| Design |
August 18, 2018
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| When he found this bike on the internet, an electric assist bicycle, he was attracted by two things: a reasonable price, it was rather cheaper than the ones that had similar specs; and, its stylish design. But it had a problem, this e-bike would be sent from another country. In his country, many electric assist bikes were produced. Actually his country invented the electric assist bicycle a couple of decades ago. Since this country was the biggest motorbike producing country, it seemed that this country would become the biggest electric assist bike country. But it wasn't. This country's electric assist bikes were mainly targeted to mothers who had 2 small kids. The e-bikes had 2 kid seats, one on the front and one on the back. Because the makers insisted on the function ~firm and safety~, the design was dull. Even the sports type, he didn't feel any stylishness. He especially hated that this country's e-bike's battery cases were usually a black rectangular ugly box that was attached on the body carelessly. With the environmental concerns, people throughout the world started to want electric assist bikes, and other countries started to make attractive bikes. He searched on Amazon for these. His targeting e-bike was like this: ・Mountain bike with 26 inch tires ~ this was ideal because mountain bikes have good suspensions that absorb shocks from  roads. Wide block tires are good for slippery roads or gaps between sidewalks and car roads. (In this country, riding on sidewalks was allowed.) Usually the thinner the tires, the faster the bike, but because of the electric assistance, speed wasn't the first priority. ・Fold type and its battery is kept inside of the chassis~ i.e., you can't see the battery from the outside. It makes the bike smart, it was thief proof. ・36V, 10Ah ~ 36V power, 10Ah battery. It was bigger than his country's normal e-bikes in this category. ・Around 1,300 dollars ~ it's cheaper than others in this country that had the same type of specs. ・Good design The only thing he was concerned about was if it was broken. If it was a normal bike, a bike shop could fix it. But this was like an electric appliance. If an electric appliance was broken, the makers would fix it. And this time the maker was located in another country, and the bike seemed to be too big and heavy to send. But he decided to take the risk and ordered this bike. Soon the e-bike was sent from abroad. It was as good as he had expected. His life had changed. Wherever he went, he used this electric assist bike. It was refreshing to ride a bike without getting tired. It was eco-friendly and money friendly, he would charge the battery at home every night. But, one day, about 5 months or so after purchasing it, the e-bike started to slow down. The electric assist stopped randomly. If the assist stopped, it became just a heavy bicycle, as e-bikes are heavier than normal bikes. He sent an e-mail to the maker. Soon he received a return mail from the maker. It was very polite, but it didn't mention how they would fix it. After several times of exchanging e-mails, they offered to change the parts. It would cost 300 dollars. He only rode on this e-bike for less than half a year. If he paid 300 dollars this time, he might pay another 300 dollars after the next 5 months, and another 300 dollars after the next 5 months, and.... He couldn't accept this and started to negotiate. In the meantime, he was using his e-bike. He was a practical person. It randomly lost power, but not every time. When it stopped, he thought that it was a good training machine. Actually, after one month after occasionally breaking, his legs seemed to be thicker. When he swam at the gym, he felt his strokes were stronger than before. But even so, he couldn't leave it like this. The hot summer was coming soon. In case that the negotiations might last a long time, he started to look for a new bike. If the negotiations failed, he would give up on his present bike thinking it was a big lesson. If he bought another e-bike, he would buy one from his country. Not design first, but firmness and services first. He checked on the internet. The situation had not improved from the last time, a half year ago. This reminded him of his country's watch industry. This country's watch industry used to sweep the world market. They were precise and reliable. But later quartz was invented, and even very cheap watches became precise. Now there were many 100,000 dollar watches in the world, and sold well. But his country's makers did not produce any of them. After a couple of hours of surfing on the internet, he found one website. This company's e-bikes looked reliable and sophisticated, although the company was located in another country. The company originally made precision instruments and recently started their e-bikes department. Different from his present bike's company, they contracted with some bike shops in his country. They had one bike that was 36V, 10.5Ah. It was not expensive and had a good stylish design. He knew there was some risks to buy from makers that he didn't know well. But, he liked the design. |
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*i.e. :すなわち
*proof :耐
*rectangular :長方形の
*precision instrument :精密機械