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As BikeE exits unexpectedly, Giant joins the (semi-)recumbent business...
US recumbent makers BikeE go belly up - just as Giant enter the market: we have first pictures of their machine.
BikeE were probably the world's largest makers of recumbents, with their easy-to-ride and strongly styled bikes willing a wide audience, with sales over the years in the tens of thousands by all accounts. Now, perhaps partly as a result of two costly recalls, they are no more - the website is down and all employees have been 'terminated'...
Reports on this news come from Bentrider Online and US trade mag Bicycle Retailer.
As others have said, a sad day.
Meanwhile, at the Eurobike trade show (of which more later) Giant were displaying their "Revive DX8" recumbent for 899 Euros (around £600 or $900) - clearly not a Burrows-inspired design, it looks like a bit of a chunky aluminium monster to me I'm afraid:
It's perhaps more inspired by semi-recumbents like the r-m Equinox than by 'real' recumbents like the late lamented BikeE - it doesn't actually have a recumbent seat as such, just a wide saddle plus backrest.
Giant also had a couple of prototype 'concept bikes' on the stand. How long is that swingarm?
Posted on 02 September 2002
Your comments ...| From: Murph ([email protected]) on 02 September 2002 |
| I think one can see where they're going with this - same place as the Equinox - a more comfy version of what we might describe as the "dutch bike". Not a speed machine but rather something nicer to do the shopping on... of course I could be wrong (-: |
| From: Seamus ([email protected]) on 02 September 2002 |
So what's with these big outfits like Cannondale and Giant that all they can come up with is a copy(ish) of such a basic design, BikeE, Oke-Ja sort of thingy?
Mind you, Giant's version is a bit goddam ugly. Which bozo on their team thought it looked OK? |
| From: Ben - Kinetics ([email protected]) on 02 September 2002 |
| It's what they think they can sell - not just to customers, but also to their own shareholders. |
| From: john riley ([email protected]) on 03 September 2002 |
| So do you think they _can_ sell it? I've been following the N. Am scene for a long time, and I don't see how this fits, with the possible exception of retirees in pool table flat developements. Is there a European market? It looks like it would be difficult to develop any power in this position. Is it the prodigy of Prodigy? I know people who were keen on that bike until they rode it. |
| From: Ralph Spoilsport ([email protected]) on 03 September 2002 |
| RE The Giant semi recumbent... The bottom bracket is on the swing arm? I don't think that is good at all. |
| From: murph ([email protected]) on 03 September 2002 |
Target market - people who want a more comfortable bike without having to buy a Cannondale and without it being "weird".
Swing arm - my take on the pictures is that it appears to pivot *at* the bottom bracket which is fairly sensible...? |
| From: John ([email protected]) on 04 September 2002 |
| Looks like another costly, low performance mistake. Sitting on the back wheel will eventually disapoint the most open minded rider. A Huffy has never turned anyone into a cyclist. May they live long at the rental shop. |
| From: brian ([email protected]) on 04 September 2002 |
| First word that came to mind was 'moped' - without the 'mo' of course - and it will have as much street cred. |
| From: murph ([email protected]) on 04 September 2002 |
Why does it have to have street cred? Why does it have to be an entry-level bent rather than, say, a cheaper alternative to an equinox?
Ok, so they won't sell any in the UK - but we're an odd market anyway. In the US they wouldn't have sold any but the demise of BikeE may change that. |
| From: Kevin D ([email protected]) on 04 September 2002 |
If you own any BIKE E product don't panic
please register with us ...quick note will do
Model ...Ser etc (no pictures required)
so that we can offer dealer support
and backup to all current U.K. owners
..............hope that helps
Thats all folks !£$%&(*&???? D.TEK HPVS
|
| From: Ralf Grosser (buzz [email protected]) on 04 September 2002 |
The same silly yellow look like the Raleigh Chooper, as on the Equinox.
A semirecumbent, for people, who want to go slow.
Why not by a good quality dutch roadster, like the Gazelle Tournee for less. |
| From: Tony Licuanan ([email protected]) on 05 September 2002 |
WOW! Looks like a *new & improved* ReBike!
Definitely something I would expect to see at K-Mart or, Target, here in the U.S.
Yep... I would pay $100 for that. |
| From: John ([email protected]) on 05 September 2002 |
Tony writes: WOW! Looks like a *new & improved* ReBike!
That's pretty much my first impression too. Some dim bulb crossed a ReBike with
a Peugeot. The financial temptation to put a $10 saddle on it instead of a $90 seat
must be overpowering. As long as it has that saddle, it will be inferior to the ReBike.
And what's with suspension? Probably because of the uncomfortable seat. |
| From: Span Tally ([email protected]) on 05 September 2002 |
| Oh dear. Mike Burrows is, I can tell you without fear of contradiction, not impressed. Still, at least it's only a third of the price of that ghastly Cannondale contraption. |
| From: Seamus (etc.) on 05 September 2002 |
| Mind you, that bicycle saddle should make it a lot easier to lean forward and get your weight over the pedals when you're struggling uphill *tee-hee* |
| From: RtH (@spokesfest) on 05 September 2002 |
| Yellow is so last year. |
| From: Giant Bicycles ([email protected]) on 06 September 2002 |
| Thank you all for your kind words. Following on from the conversation that i had with Ben earlier today, please try it and then comment. This bike is designed for comfort and ease of use. I appologise that we are not a small Niche back street manufacturer. However if the lions share of Giants Dealers stock this maybe just maybe it will change a consumers view, and then who knows maybe we can all make some money and more consumers can enjoy cycling. Come on its only a picture. |
| From: Roger@spokesfest ([email protected].) on 06 September 2002 |
| So, why don't you let us have one on long term test for our roadshow and lots of people will get to try it? :-) |
| From: Ben - Kinetics ([email protected]) on 06 September 2002 |
| For anyone wondering what Ian from Giant is talking about, I had a bit of an argument with him over the press release Giant sent out on the UK trade site BikeBiz. I think it is good that a mainstream manufacturer is going to introduce a beginner's recumbent at a reasonable price, but the press release was a bit OTT. I look forward to trying the bike for myself at IFMA next week. |
| From: Ralf Grosser (Buzz Starkbier @aol.com) on 06 September 2002 |
You have to give Giant credit, for one thing.
Like on the Equinox, the high handlebars of this bike are just made for the rider, who does not want to have sweaty armpits.
Ralf Grosser |
| From: Steven Brandist ([email protected]) on 06 September 2002 |
Its sad that BikeE have gone. The product was well designed, produced and marketed.
I was recently in Vancouver and hired one (the basic CT version) for a couple of days and I was very impressed. The CT version costs £500 in the UK, a real recumbent bargain.
If you get a flood of second hand ones Kevin, I'll take a AT please! |
| From: Neil Wyn Jones ([email protected]) on 06 September 2002 |
| Sorry to hear about Bike E, We bought a £500 CT - I can't get my wife off it - a bargain with the Sachs 3 by 7. The Giant seems a lot more 'semi' than a Bike E - the saddle and back rest don't look like they'd be comfy for too long - though many people find the bike E position too radical, so perhaps they've done their homework, only time will tell. |
| From: murph ([email protected]) on 07 September 2002 |
| Now there's a first - describing the BikeE seating position as "radical". We've seen people try a Kingcycle (genuinely radical), fail, try the BikeE, get it straight away, come back to the KC... |
| From: Edward Wong ([email protected]) on 07 September 2002 |
As expected, the naysayers are out in force with the introduction of this new semi recumbent from Giant. They nitpick, criticize and ridicule a product that they haven't had the chance to touch, let alone try. They're disappointed that Giant didn't make some contraption where the rider's behind is inches from the pavement while their feet are 9 feet up in the air. The hpv crowd is truly hard to please where there much argument amongst themselves whether brand x is faster than brand y. Whether a high bottom bracket is better or a low one is. And the list goes on and on.
Understand that Giant, Cannondale and other mainstream manufacturers that venture into the world of recumbents can't afford to play on such numerous variables to a market that represents but a sliver of the bicycle market. They have operating costs to cover and need I mention stockholders?
I think Giant has identified a market and is going after it with a product that will probably fit the bill in pretty much the same way Cannondale has with their bike. I commend Giant for their effort. |
| From: thomas ([email protected]) on 08 September 2002 |
My girlfriend and me shouldn´t be allowed to buy any more tandem. 5 years ago, we bought the Montague-TriFrame-folder, which isn´t available actually and last year we bought a Bike-E2, which is now historic.
Spoken seriously, I don´t like the look of the bike Es very much, but the E2-tandem turned out to meet our needs quite well. I am very sad to hear that the company vanished.
Thomas Schomisch, Germany |
| From: Alex M Lewis ([email protected]) on 09 September 2002 |
| I have just tried out the Quetzal "Azteca" which looks like the Giant Semi-Recumbent and the new CCM Evox. The Quetzal had a low back rest which my wife found hard on her back and I thought would not be comfortable for long rides. Giant's larger/Higher back should be more comfortable but not as so a full basket. The Semi-Recumbent bike is easier to jump on and ride and will appeal to many who don't want to ride bent over/head down. Having tried the BikeE CT for a week and we both prefer the full Recumbent seat we will not be going for the Giant but seriously looking at the Cycle Genious 2003 model |
| From: Ben - Kinetics ([email protected]) on 15 September 2002 |
I have just returned from IFMA, the big bike show in Germany where I managed to borrow one of Giant's semi-recumbents for half an hour of testing.
Good points: It's cheap (starts at £600ish), not too heavy, very easy to ride, and very adjustable. There is also going to be a posher version with enclosed chain (nee Equinox, natch), built in lights and hub gearing.
Bad points: It isn't fast - hard pressure on the pedals forces you up out of the seat, and the backrest isn't large enough to push against comfortably. The saddle isn't right, either - it's just a large conventional saddle, and not comfortable for a long period of riding. The suspension could be better - the very long swingarm seems to make it very slow in reacting. The adjustable stem moves slightly, which is rather distracting. And the plastic wheels are ugly!
Overall, it is well put together, but as a concept I am not so sure. They will probably sell quite a few, selling on the comfort angle. But if they had gone just a little more recumbent (e.g. Scooterbike) it would be faster, comfier and just as easy to ride. An interesting first attempt, though...
Ben
PS I will put lots of info and pictures (and videos) from IFMA up on my website - I'm sure Pete will be back with a lot of gossip too... |
| From: Ken Kolk ([email protected]) on 24 September 2002 |
| I have two BikeE ATs manufactured at the Giant works, but they should have used the BikeE design, even if they had to buy the patent. This thing is totally unimpressive, and looks like a modified DF wedgie and I can't see how it could be comfortable to ride. |
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