailleur on my cycle wasn't shifting as expected, and so I spent an afternoon following YouTube and adjusting its limit screw and barrel adjuster to no avail.
Finally gave up and took it to a shop, the mechanic took the cable out of the housing, wiped it down, greased and put it back in; the derailleur starts shifting normally.
"Easy to repair" doesn't necessarily mean you or I can repair it easy. It might mean someone, preferably a local, independent business, can repair it easy.
I used to do my own maintenance, but considering how cheap the bike shop is, I prefer to give them my bike to have good service and advices. Note that it's not out of laziness or lack of tools since I repair cars as a hobby, which require much more tooling and time. And also since my bike is my daily vehicle, I'd rather have it serviced by a pro.
Hopefully now someone comes along and merges the two approaches into an optimal balance.
I have a Vanmoof that I absolutely love and I’ve researched thoroughly but found no acceptable alternatives. So for now I’ll just keep using it and learn how to repair it myself when needed. And then hopefully someone comes out with a good replacement by the time it totally dies.
Parrot drones here are a nice example: users bought Parrot Bebop and Disco drones but as of a few months ago are now locked out of their devices because Parrot no longer supports these devices (in order to push their new Anafi drones).
Thankfully the open-source Ardupilot community has stepped in to take up the slack, but it's not enough. The Bebop in particular comes with a state of the art fish-eye lens camera with selective cropping for "virtual gimbal pivoting" and stereo-cropping for 3D mode. This functionality no longer exists. The camera does not work without the Parrot FreeFlightPro App, which is now dead.
I can similarly imagine a day when the "boost" function of these E-bikes no longer work because the App said no.
Having worked/volunteered at multiple bike co-ops, I have never and will never buy a new bike. Often perfectly good if cheapish frames will get scrapped because there's so many donations coming in that can't find buyers.
I ride hard and fast, and I don't get passed even by the MAMILs on their $9k S-works riding my $40 steel Univega SS conversion. You don't get much by trying to shortcut your way to a faster bike with money. It just takes time to git gud.
My own personal budget is never to spend more than $450 on a bike before repairs (which I mostly do myself, so the only remaining expense is (used) parts), and even then, I'm going to make sure it's steel alloy frame with great geometry, disc brakes, and at least 2x8 drivetrain. My craziest expense was a vintage Marin MTB (top of the line in its day) with some blown but nice shocks that was $300, but I had to send in the rear shock for a full rebuild so more like $425.
One of these days I may spring for a sweet, "well-loved" Rivendell frame or something similar. Planning on snapping up some kind of All-City soon since they recently announced they're discontinuing that brand and everyone seems to looove the Space Horse.
If you don't have the time to do all that research, there's quite a few online communities open to "is this a good deal" type posts who can help guide you to find a used bike that will work for your needs and inclinations.
(PS: I'm in the market for a 55-59cm high-perf steel road bike with Italian threaded BB! Octalink BB with Ultegra cranks burning a hole in my parts bin rn.)
This was in central London half a decade ago, and one piece of mind that I had when going for these types of bikes: no one wanted to steal them. I had yuppie friends who would fork out 1-2k on a new bike that they were too afraid to scratch to actually ride, and it would be stolen within a few months of its purchase. My bikes? I would leave them carelessly chained to some weak fence confident in the knowledge it would still be there when I came back to it.
There is freedom in cheapness.
Sure, you can find a nice old 1990s frame in an attic. But it probably has rim brakes, and in some countries you can no longer find replacement pads from a local bike shop, only special order, and rim-makers are gradually discontinuing high-quality rim-brake rims. It probably only fits an 8 or 9-speed cassette, and both Shimano and many local bike shops want users to upgrade to 10/12/whatever speed. Product churn alone is forcing the industry in a troubling direction regard of we retro-grouches would like.
I'm surprised to hear that in some countries rim brake pads are getting harder to find. What sorts of countries are those? Disc brakes are pretty fancy all things considered, are you talking about high-COLA hilly places like Norway or Switzerland?
> Disc brakes are pretty fancy all things considered
This hasn’t been true for a while now. I have noticed that many – if not already most – of the Chinese BSOs at hypermarkets have disc brakes installed.
I find it hard to believe, but if you're in one of these countries, you can just order brake pads by the dozen on AliExpress for a few euros and you're set for the rest of your life.
Apple took everything that is right with computers - standardisation, interchangeability of parts, open access - and deliberately ruined it and hid everything behind a VanMoofy design sensibility. We will be happy to see that business model fail.
Cowboy (VanMoof competitor) have built an app[1] to let you save the encryption key used to unlock the bike, if you're worried about the VanMoof app going down.
The real pain here is all of the annoying brittle and priority parts in the bike. The next time your eshifter dies, that's it.
https://support.vanmoof.com/en/support/solutions/articles/44...
I think it's worth adding to this the official statement from Vanmoof, as overall I think it does have most of the information that owners would like.
Kind of a shame that the so many Dutch people are getting screwed here, but the repair shop owners/workers from the article describe a very locked-down bike seemingly designed to be a lock-in device, not a useful bike.†
I've been in Rotterdam for a good amount of time (and Amsterdam naturally) and even knowing that everyone in these cities bikes doesn't prepare you for how much the Dutch have integrated biking into their cities. It's very impressive and enviable, and plenty of options for persons who do need other transport options.
From my perspective, trying to do vendor lock-in on a bicycle is a bad idea; transport needs to be treated like a utility, and purposefully making a device that requires a company to exist to give you permission/parts to use this utility while there are dozens if not hundreds of non-locked-down options just seems like an awful business idea, especially when the model has been "open" for almost 200 years and bicycle engineering is already extremely efficient and user friendly without the vendor lock-in. Whether it's locked in by code or by non-open hardware, trying to capture what is basically a utility (transportation) is a dumb.
† I understand that many users liked the bike design, but in my opinion, if repair shops are having to crack open the bike frame or can't use normal bike parts to fix it, it's a bad bike.
I'm pretty sure the business plan here was to generate "recurring revenue" by "vertical integration" in the "long tail" or some collection of buzzwords like that but it boils down to making customers depend on you after the sale and forcing them to come back to you for anything they need.
This reminds me of how software is becoming increasingly subscription based and triple-A games have moved to "live services" and "season passes" as a business model. I guess at least Van Moof actually sold you the bike and didn't make you rent it.
The potential loss for the customers would have been much lower if they had rented the bikes for, say, one month at a time. They might lose some days of paid usage in the worst case (as it now seems to be, they would not have lost anything in that one-month-rent case). But then they could switch to any competitor.
I guess sometimes renting is not tightening the vendor lock-in, compared to buying.
** For now. Also Cowboy's app does not (cannot?) support all models.
https://www.deondernemer.nl/innovatie/technologie/vanmoof-eb...
So seems like most Van Moof's can be repaired in the end.
That thing seems a bit delicate/fragile for a bike.
However they were selling them at 2000 in the end, they tried to also scale up production to support this. They seem to have failed at that stage in both quality and cutting costs.
This company had an interesting concept to fight bycicle thievery with "hunters" who steal it back [1].
Someone made full english subs for it.
If you so much as brush that bike, or even shake the bike rack a bit, it will scream loudly and startle you. Do it again and it's an ear-piercing alarm you have to contend with while you store your bike. And it's really hard to do considering how packed the rack is, and how normal it is to move other bikes a bit to store yours.
Other than that, I don't have a strong opinion on those: they seem like overpriced bikes that are expensive to repair, and other commenters seem to agree on that.
> They show VanMoof had three major creditors. Lenders led by American venture capitalist TriplePoint lent VanMoof 77.9 million euros. The bike company owed 50.6 million euros to suppliers and other business partners. And it also had 15.3 million euros in tax debts, including 12.1 million euros owed to the Dutch Tax Authority.
https://nltimes.nl/2023/08/23/vanmoof-debts-144-million-euro...
I'll show myself out.