4 ms·

>> life cycle of the new Segway bikes is three to five years. ...then I guess it's promptly thrown off a bridge into the river. The idea that a bicycle lasts 3

• RobinL 2y ago
  Stepping back a bit, having these on the road rather than cars or petrol scooters must be a big win even if they don't last as long as we'd like
• infecto 2y ago
  I am not really convinced that 3-5 years is not a reasonable useful life. You are comparing one person owner bike to an electric bike ridden throughout the day but all sorts of people. Maybe it gets trashed and maybe it gets broken down and recycled parts where possible.
• tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
  A well maintained commuter bike is ridden twice a day during those 10+ years.
  • nicbou 2y ago
    I see a few comments hung up on the 10 years number. Bikes last decades.
    • tgsovlerkhgsel 2y ago
      Maybe the frame does, but aside from that I expect it to be a bike of Theseus after a decade. And the original commenter is of course right about the "computerized, electric mopeds" part. That's what makes those bikes useful. The drive unit is likely the expensive part. It also means many parts get a lot more wear because the bikes accelerate faster (= much bigger forces involved) and drive faster on average (= heavier vibrations/bumps). Combine this with accidents (from the bike falling over while stationary, to the rider wiping out, to car crashes) and the useful life of the vehicle is limited.
      • wiether 2y ago
        > Combine this with accidents (from the bike falling over while stationary, to the rider wiping out, to car crashes) and the useful life of the vehicle is limited. This. I don't see how a bike can be used daily, year-round, for ten years, without falling or being hit by a car driver. And I would never ride again an alloy or carbon bike that has been involved in a crash with a car.
        • nicbou 2y ago
          It largely depends on where you live.
• rectang 2y ago
  It seems likely that the miles put on a "commuter bike" used for commuting twice a day for 10 years are within shouting distance of the miles put on a bike used for several hours of deliveries every day for 3 years. The company is incentivized to get the most out of their investment. If the bikes can be maintained economically by staff mechanics, they will be — and these vehicles ought to be simple enough devices for mechanics to squeeze a long life out of them. If there's a difference, it would be in the lack of an ownership mindset by the riders: they might abuse them akin to how drivers abuse rental cars.
• deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
• jdietrich 2y ago
  It's about mileage, not age. A chain is good for maybe 2000 miles - a commuter might get a year or two out of it, but a courier or serious roadie could wear it out in a matter of weeks. The same basic equation applies to wheel rims, bearings, cassettes, chainrings and (in the case of e-bikes) batteries and motor-gearbox units. If you're changing those parts often enough, eventually something will strip or seize badly enough to write off the frame. Most casual cyclists will never experience it, but an aluminium frame will inevitably succumb to fatigue cracking around the bottom bracket after a few tens of thousands of miles, no matter how well it's cared for. Three to five years is incredibly good for a bike that's potentially being ridden all day, every day under very harsh conditions.
  • prmoustache 2y ago
    > , but an aluminium frame will inevitably succumb to fatigue cracking around the bottom bracket after a few tens of thousands of miles, no matter how well it's cared for. That is a urban myth. I know several bikes with alu forks and bottom brackets who have been in use for more than 30 years and +50000 kms and they are all good. In fact the glue bond between the tubes is what fails and they have been reglued several times. Stuff don't strip or seize if torqued correctly, the right kind of greases/compound are used and the bike is disassembled/reassembled once a year. Having said that, I wouldn't expect a courrier to do it himself nor to have an LBS do this for him.
    • noja 2y ago
      Glue?!
      • prmoustache 2y ago
        Yes the popular vitus and alan aluminium frames of the late 80's to mid 90's had aluminium tubes glued to aluminium lugs. Also many early carbon frames of that era from TVT, Alan, Vitus, Trek, Giant or Specialized) were built the same way with carbon tubes and aluminium lugs. In the early 2000's there were also some frames with an alu front triangle and a carbon rear triangle bonded together. Usually they were mid tier bikes below full carbon ones. This is still a popular method for frames built with mixed materials.
• WeylandYutani 2y ago
  The issue is that you can't repair these bikes because they all have proprietary parts that only licensed mechanics are allowed to touch. And the ebike companies are dropping like flies at the moment.
• zdragnar 2y ago
  Rented equipment is treated like trash by an unfortunate number of renters. This is true even for things like apartments and homes. For short term rentals of cheaper goods like bikes and scooters it is far, far worse. Once you factor in that the bikes are fully utilized, rather than ridden a few times a week, and 3-5 years actually sounds pretty good.