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Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

lemond.com

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Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#41

Post by unethical_ban »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

>A lightweight carbon frame weighed down by a battery.

That's the entire point! To make an electric bike that weighs the same as a conventional bike. My aluminum frame road bike weighs about 23-24lbs, so having a 45-mile-range ebike weigh about the same is really cool.

And just like any emerging market, no, it isn't meant to be for the masses day 1, just as the Model S wasn't. This is iterative.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#42

Post by [deleted] »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

[deleted]

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#43

Post by [deleted] »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

[deleted]

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#45

Post by knolan »

YawningAngel wrote: post #4

I'm always confused by people of working age who ride bikes like this. What's the attraction of a more expensive and heavier bike that's no faster than pedaling yourself?

Distance. I travel 25 km to work. In my previous job I only cycled 7 km, it was easy and took about 15 mins. Then when I changed job my commute was 18 km, it was manageable, and better than the two infrequent buses I would have to try and catch but you would be pretty tired at the end of the week. It would take between 45 and 55 minutes depending on weather and traffic.

We recently bought our first home and this meant we had to move a little further away resulting in my current 25 km commute. The 90 minute bus trip is exhausting and you arrive at work and return home groggy.

On my ebike I can get to work in 50 minutes and still feel like I’ve exercised without depleting too much energy.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#46

Post by robert_foss »

jeffbee wrote: post #20
robert_foss wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A lightweight carbon frame weighed down by a battery. My thoughts exactly. Who's the target audience? And at that price point?

The price point is comparable to the Specialized Turbo Vado 5 SL, a third-generation e-bike from another American company. The weight savings can make a big difference when you have to carry your bike up stairs or bring it on a train. Keep in mind that e-bikes compete with cars.

Maybe you're right. The Specialized Turbo Vado 5 SL seems to be 14.6kg, and this bike 11.8kg. If they're otherwise comparable maybe this bike actually makes some sense.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#47

Post by cranekam »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

I agree with the overall sentiment — who is this for? — but:

> carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves.

just isn't true. Many hobbyist/amateur/weekend warrior-type cyclist ride carbon bikes. They can be had at lowish prices (my first was £1000) to multiples of the price of this Lemond ebike. Almost all owners of such bikes are limited by their own ability, not the bike.

It's probably fair to assume a lightweight, high quality ebike would be pricey. Perhaps being carbon adds a bit more to the price but the material choice alone isn't totally ridiculous.

> High-performance rims and tyres but only one chain ring.

Single-ring setups with a wide-range rear cassette are actually a pretty good choice for a commuter bike. Less maintenance, less weight. A double chainring setup likely offers smaller gaps between gears but likely a comparable overall range from lowest to highest. On a commuter bike simplicity wins.

I guess ultimately this bike is some combination of publicity stunt and Veblen good. I can't imagine Lemond anticipates selling many of them.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#48

Post by madeofpalk »

yalogin wrote: post #23

Who is this for? Seems to serve a really really niche user base. If someone wants a electric drive in a bike, it’s not for exercise, they want it for commute. It starts at around 5k, wouldn’t they rather go for a scooter/Vespa at that price? They are more practical for chores. The only reason to want a bike is to carry into the apartment if they don’t want to be bothered with parking. So a super niche crowd?

I honestly don't think it's that expensive, comparitively. Electric bikes are around £2000-£3000 (though both the new Vanmoof and Cowboy are right at £2000), so this seems to be just priced a bit more premium for a presumably lighter and more premium bike.

Sadly it lacks things like the insurace/bike theft protection that others have, which is a huge deal breaker.

I do like the look of this bike, and if i was a bit more richer i would definitely one. Looks nicer than my Vanmoof.

> wouldn’t they rather go for a scooter/Vespa at that price

They're different things. You can ride a bike in places where you can't ride a Vespa.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#49

Post by portlander52232 »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

You can buy a carbon bike at any mainstream bike shop, they aren’t just for pros anymore. I ride one because it feels amazingly sporty. I’m an enthusiast but not very athletic. The super light, stiff bike is just fun to ride.

The aero features like integrate stem and bars is mostly found on time-trial and triathlon bikes. In contrast you can get conventional road bikes, gravel bikes, and mountain bikes in carbon at any nice bike shop.

Re: Greg LeMond’s New 26 LB. Carbon Fiber Ebike

#50

Post by semi-extrinsic »

_verandaguy wrote: post #5

Coming from conventional bikes, I don't understand who this is for. Carbon fibre frames are prohibitively expensive and the market for them serves very involved, often professional or semi-pro cyclists whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves. Ditto for some of the other details on the bike, like the medium-dish carbon rims — all for the sake of weight savings and aerodynamics (sinc…

> whose performance bottlenecks are imposed by the bike instead of themselves

I'm a fluid dynamics researcher, and I'll tell you the money these people spend on "aero" and "weight saving" and "higher drivetrain efficiency" stuff is 99.9% snake oil. Unless you are among the top 1000 road bike racers in the world.

Increasing your exercise load by half an hour per week, or spending a little time understanding and implementing aerodynamically efficient body posture or other forms of technique, will both yield improvements that are several orders of magnitude higher than the marginal improvements achieved by spending $$$ on "aero" and carbon fiber.

I've seen detailed calculations of rider performance that indicate a 500 g saving in frame weight (which is huge), over the course of a 120 km race with 1200 m climb, will save you a whopping total of 15 seconds on ~4 hours of race time.

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