Four-wheeled, battery-equipped cycle brings off-road power - The Missoulian

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Four-wheeled, battery-equipped cycle brings off-road power
The Missoulian
Four wheels, a motor and a comfortable seat - they're part of the common recipe for a car, but add two pedals and 27 speeds, and there's quite a different outcome.

It's a four-wheeled recumbent cycle built to fit into and maneuver the bike lanes of a city, and equipped with the suspension and power to subdue rough terrain and even ice. "It's basically a human-powered vehicle," said John Matthews, designer and builder of e Quadz and owner of Concept Cycles in Ovando. "Anywhere that you can take a vehicle you can take this."...




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Where is this guys HELMET????

 

This is awesome but.........

It's been done before with the same price tag and died the death. The mountain quad was a wonderful design, the tooling is still available and this guy could have saved himself a lot of development by just buying the Mountain Quad tooling, adding the electrics and being done with it. I hate to be a cynic on this, but the main problem with the MQ was the $5k price, not the quality or design or concept. This is virtually the same concept and even LOOKS like the MQ in a lot of ways. 4 wheels gets you into all sorts of regulatory issues with states too. Here in TN to be considered a motorized bicycle you have to have 3 wheels or less. In TN this would be considered an automobile.....

$5k puts it in the realm of RMT (rich man's toy). Velomobiles have the same problem (this is a four wheeled velo....): Cost. I LOVE velomobiles and things like this but I have a 'high buying resistance' gene. Probably why all my cars/trucks, TV, etc. ad nauseam are second hand. Still....$5k.

Here's a link to the Mountain Quad. Look familiar?????


http://www.crank-it.com/quadfeatures.html

 

John,

Thanks for joining this fine group and don't let the harsh words dissuade
you. You have a wonderful machine and your efforts will reward you
in this life and the one to come. I'll ride with you any day. Keep right
on keeping on. BTW, your price is not all that bad. My Lightfoot Trike
would cost that new retail. I'm not rich, but when I want something,
I finagle a way to get it.

Here is another quad that I'm fond of:

http://www.lightfootcycles.com/atc_recumbent_quadracycle.php

You may have seen it. If not, you may pick up an idea or two. God
bless you in your work.

 

Buddy, I'm not being harsh. I LOVE his concept as well as Lightfoot's design and the mountain quad. He even says it in the article that cost is a major sticking point. I know what he is talking about. It takes a lot of production to get cost down. His component costs are high because he doesn't have dealer status (which by the way he could get. John, write me and I'll tell you what you have to do) and having one-offs built by a local welder or himself will make you bleed red ink pretty fast. My dream when I started my little endeavor was to do automated welding but you have to really produce a lot of frames to do that.

 

Dealer status

How do I go about getting dealer status with QBP or the Seattle or New Mexico stores? Each of these stores told me that they did not open accounts for "... garage builders".

 

Hi John,

Glad you are posting. That is a good question that I don't have an
answer for. However, I have bought and sold more recumbent bikes/trikes
than most dealers and have never sold through a dealer. I really
like our local recumbent dealer, Power On Cyclery, and know for sure
I couldn't make a profit by the time Mark took his cut.

So, that said, I do my own Marketing. Here is how I do it. I offer friends
first.....no takers. I then post pictures. People like to see what they are
getting and you have nice pictures. Be willing to pack and ship.

Places that get results: Hostell Shop, bentrider.com, Craigslist, BROL,
local classifieds in news paper (costly) and eBay and that is costly too.
Up and coming is right here on Recubent Riders International. AD may be
able to run you a banner. Talk to him.

Keep this in mind, The best all American Bike, Trike, and Quad Company
has no dealer network, and very little advertising. They run a banner at
Bent Rider on Line. That is Lightfoot. Call Rod over there, he is a super
nice man.

You have an advantage since you apparently don't need a large profit.
Seven dollars an hour for your own labor plus materials cost should
get you some units out the door.

Just do it and lean on this fine group. AD Wade is the smartest.

Oh, and I forgot AD Carson at Recycled Recumbent. He is doing well
out of his garage.

To consider cutting price shock, you may consider the assist as an option.