The sophisticated bicycle has attracted fans in Europe and the U.S., but repairs under warranty have bled the company of money.
frequently pressing the bike’s “boost” button to pass fellow commuters
…
VanMoof’s specialized bikes often broke down, and their maintenance shops and generous warranty policies couldn’t keep up.
Assuming the boost was related to the frequent bike breakdowns, why did they include a boost feature if the electronics couldn’t handle it 😒 at least the company faithfully repaired them until the money dried up though!
“How much current is this power MOSFET rated for? 200 amps? Okay, we’ll do 195 continuous.”
That leaves 5 amps to account for surges. Surges usually stay under 102.5%, right?
Come on, if we solder it to a ground plane we have such good cooling it will easily conduct 250A. And make sure to toss that gate driver from there, they’re expensive
Glad I bought a RadRunner instead. Even now when they’ve left the European market (why are e-bike companies so poor at running their business?) I can still get parts from wherever as it’s a pretty modular and tweakable system.
So close to to unauthorized bread.
Heh, viewing this from the UK that headline would mean something totally different…
Glad that my bike is from a traditional bike manufacturer.
Also, how do they go bankrupt during bike hype times like these, lmao
Their core market was always the Netherlands. That market is absolutely saturated with bikes. There are more bikes than people in NL. It’s not like the US where it’s a relatively novel fenomenom with lots of growth opportunities for new markets.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
But the brand, considered by many bicyclists the Tesla of e-bikes, has gone bankrupt; its cofounders are in talks with outside groups to revive the failed company.
Rueterkemp bought his VanMoof nine months ago for around $4,000, and he’s ridden it nearly every day since, frequently pressing the bike’s “boost” button to pass fellow commuters on his way to his startup in downtown Amsterdam.
Hartogs says VanMoof’s creators fancied their company to be like Apple — creating unique products that would spawn its own ecosystem — but Hartogs says the company ran out of money because, unlike Apple’s products, VanMoof’s specialized bikes often broke down, and their maintenance shops and generous warranty policies couldn’t keep up.
With VanMoof no longer paying him to fix bikes under warranty, Tamor Hartogs is now left negotiating complicated repairs with individual customers.
He’s also been reduced to taking out the company’s patented cylindrical batteries from VanMoof bike frames by carefully breaking them apart and installing new internal components.
When asked for comment, VanMoof’s global head of communications replied by email: “I’m afraid I can’t make anyone available at the moment — seeing that we’re all fired except for the founders.”
The original article contains 696 words, the summary contains 196 words. Saved 72%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
the brand’s engineers made it next to impossible to open the frame that contains all the parts
VanMoof’s creators fancied their company to be like Apple — creating unique products that would spawn its own ecosystem
Well there we go, nothing to add that.
Yep, this was a well known scheme. They tried to be this hip and overpriced designer brand that people flock to for the name, with a bunch of proprietary parts that requires their own service centers to maintain them. Complete garbage tier imo. One of the nice things about bicycles is that they’re so piss easy to maintain by yourself even. The majority of it doesn’t even require special tools and it is a fun experience to learn too. Imagine if brands like this became the norm and suddenly you could barely find bikes where you could do that? You’d always have to pay up to some corporate entity instead. Definitely good riddance.
Bikes are mostly easy to maintain but there are some things like adjusting the spokes or the derailleur that a shop will get done much faster.
I don’t agree that much about the tools, unless you consider Allen keys to be a normal tool and you exclude the drivetrain or the headset, which need all kinds of specialized ones. Brakes can also need some less common stuff.
Allan keys (hex wrenches) are absolutely a normal tool, heck, if you’ve bought IKEA furniture, you may even have one already!
One won’t cut it, you need one of every size.
Not really. About 3 sizes are enough for maintenance and most basic repairs.
I’m seeing 4-5 different sizes at a glance on my bike.
Even if there were only 3, my point was that you can’t rely on a random key you got from Ikea, and you’re not always going to run into the same 3 sizes on every bike. Sooner or later you’ll have to buy a full set with 6 or 7 sizes, plus a large key for the stand screw (if you have a stand).
I looked on Amazon and you can get a set of 14 for £4. There’s no need to act like this is unobtainably complex.
I absolutely consider Allen keys a normal tool. One of the absolute must haves for any household.
What do you guys use them for? I have never seen hex screws on anything other than Ikea furniture and bicycles.
3D printers, furniture, sim racing setup, camera gear, electronics.
Seriously, a set of allan keys and some torx bits are basic tools.
