GoldenMotor said:
Philip is my Dad, I'm Yao Yuan, his son...
...you can go check out my dad's photo. We look so different lol.
Thank You for clarifying that, Yao! I'm sorry I felt compelled to raise the question. We're really happy to have you here (well, at least *I* am
), and that you appear willing to face up to a fair bit of initial (and as some here argue, well deserved) abuse in trying to gain the trust of the folks in this community. When the question marks starting flying around regarding Golden Motor last year, some of us started to wonder who was behind it. Your Dad's non-Anglicized name is Guohua Yuan, then, is it? That was what we were able to glean from the registrar of your domain.
A popular saying over here is, "you reap what you sow". It's unfortunate that you appear to have a fair thicket of choking vines to clear up (not to mention some weeds) before everyone here can enjoy your garden. I'm optimistic that you'll make it happen.
With respect to the new products coming out, and notwithstanding the technical challenges of keeping an all-in-one motor/controller combination cool, only one thing jumps out at me. Stealth. Or the lack of it. I like my bikes to look like bikes with "something extra" on them, not like bicycle-shaped electric toys. The paint job on the new "pancake" motor, in my opinion, looks cheesy. Crystalyte's plain, painted, exteriors draw far less attention than something with an ornate spinning pattern on it - which would be even more worrisome on the larger diameter pancake. More similar to the Golden Motor, even the Nine Continent's plain and polished exterior is preferable. If pushing the brand is an issue, I'd be more inclined to affix a tasteful applique to the frame of my bike, subtly advertising the maker of my motor, than I would to put a motor on my bike that draws its own attention. Being a 220lb guy over six feet tall, and speeding along at 45km/h on a regular looking bike gets me enough attention of its own
.
I personally think that a complete turn-key electric bike is a difficult product to sell. If the technology (especially the battery) is decent, then the investment is already on its way to being an expensive one for most people. First time buyers aren't going to "get" where the money is, so throwing a cheap frame and components around this to keep a certain price point will surely fail. The cheapness of the bike will be instantly recognized when compared to a regular bike of decent quality, while the price being asked will seem out of line. Rectifying that and putting a decent bike around this thing will quickly shift you into selling to folks with deep pockets, and the end product better be robust and highly refined, or the value won't be perceived. Even at that, I'm given to wonder - two of the local bike shops have a couple of bikes out of the Giant "Twist" line on display. Has either shop sold one yet? No.
One way around this would be to offer the bike a la carte. Present your base models in a way that focuses on the quality of the actual bicycle components (make sure you have a bicycle that can stand up as, well, a decent bicycle), with the choice of motor and batteries neatly packaged as separate line items. This will help first timers to understand that the batteries can cost more than the bike, and draw out some intelligent conversation about their importance. The subtle difference in this approach to "pre-packaging" a couple of different configurations to meet a certain price scale, in my mind, is that obfuscation of where the true savings are can only lead to less customer satisfaction. People buying the low-end bike will perceive more of a value difference in the components, for example, and will quickly be willing to make that sacrifice to get something that works - only to come back to you feeling ill-used because they figure out pretty quickly that they really needed the bigger battery, and - surprise - these are expensive! (Can you tell that I think keeping the technology in front of people is important, here?).
Which leads to the other thing that's needed. A really decent, solid, tested kit. You may have a great motor, a great controller, and a decently priced battery with charger. The difference between whether the kit flies or tanks with the average consumer comes down to a few dollars worth of hardware. A GOOD mounting system, clear instructions, and enough hardware to adapt the thing to a variety of bikes (don't forget the fasteners to keep the wiring tidy, even if its only a package of wire ties). And, fer God's sake, put some kind of weather resistant connector in the phase/hall wire near the hub - so people can get the wheel off to change a flat without rewiring their bike. The additional cost of these subtleties will pay back in spades.
OK. I'll shut up now.
that's why we prefer kits rather than complete E-bikes.
