Issue 38: Volata Cycles Everyday Bike
How to Succeed in the Bike Business Without Really Trying
Ed note: After running this story, Volata asked to meet with us and test ride their bike. It seems we got the tech PR pitch, instead of the story about the bike itself; including the materials, research and design that went into it. Now very interested, will follow up with an actual review (this never happened).
If I had a dollar for every pitch I get like this….there’s nothing here you couldn’t do yourself with a PO to a Taiwan factory.
Factories take credit cards: order a 1/2 or full container and call it something like ULEX. Then make up marketing words, like it’s an acronym. Make it seem rare by hiring an artist to paint it, hype the living F out it on Insta with #ulexforlife.
One note: ditch the 2.5-inch computer (whatever that is) on the front of it, and splurge for 6061; ask the factory if they can double butt, maybe even triple butted, bro.
If this idea has you so far, then please make the geometry reasonable, so it rides good, also so it doesn’t look the rider is gonna fall off the back or the front like a bucatini noodle.
The ride is the most important thing about a bike, after all, not the tech. That’s something big American bike companies have spent the past 25 years on, perfecting the modern road bike. And, the buyers of those bikes, they know a thing or two about their potential purchases.
To the “deal,” that frame is probably $30.00 and the fork $15, and it costs more to ship it then purchase. The rest of the value is in a somewhat-out there spec, for customer delivery and warranty at least. Belt-drive, Alfine 11, hydraulic brakes, all the money in the Volata is in the drivetrain, and I guess whatever that computer is on the front.
I broke my no Kickstarter mentions rule, because Volata is taking pre-orders instead…the tight margins is probably why, they can’t risk handing over 5% of their budget to Kickstarter, and let’s hope they’re keeping a warranty reserve in a warehouse somewhere close.
Mark V had this to say about the Volata:
$3500 for a 23.5# internally geared hub and no rack/fender mounts. At least the belt-drive Alfine Di2 is friendly to users with neither shifting technique nor mechanical aptitude. Integrated GPS is a nice style touch, but especially if you plan to never ever update your electronics. At least their video nails the target demographic: affluent white millennial dotcommers with an insufferable need to be seen as style mavens and a desperate yearning for a female presence in their cold, tech-gray sausage startups.
That’s classic Mark, a comment indicating how riven marketing can get in the bike business. Where Volata deserves props is they did what I said above, they manifested an idea into reality and cut a PO to a factory. Not sure they actually have a sample, as there are no closeups of the bike just edits, and you sh0uld expect something to change before it ships.
If you wish to own a cheap-frame with expensive parts, sure g’head. Why not? However, considering the road bike market right now, and the spring price war at shops, there are deals better than this one.
To the deal, my friend and bike shop owner Brad Loetel commented
Dude, don’t harsh their buzz. Someone probably worked really hard on this business plan in school and plans to make bank!
You can reserve the bike for $299, which is probably very close to factory cost, and then have the pleasure of paying the remaining balance of $3200 when the completed bike ships!
The only real difference in Volata’s marketing and price/spec compared to something I see from the big boys is volume of bikes sold.
Sure…and I wonder again how many ULEX units I’d move and at what margin? I’d target the do-anything bike too, but with a 650b tubeless wheelset, and a compliant carbon frame. Sort of like this one, and I’d also stay out of the computer business.
People already have lots of those.
Ed. note: After a good run of 42 issues, our magazine app is no longer available, but we’ve archived the content here for Medium members.
