The Bikeconomics (Mega)Thread

sspomer
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6338
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6/26/2009
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Boise, ID, USA
Fantasy
8/11/2026 5:54pm

we tested the reaper powerplay 24. it was a hoot for my boys, but didn't quite hold up under grom huckage for very long. it also made them pretty salty at having to pedal a regular bike for a few months after lol

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/e-bikes/rocky-mountain/reaper-powerplay-53671

 

9
metadave
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Revelstoke, BC, CA
Fantasy
8/11/2026 7:24pm

I always just tell parents that now the kids can pull them up on the climbs now. 

1
Digit Bikes
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188
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9/22/2021
Location
Irvine, CA, USA
8/11/2026 8:07pm
63expert wrote:
My first “nice” bicycle was a Raleigh Chopper like this one:

My first “nice” bicycle was a Raleigh Chopper like this one:


IMG 5221

Apparently nobody talking about the weight of ebikes remembers that Raleigh Choppers and Grifters weighed well over 40lb.

The luckiest kids got Bombers which were about 45lb.

7
Primoz
Posts
4690
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8/1/2009
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SI
8/11/2026 10:46pm
sspomer wrote:
we tested the reaper powerplay 24. it was a hoot for my boys, but didn't quite hold up under grom huckage for very long. it also...

we tested the reaper powerplay 24. it was a hoot for my boys, but didn't quite hold up under grom huckage for very long. it also made them pretty salty at having to pedal a regular bike for a few months after lol

https://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/e-bikes/rocky-mountain/reaper-powerplay-53671

 

This is what worries me. I get the technical benefits of putting a kid on an ebike, but at the same time they're going to see that you don't need to put in the effort to get to the top. Just another shortcut in life that's so popular these days. 

Maybe if you could limit it to a certain level and not have any assist levels, only on or off, but it will still be a pain when they go to a regular bike. Which they will have to if they want to race for example. 

IMO it's too much of a slippery slope and more of an excuse so you can ride with your regular style (pace, time, etc.). In reality you just have to adapt to the group you're riding with, both length, pace and trail difficulty wise. Or pick who you're riding with to get the rides you want. 

12
1
8/12/2026 5:28am
kperras wrote:

How did we ever have fun riding bikes as kids before batteries and motors? What a terrible childhood I must have had.

All bikes are fun. I was at a moto event recently where every kid had a Levo and they were all having a blast. Maybe more of a focus on just straight fun than the groms that normally inhabit the bike park. It was entertaining to see a bunch of moto kids ride the bike park. Some of them will convert to mtb riders in the future no doubt.

4
jeff.brines
Posts
1299
Joined
8/29/2010
Location
Grand Junction, CO, USA
8/12/2026 7:59am

My megapost on Fox Factory is up. One fun side quest I took in this one was trying to show how/why interest rates matter so much, and even built a little calculator everyone can play with. TL;DR, when the discount rate goes up, future earnings goes down and the TAM is sort of eaten, the stock price tanks. 

https://jeffbrines.substack.com/p/how-fox-factory-lost-a-decade?r=cfzd9…

13
1 day ago
Primoz wrote:
This is what worries me. I get the technical benefits of putting a kid on an ebike, but at the same time they're going to see...

This is what worries me. I get the technical benefits of putting a kid on an ebike, but at the same time they're going to see that you don't need to put in the effort to get to the top. Just another shortcut in life that's so popular these days. 

Maybe if you could limit it to a certain level and not have any assist levels, only on or off, but it will still be a pain when they go to a regular bike. Which they will have to if they want to race for example. 

IMO it's too much of a slippery slope and more of an excuse so you can ride with your regular style (pace, time, etc.). In reality you just have to adapt to the group you're riding with, both length, pace and trail difficulty wise. Or pick who you're riding with to get the rides you want. 

Just have a "follow" mode like DJI drones

3
dolface
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1717
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10/26/2015
Location
USA
1 day ago
pamtbr wrote:
In addition to Lapierre filing for judicial reorganization, Raleigh (Accel UK/Ireland) has filed to appoint administrators. Both are trying to restructure separately from the Accell holding...

In addition to Lapierre filing for judicial reorganization, Raleigh (Accel UK/Ireland) has filed to appoint administrators. Both are trying to restructure separately from the Accell holding company. Should be interesting. 

Bike EU article may be paywalled

pamtbr wrote:
Update from Bike EU: The Amsterdam District Court has revoked the suspensions of payments of the Dutch Accell companies and simultaneously declared these companies bankrupt, the two...

Update from Bike EU: 

The Amsterdam District Court has revoked the suspensions of payments of the Dutch Accell companies and simultaneously declared these companies bankrupt, the two court-appointed trustees announced this afternoon. The consolidated factory in Hungary has stopped production.

There are six entities listed on the Dutch insolvency register:

  • Accell Duitsland BV
  • Accell Global BV
  • Accell Group BV
  • Accell Group Europe BV
  • Accell Group Holding BV
  • Accell Nederland BV

I never thought this thread would require such a thorough education in EU insolvency/bankruptcy law...but here we are.

1
dolface
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1717
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Location
USA
1 day ago
Thanks for the bungee suggestion. My bank account won’t allow the kids’ eMTB thing to happen even if I wanted it to, so I bought two...

Thanks for the bungee suggestion. My bank account won’t allow the kids’ eMTB thing to happen even if I wanted it to, so I bought two of these. DM me with pro tips.

As for the weight thing, I disagree, mostly because I’m around a lot of kids on the moto side. Those bikes are often heavier than the kid riding them, and they don’t seem to struggle with the weight all that much until they drop them. I know it’s different, but I also know I got perpetually smoked at races as a junior by kids who grew up on dirt scooters. Kids are pretty damn good at adapting.

What does screw a kid up, though, is putting them on something that is just flat-out too big. If the bike is too tall, they can’t touch the ground, the standover is bad, etc., that’s a much bigger problem than the raw weight of the bike.

Back when I was a "serious" adventure racer we made tow ropes out of a retractable leash and a loop of shock cord (towing is legal in most ARs. I used the same set-up w/ both my kids and it worked really well (and it's very helpful having the leash take care of any slack), instructions here for anyone interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AGlXaWy27g

1
TEAMROBOT
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Location
Los Angeles, CA, USA
Fantasy
19 hours ago

I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up Raleigh's current product lineup on their website, and my how the mighty have fallen.

It wasn't that long ago that everyone I knew had a Raleigh Furley for commuting or riding cyclocross, but now Raleigh is just generic mass-market Walmart bikes with the Raleigh label slapped on them. Ironically the Union Jack flag is still flying proudly all over the website, even though these bikes have as much to do with the UK as Dick Van Dyke's accent in Mary Poppins.

Supercut of the Worst Movie Accents Confirms That Actors Are Overpaid | KQED

 

10
bstens
Posts
82
Joined
3/29/2010
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
18 hours ago
TEAMROBOT wrote:
I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up...

I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up Raleigh's current product lineup on their website, and my how the mighty have fallen.

It wasn't that long ago that everyone I knew had a Raleigh Furley for commuting or riding cyclocross, but now Raleigh is just generic mass-market Walmart bikes with the Raleigh label slapped on them. Ironically the Union Jack flag is still flying proudly all over the website, even though these bikes have as much to do with the UK as Dick Van Dyke's accent in Mary Poppins.

Supercut of the Worst Movie Accents Confirms That Actors Are Overpaid | KQED

 

this is the kind of content we're here for

3
metadave
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Revelstoke, BC, CA
Fantasy
18 hours ago

Raleigh has been a weird one for years, I feel like that head badge has been violently tossed around more than anyone else. Here in Canada they had a factory based in Waterloo quebec which was government subsidized, which seemed to be disjointed from the rest of the UK and US businesses. My first real mtb, or "bike with shocks" was a 1997 Raleigh Tarantula that was a steel frame with a suntour fork that was unforunate enough to come into my possession around the same time as I was shown Kranked 3. RIP. 

Since then I've seen the canadian arm make an attempt at a DH bike (The Smokin' DH, a catalog 4 bar frame that I can't find a mention on anymore), make a beautiful alloy XC hardtail that just came up a bit short on the parts, then to suddenly fall in as a canadian tire lisenced bike brand. All seemed pretty grim until the UK arm started slinging some beauiful touring, commuter and cross bikes that a few shops here in CA brought in. Then they dive back down into the dirt pile. The between the US, UK and Canada, none of the parts seem ever seem to have connected, and I'm not sure if there were technically 3 different companys or just let to do thier own thing. If they had of all been on the same page, maybe they could have done something cool. 

1
iRider
Posts
118
Joined
12/26/2020
Location
DK
7 hours ago
TEAMROBOT wrote:
I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up...

I know Lapierre is still a desirable brand making quality bicycles (whether they exist in the middle of the barbell, not withstanding), but I looked up Raleigh's current product lineup on their website, and my how the mighty have fallen.

It wasn't that long ago that everyone I knew had a Raleigh Furley for commuting or riding cyclocross, but now Raleigh is just generic mass-market Walmart bikes with the Raleigh label slapped on them. Ironically the Union Jack flag is still flying proudly all over the website, even though these bikes have as much to do with the UK as Dick Van Dyke's accent in Mary Poppins.

Supercut of the Worst Movie Accents Confirms That Actors Are Overpaid | KQED

 

In Europe they seem to not sell MTBs at all anymore. Just classic looking commuter and ebikes.

Too bad, 30 years ago they had sick ti frames (sadly not mine).

Raleigh
5

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