I was watching a bit of TV on Sunday morning, as you do, when I saw this report on BBC’s “Something For The Weekend“. In the gadget review section of the show, an odd-looking MTB was wheeled on and showcased.
This bike uses a “hybrid drive” to boost the rider’s own pedal power with electric assistance, meaning that there’s no need for a throttle or dodgy thumb switch.
Tim Lovejoy described the bike as “smooth” and “a pleasure to ride”, then we’re hit with the price (at around 1:30 in the video) …. £25,000.
Yes, Twenty Five THOUSAND English Pounds.
That’s mental, that is. I don’t care how “custom” this machine is made for each insensible buyer. I don’t care how well the titanium, aluminium and carbon is engineered. I don’t even care what finishing kit is on the bike. That’s £4,000 more than my 7-seater Dadmobile cost when brand new.
Stupid money. What do you think?
The makers wish this over-priced pedal scooter was the future but the attraction of a bicycle is that it’s a rider and the bike. I am my bike’s engine and it is a simple equation, I pedal and I go. This thing looks awful (like a cartoon) and costs way, way too much.
I’m more of an XC whippet, but if it wasn’t for the price, and the fact that it would probably handle like a whale due to the weight, I can imagine some weekend warrior downhillers enjoying the fact that they could hit a down hill slope, then get assistance back up again.
I thought the ‘hybrid’ assistance was pretty cool too, and the bike actually looked like it had some decent components on it.
We should remember that even though it’s not to our taste, companies that build stuff like this slowly push the boundaries of the tech on our machines.
That’s a really good point about the tech, Martin. It might not look like an F1 bike, but in the same way that my Citroen Dadmobile has bits that were first seen as sci-fi, some of the development that’s gone into this bike will doubtless be on our day-bikes in a few years’ time.