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A bicycle is one of the most elegant tools out there. You get an insane amount of value for your money, and anyone can learn to fix them at home with very few t

• asddubs 3y ago
  it is undeniably pretty slick to just have everything inside the frame of the bike. But as with phones, to some extent elegance is at odds with repairability. I'd rather have something that lasts a long time.
  • Gravityloss 3y ago
    The frame tubes do have open ends. Especially on Van Moof bikes [1]. So I assume the components slide through the ends. Gear components from the bottom. Electronics from the front and back. So I don't see fundamental physical issues? Maybe this style will be more standardized by some companies at some point. 1: https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2020-05/c54c62b0-9455-11ea-bcbd-e23993955748 https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2020-05/c54c62b...
    • asddubs 3y ago
      Even so, I assume it's using specialty parts to meet size constraints, making them harder to replace.
    • rcostin2k2 3y ago
      The top tube seems to have a small removable part, few inches behind the head. Else, there is not much to access the inside because of the seat post and head ... The tension forces favor the model because at that point there is only compression, so the tube closes itself.
      • Gravityloss 3y ago
        Ah, true of course! One indeed can't get to the top tube from the front. But from the rear, I assume you will have to remove the seat but then you do get access to the components deep in the top tube.
  • oblio 3y ago
    Meh, there are some bikes where only a few things stick out, and that only for a few cm. https://www.specialized.com/lu/en/turbo-como-sl https://www.specialized.com/lu/en/turbo-como-sl This bike costs less than VanMoof with generally better parts. Specialized has a few proprietary parts but otherwise it's what VanMoof was dreaming to be :-) Edit: And don't get me started with what's available in Europe. Gazelle makes 3x the commuter bike for the same money or less, all with standard components of great quality.
    • gonzo41 3y ago
      My Wife has a Giant/Momentum Vida E. It's really great, everythings so simple for an Ebike.
      • oblio 3y ago
        Yamaha engine, legit! Bosch, Brose, Yamaha, Bafang, Shimano. Probably the safe bets when looking for a ebike (check for local repair shops to be sure). Shimano Nexus 7 internal gear hub, super solid. Yup, looks like a great commuter bike build!
• pluijzer 3y ago
  Elegant tools indeed. I own a (non-electric) bike that I bought 15 years ago. When I bought it I opted out of all the features, I saw them as 'parts that can break'. It was 300 euros. It gets around 10-20km of cycling everyday. I always leave it outside and lock it with the most simple lock (nobody steals such a simple bike). I carry groceries and my child on it. Twice it got a flat tire which is an easy fix, that is all the maintenance it ever got. It still works perfectly and I see no reason to replace it.
  • oblio 3y ago
    I imagine you're either very fit or live somewhere very flat. Or don't sweat much, or you have the luxury of no commute or that of a shower at work.
    • Kichererbsen 3y ago
      you don't have to be super fit to cycle everywhere: it takes about 2-3 weeks in my experience for your body to get used to a bicycle commute even including a steep hill. just pack a clean shirt and put that on when you get to the office.
    • zoover2020 3y ago
      Probably Dutch based on your description ;-)
    • sam_lowry_ 3y ago
      Looking at their nick I guess the author is Dutch or Belgian. And in both countries, showers are pretty much required by local regulations in office buildings.
      • wouldbecouldbe 3y ago
        I've never met anyone that showers after getting to the office. We normally just don't cycle hard enough to build up to much of a sweat. However hot summer days are a challenge.
      • 3y ago
• sebstefan 3y ago
  People often buy e-scooters here in France because they cost less than an e-bike, take up less space, interoperate better with the public transit network and can be folded up into a manageable size. You can take them with you in busses, trams and trains. You can put them in a trunk easily too if you're still using a car for some trips. The disadvantage is the smaller wheels and being lower to the ground, it forces you to keep your hands on the handle all the time as it's not self-balancing like a bicycle, makes going up curbs trickier (you have to take them face-on, you'll tip over approaching them with too steep of an angle), and scraping the ground if you're going down a tight slope/leaving the ramp of a flight of stairs (the platform isn't that much higher than the wheels)
  • dagurp 3y ago
    The main disadvantage IMO is that if you crash you're going to land flat on your face.
    • harvie 3y ago
      which is going to happen quite soon, because of the pathetic wheel diameter.
    • GoToRO 3y ago
      I crashed a few times. You land on your feet. You are so close to ground that there is no time to fall on your face. The scooter goes one side, you jump a little and you go forward at 15cm above the ground and land. The worse is that the back of the scooter will rotate one side and it comes and hits you in the back of your legs.
      • stringsandchars 3y ago
        > I crashed a few times. You land on your feet. I have one of those 'funny' interview stories where the candidate turned-up with large scrapes all over his face attributed to falling off a scooter which suggests your data-point-of-one is contradicted by my data-point-of-one.
• davidktr 3y ago
  > anyone can learn to fix them at home with very few tools Everytime I read comments like this I feel dumb. I'm fixing my own bikes, but it takes a lot of time and quite a few tools. Just learning how to properly adjust the derailleur took me quite a few hours. Youtube university forgot to mention that Shimano GRX 400 front derailleur has intermediate gears. Many bike parts are not really standardized. It seems almost impossible to know in advance whether some part fits on my bike, I mostly have to try. Also, manufacturers keep changing how certain things work, and then Youtube university may be misleading because they show a previous generation.
  • tetris11 3y ago
    Depending on your city, there are ~~microworkshops~~ co-ops you can go visit full of troves of different second hand parts. You can rent some time there (~ 6 € for an hour) and they will give you all the tools you need to experiment and play with your own bike
    • zikduruqe 3y ago
      Or they are also known as bicycle co-ops.
  • em500 3y ago
    Derailleur gears require more maintenance, and are IMO not worth the effort for city cycling. Get a bike with a hub gear (Shimano Nexus 8, which is more efficient than Nexus 7 or 3). If the terrain is flat enough, you could even opt for single gear. If you get a belt drive (instead of a chain), practically the only remaining maintenance are tires and brake pads.
    • nicbou 3y ago
      Hub gears are simply amazing. Combined with a belt drive, they require almost no maintenance and they are completely silent. The best part is shifting gears while stopped. It's really useful in the city. I'm building a gravel bike with drop bars, disc brakes, a steel frame and an Alfine 11 hub gear and a belt drive. I can't wait to ride it.
• aikinai 3y ago
  They also took everything that is wrong with bicycles and other e-bikes and fixed it. Hopefully now someone comes along and merges the two approaches into an optimal balance. I have a Vanmoof that I absolutely love and I’ve researched thoroughly but found no acceptable alternatives. So for now I’ll just keep using it and learn how to repair it myself when needed. And then hopefully someone comes out with a good replacement by the time it totally dies.
  • nicbou 3y ago
    What did they fix (I read the article, but I'd like to hear your perspective)
• konschubert 3y ago
  Everyone can learn to plant potatoes, doesn’t mean that supermarkets are pointless
• rob74 3y ago
  Well, yeah, the article also mentions that VanMoof wanted to be the "Apple of bicycles". "Normal" bicycles are made up of standard parts, kind of like an old-fashioned desktop PC: you can replace most of the components using just some simple tools. Of course they don't look elegant or sleek. VanMoofs are the equivalent of the highly integrated laptops or mobile phones with an iFixIt repairability score of 1/10.
• OfSanguineFire 3y ago
  A lot of veterans of the industry are warning that the evolution of that industry is pointing towards the “electrification and car-ification” of bikes. Old bikes indeed remain user-serviceable, but few companies today have an interest in keeping it that way. Even if this company went bankrupt, a lot of companies are not, on the contrary, they seem to have a bright future.
  • tetris11 3y ago
    It will truly be a dystopian day when a user can no longer ride a bike they bought because the software no longer allows it. Parrot drones here are a nice example: users bought Parrot Bebop and Disco drones but as of a few months ago are now locked out of their devices because Parrot no longer supports these devices (in order to push their new Anafi drones). Thankfully the open-source Ardupilot community has stepped in to take up the slack, but it's not enough. The Bebop in particular comes with a state of the art fish-eye lens camera with selective cropping for "virtual gimbal pivoting" and stereo-cropping for 3D mode. This functionality no longer exists. The camera does not work without the Parrot FreeFlightPro App, which is now dead. I can similarly imagine a day when the "boost" function of these E-bikes no longer work because the App said no.
  • uoaei 3y ago
    It's a good thing there's so many old bike frames around still. Having worked/volunteered at multiple bike co-ops, I have never and will never buy a new bike. Often perfectly good if cheapish frames will get scrapped because there's so many donations coming in that can't find buyers. I ride hard and fast, and I don't get passed even by the MAMILs on their $9k S-works riding my $40 steel Univega SS conversion. You don't get much by trying to shortcut your way to a faster bike with money. It just takes time to git gud. My own personal budget is never to spend more than $450 on a bike before repairs (which I mostly do myself, so the only remaining expense is (used) parts), and even then, I'm going to make sure it's steel alloy frame with great geometry, disc brakes, and at least 2x8 drivetrain. My craziest expense was a vintage Marin MTB (top of the line in its day) with some blown but nice shocks that was $300, but I had to send in the rear shock for a full rebuild so more like $425. One of these days I may spring for a sweet, "well-loved" Rivendell frame or something similar. Planning on snapping up some kind of All-City soon since they recently announced they're discontinuing that brand and everyone seems to looove the Space Horse. If you don't have the time to do all that research, there's quite a few online communities open to "is this a good deal" type posts who can help guide you to find a used bike that will work for your needs and inclinations. (PS: I'm in the market for a 55-59cm high-perf steel road bike with Italian threaded BB! Octalink BB with Ultegra cranks burning a hole in my parts bin rn.)
• gonzo41 3y ago
  Eh, standardization is overrated. Let me tell you about my new bottom bracket standard I've invented. It and it's wide range of variants will surely make things simpler.
• fsckboy 3y ago
  A computer is one of the most elegant tools out there. You get an insane amount of value for your silicon, and anyone could learn to fix them at home with very few tools. They were incredible machines. Apple took everything that is right with computers - standardisation, interchangeability of parts, open access - and deliberately ruined it and hid everything behind a VanMoofy design sensibility. We will be happy to see that business model fail.
  • HDThoreaun 3y ago
    I disagree that computers are elegant machines. They're certainly useful and valuable, but to me elegant implies beauty in simplicity, and computers are absolutely not that.