Oliver ReichensteinJul 13, 2023

“If VanMoof becomes unable to cover its server costs, these keys might be lost forever, leaving countless bikes as electronic waste with no means of retrieval”

Slow clap.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/12/23792143/vanmoof-e-bike-payment-suspension-bankruptcy-sale

Exclusive: VanMoof explores sale under court protection because it can’t pay bills

Electric bike maker VanMoof has turned to the Dutch courts for legal protection in order to give the company time to pay its bills. The company is exploring all possible routes out of its debt, including a possible sale.

The Verge
Show threadOliver ReichensteinJul 13, 2023
A friend of mine got a VanMoof, years ago. I was impressed a first. He told me that it cost 4000 bucks but then, as far as I remember, he had to pay them a subscription for the key, it couldn't get stolen, but that technically the bike was not really his either or something like that. Since then, part of me was always a bit worried about him. Not essentially worried, I felt a discomfort similar to that unanswered email rents a tiny space in your mind. I guess I can archive that mail, now.
Show threadOliver ReichensteinJul 13, 2023
It was interesting how learning about the business model and how it subjected its customers to pay both a high price and withhold ownership changed my perception of its original, minimal, stable design into a useless, dumm, and unnecessarily decorated, heavy, constructed piece of crap. Not sure if I misunderstood and still not sure if I misunderstood or misremember that you have to pay both a lot of money and a subscription and in the end you don't own it. It seems too preposterous to be true.
Show threadOliver ReichensteinJul 13, 2023
I thought: "Oh, so now I can't just buy a cool bike and a lock? I need to pay 4000 bucks, download, install and update an app, hand out a monthly subscription and make sure that my phone doesn't run out of batteries to not get fucked by my bicycle somewhere out in the sticks late at night? Also, I can't repair my bike or bring it to my mechanic of choice anymore because it's not really mine and I have to follow a set of enslaving rules to ride my bike."
Show threadChristian TietzeJul 13, 2023

@reichenstein Ooof there are so many weird hoops a buyer needs to mentally, well, glide over?

If the baseline is: buy a bike, buy a lock, maintain air pressure and clean it from time to time -- how is any of the tech tricks an improvement, and doesn't this feel like deferred shooting in the foot for prospecitve buyers?

Show threadOliver ReichensteinJul 13, 2023
@ctietze yeah, and if you absolutely need to track your bike, put an AirTag in the frame or under the saddle.
Show threadOliver Reichenstein
@ctietze it's particularly upsetting to create so many dependencies with a bicycle, a symbol of independence. I got an e-bike two years ago, because we moved to a place with 200m of height difference to the city. It's almost a necessity unless you're a sports enthusiast. It's great to be able to ride uphill without a physical limit experience. But the charging cable tied to a bike, the heaviness, the knowledge that I'm trapped if I run out of battery, it's destroying the beauty of the bicycle.
Jul 13, 2023 at 6:33pmMastodon for iOS
Show threadChristian TietzeJul 13, 2023

@reichenstein Can relate.

We only have 55m uphill from city center back home, and I am soaked when I'm home.

If it was the other way around, I couldn't meet with anyone in town.

I'm no bike expert or enthusiast, so I don't know, but folks have told me I might need to deviate from standard bike gears and customize the combinations to account for short but tough elevations and the longer ones.

Bike at 60rpm they say, it's easy they say. Hm.