AltWheels in Boston

markcycle

10 kW
Joined
May 14, 2007
Messages
528
Location
Farmingdale, NY
Last week end I Demoed my E bike at the AltWheels Expo, the largest alternative transportation Expo on the east coast (so they say). I was offered free booth space to Demo my bike and setup a booth (see picture below). I wasn't selling anything, just trying to spread the word, which I did.

Friday morning we set up the booth and tent. From the moment we arrived the bike drew instant attention. It was instantly clear that most everyone did not know what a E bike was. I was the only E Bike display at the Expo ( Interbike was going on concurrently), thought there was scooters and mopeds on display.

My impression was that people would buy E bikes if they were readily available. Most people didn’t want to deal with a upgrade kit.

I got the usual questions

1) How far does it go
2) How fast
3) Does it do regenerative braking (So many people asked me this question thought most didn’t really know what it meant)
4) The endless question about the weight (like it matters that much if a motor is pulling you)
5) What’s the cost
6) Is my bike for sale are you selling a bike

When I tell them it goes 22 MPH, they think that’s fast enough. A real 20 miles ( with some stop and go) is enough range, when I tell them my bike goes 50 they're impressed. I couldn't’t get a real feel as to what the people who saw the bike were willing to pay I think a 700.00 to 900.00 dollar bike would sell, 2000 and they shutter.

The key message is; On the East coast people don’t know E-Bikes exist and the industry is doing a terrible job at marketing the product. Every where I go whomever sees the bike believes they are seeing a E-Bike for the first time. Well at least 300-500 people now know what a E bike is!
 
Sweet... right next to REI. Next year, you could probably sell a good bit of stuff or sell a few bikes.

Too bad the East is not as E-volved. But, they have raised the "little black dress" to a high art.

Now if we could just combine the two...

150379702446068a977fc79.jpg

8)
 
fechter said:
I'll buy one of those :D

Then just scoot a few blocks into town, Fechter, and watch for your tranny to fall-out. :D
 
I asked. My bride says I can't have one and she didn't like the bike either.
Mike
 
Well this thread fell apart fast, guess this isn't the place to discuss how to market EV bikes to the east coast

What I would like to know is why there wasn't any E bike vendors there. This is the shows 5th year and E bike vendors have been there in the past. Is it that the vendors who went in the past are out of business or they felt they got nothing from the show in the past? Or is the North east not marketable?

Are E bike a real transportation alternative or just a passing fad

There must some on this board who can have a real business discussion? :shock:

E bikes definitely can have a future in the Northeast but how do we get the word out?

About selling, I'm not interested in direct selling to the consumer. The product liability insurance alone prices me out of the business plus from what I can tell unless there is a ground swell of support from the current E bike owners to promote E bikes and get the word out it's not possible to sell on the small scale and make money with the up front cost needed to set up the business.

I wonder what a Pro transportation Pro E bike ad in a cycling magazine would do. Those mags are so pro fitness maybe a mag dedicated to cycling transportation is needed?

Ideas anyone??

Are there other North easterners on this board should we have rallies do bike demo's like they do for classic cars and motorcycles, everyone gathers in a parking lot and shows off.
 
:?: So, what are your interests commercially?

:arrow: You may be familiar with NYCEwheels.

The eastern seaboard is ripe for e-bikes... it has many bike-friendly cities.

Every technology has its prime-time. Dealers in the midwest went out of business because of lead batteries and cheap gas = low sales. Times are different now.

Five years ago China did not consume 10M ebikes annually. They do now. Now there is a complete value-chain in battery offerings. Lead -> lipo.

If you read between the lines, all the ebike needs to turn hot, is a bit of prestige: If Posh-Spice were sitting on an ebike up there, people would notice. Life With Ed is not going to cut it.

:roll:
 
However, my understanding is that in the state of NY it is not legal to ride an electric bicycle anywhere except on private property. Pollution-spewing, gas-guzzling, larger and less efficient vehicles are fine though -- tyranny of the myopiocracy.
 
I see that skootercommuter.com (in DC) has just closed their doors. They say scooter batteries don't provide enough range.

I still think the way to sell ebikes is as a normal peddle bike dealer with maybe a schwinn dealership to promote their electric bikes. Sell kits (which you install) as a bicycle accessory. Maybe pick up a bunch of beater bikes and install WE kits and sell them for $500 ~ $600 would be a good place to start. Service is key.

The sad fact is that most of american roadways are not bike friendly. Most people have to commute at least 12 miles to work. An ebike is not going to be an option for a lot of people.
 
What I would like to see is demand drive supply. That is if consumers saw and wanted to buy E bikes and went to there local bike shops and requested them, well then it would be easy for a shop to get into something new. Bike shops don't really deal in anything electric so E bikes are a big step for them.

For a shop to carry E bikes and hope they sell without any demand makes no sense.

So at this point its about marketing and the E bike Manufacturers bear this responsibility. If I go to an Expo on Alt transportation, a targeted audience to some extent, and the visitors to my booth don't know what a E bike is, well how do we expect them to sell.

Manufactures need to figure out how to market there product and as a industry they need a advocacy/lobby group pushing the cause, both to consumers and government.
 
I don't think it will play-out that way on this continent. The manufacturers in Asia sure as hell don't need us, they sell 10M domestically already and Europe has high demand too.

Wishing the mfrs would dump $$ into promotion is like franchisees blaming corporate for poor business, when the franchisees let their outlets get run-down.

The vacuum in ebike sales here is an opportunity for creative marketing. The current players enjoy only mediocre sales, because frankly their marketing sucks: Ever been to Currie's pitiful website? No suprise they are in ch11.

The proof of the market potential is there, but don't expect the mfrs to prime the pump; that's the opportunity-cost for the resellers.

What improvement in the market environment would you like to see... the economy sucks, big-oil is despised, green-energy is popular, batteries are light, powerful and safe; the internet and you-tube rule...

Seems like fertile ground for some creative entrepreneurs.
 
The job folks like Ed Begly, a series on TV about a road trip with alternative energy vehicles, the occasional mainstream squib on EV's, are doing all help but fall way short of either educating or demonstrating electric bicycles.

IMHO most of the folks who have looked at my bike consider it a "motor bike" and lose interest almost immediately after the initial obligatory questions. No one has asked to ride it and no one has accepted my offer to ride it. When I had a Z.A.P. friction drive motor on it there was in reality a little more interest but I think it was because the Z.A.P. is strictly a pedal assist product. Even then interest would have qualified as really, really, poor.

I know a lot of guys, a lot older than me, that ride their bikes on a regular basis. Every one does it primarily for exercise and none for routine transportation. When it's time to go someplace they climb into their automobiles. Even the ones who have motorcycles seldom use them unless they are planning a specific motorcycle trip.

I used to think that if a rider got corporate sponsorship and took a cross country ebike trip using e power only to go from San Francisco to NYC or Boston or Miami then sufficient interest would be generated. I no longer think that would do anything. A trip like that would have to be coordinated with many, many, local riders participating in city wide or county wide trips to show support and all of this with lots of publicity. I don't think there enough people in the business to even begin such a process.

Probably what needs to be done is to form a business group, "The Ebike Dealers of America & Canada" so dealers and potential dealers can get together and bounce ideas off each other and even plan events together.

I used to be a member of the American Ambulance Association, even when thy had almost no paid staff, and the job the AAA did for me and other providers was a major tool in taking my business from five or six units to over 50. I learned how other providers serviced their vehicles, billing, managed employees and did marketing. We shared ideas in non competing markets and improved the care a patient got in an ambulance.

As a group we had enough influence to deal with insurance companies, Federal and State Government agencies and suppliers. I really don't believe the private ambulance business would be what it is today without the AAA. Same for private fire services. And yes, there are a lot of them, more than you think.

What it all boils down to is leadership. As soon as someone wants to do it bad enough it will get done. Funny thing is, it won't be all that hard for the dedicated individual that decides to do it. Suppliers are a major part of any such organization and if a supplier wanted to get it's product out in front of the folks that ran ambulance services they participated in the AAA and bought space at seminars and conventions. Where else could we see 20 different brands and types of units and the equipment to put in them? How else would be learn about different management techniques?

It's got to start somewhere, it hasn't started yet and the position of leadership is available for whoever wants it. Plus, and this is a major plus, it's fun. More so when you succeed. Even more when you get to make a lot of money.

 
Thought you were going to take a nap, mvadv!?
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2410
:lol:
 
The best thing you can do, is what you already do. Ride. And have your fun. And people will see.

As far as media helping I agree that its going to take a hell of a lot more than Ed. That pasty lanky four eyed geek (no offense geeks) is the last thing ebikes need for their image. Posh might do to make it cooler. 95% of the folks who ride bikes where I live are the ones who can't get a license or can't afford a car. Its got an uncoolish "I'd rather be driving but I gots no choice but to ride a bicycle." stigma to it, at least where I live.
 
I do about as well as Ed, being pasty, near-sighted, and lanky myself. This past week I did see my first ever ebiker riding west on Olympic Blvd. Alas he too was sight and melanin challenged.

But when I'm riding, that gear whine sure does turn heads, and get people talking. I think its hard to beat that, even with a model on a poster.
 
Gio said:
Hi ES:
This is my first post here on this forum. I've been registered for a month and just lurk around. I'm on the V forum too.

So I go to start a new thread and it didn't let me, something about my account, but I can add on to anohter thread...so here I am.

You're fixed up now. Post away.
 
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