Another Big Ha Spotted!!

[Martin Krieg]

Spotted my second Big Ha on the sidewalk at the Tour de California
prologue in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. The owner of the first one I saw
in nearby Menlo Park the year before is friends with one of the bike
company owners and he tells me that they have actually sold 250 of them!
I began to believe such a thing might be possible when I saw my second
Big Ha in two years. After all, this a a big country!

I started to feel it necessary to throw caution to the wind however,
when the second owner didn't even know that his bike was not a happily
known part of the recuumbent bicycle universe. Nor was he much aware of
the connection between his machine and the BikeE that so many people
used to love and enjoy Owner #2 found his on the web.

I will admit that Owner #1's bike rode beautifully but you have to
wonder about a company that is led by a lot of the same people who were
at the BikeE helm when that company went out of business the way they
left so many people holding the bag. Especially when one of the featured
products at their web site http://www.bigha.com is a star gazing chair.
They also seem to specialize in binoculars, telescopes and laser
pens.... Big Ha or Big Hmmmmm? Hmmmm.....

I wonder if all those once loyal BikeE dealers and fans are saving their
Big Ha's for a bike that is not only overpriced for what it is but was a
machine that participated in the demise of the BikE as they knew it?
And/or was/is the Big Ha only so much hubris?

Long Live BikeE!

To see the pictures, this is also at our bent news blog
http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/News/index.html#000186



Perfect love drives out fear - John 4:18

Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author
2009 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"
http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR
'79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides
Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor
NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist

 

[Tom Sherman]

Martin Krieg wrote:
> Spotted my second Big Ha on the sidewalk at the Tour de California
> prologue in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. The owner of the first one I saw
> in nearby Menlo Park the year before is friends with one of the bike
> company owners and he tells me that they have actually sold 250 of them!
> I began to believe such a thing might be possible when I saw my second
> Big Ha in two years. After all, this a a big country!
>
Did this rider pay full retail price?

> I started to feel it necessary to throw caution to the wind however,
> when the second owner didn't even know that his bike was not a happily
> known part of the recuumbent bicycle universe. Nor was he much aware of
> the connection between his machine and the BikeE that so many people
> used to love and enjoy Owner #2 found his on the web.
>
> I will admit that Owner #1's bike rode beautifully but you have to
> wonder about a company that is led by a lot of the same people who were
> at the BikeE helm when that company went out of business the way they
> left so many people holding the bag. Especially when one of the featured
> products at their web site http://www.bigha.com is a star gazing chair.
> They also seem to specialize in binoculars, telescopes and laser
> pens.... Big Ha or Big Hmmmmm? Hmmmm.....
>
The former owners at ATP Vision should be credited with doing things the
right way at the end.

> I wonder if all those once loyal BikeE dealers and fans are saving their
> Big Ha's for a bike that is not only overpriced for what it is but was a
> machine that participated in the demise of the BikE as they knew it?
> And/or was/is the Big Ha only so much hubris?
>
> Long Live BikeE!
>
Here is the infamous post
<http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/2a142d0e25262302?dmode=source>.

--
Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

 

[[email protected]]

On Mar 3, 10:34 pm, Tom Sherman <[email protected]>
wrote:
> Martin Krieg wrote:
> > Spotted my second Big Ha on the sidewalk at the Tour de California
> > prologue in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. The owner of the first one I saw
> > in nearby Menlo Park the year before is friends with one of the bike
> > company owners and he tells me that they have actually sold 250 of them!
> > I began to believe such a thing might be possible when I saw my second
> > Big Ha in two years. After all, this a a big country!
>
> Did this rider pay full retail price?
>
> > I started to feel it necessary to throw caution to the wind however,
> > when the second owner didn't even know that his bike was not a happily
> > known part of the recuumbent bicycle universe. Nor was he much aware of
> > the connection between his machine and the BikeE that so many people
> > used to love and enjoy Owner #2 found his on the web.
>
> > I will admit that Owner #1's bike rode beautifully but you have to
> > wonder about a company that is led by a lot of the same people who were
> > at the BikeE helm when that company went out of business the way they
> > left so many people holding the bag. Especially when one of the featured
> > products at their web sitehttp://www.bigha.comis a star gazing chair.
> > They also seem to specialize in binoculars, telescopes and laser
> > pens.... Big Ha or Big Hmmmmm? Hmmmm.....
>
> The former owners at ATP Vision should be credited with doing things the
> right way at the end.
>
> > I wonder if all those once loyal BikeE dealers and fans are saving their
> > Big Ha's for a bike that is not only overpriced for what it is but was a
> > machine that participated in the demise of the BikE as they knew it?
> > And/or was/is the Big Ha only so much hubris?
>
> > Long Live BikeE!
>
> Here is the infamous post
> <http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/2a142d0...>..
>
> --
> Tom Sherman - Holstein-Friesland Bovinia
> The weather is here, wish you were beautiful

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/2a142d0
LOL!!! ....It's only a flesh wound.......

The Big Ha is a tough sell. Here is a low performance bike that
weighs 50 lbs and cost a fortune. I just don't get it, but 250
customers appear to.

Rick

 

[Jon]

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote
> The former owners at ATP Vision should be credited with doing things the
> right way at the end.

Yes, ethical conduct .

[BikeE's apparent less so]
>>
> Here is the infamous post
> <http://groups.google.com/group/alt.rec.bicycles.recumbent/msg/2a142d0e25262302?dmode=source>.

As a privately-held corporation, it is entirely possible that many
of the final days' announcements about BikeE were earnestly
made by the individuals involved. They may have been hung
out to dry as much as some dealers and customers.

I had email exchanges with Chad regarding the on-again-off-again
recommendation by BikeE for BOB trailers. Recall the BikeE/BOB
wobble discussions? I never really got a straight answer to my
question, was the change to not recommending single-wheeled
trailers with rear suspension BikeEs due to the wobble issue
or were there structural concerns.

It's not surprising that he couldn't/wouldn't answer. Any answer
could create a potential tort minefield. He was helpful, though.

A few years after BikeE went under, a LBS still had several
of them on the showroom floor marked with full MRSP! Our
scout troop had a biking campout and I took along my BikeE
for one of the other adult advisors to ride on a ten-mile trail
ride. He liked the bike a lot and asked me where he could
get one. I told him BikeE was out of business but that
I had seen NOS bikes at a local shop.

I suggested he could get a good deal by pointing out 1) how
long they had had those bikes in inventory [more than three years],
2) that the manufacturer was out of business and 3) that any
specialized parts to repair those bikes were never going
to be available. It worked. He bought two BikeEs for
a pretty good price.

BikeE failed as a company probably due to many factors, the recalls,
the shift to overseas-made frames, marketing, competition, poor
management, etc...

Their Bikes from around 1998 were well made and durable,
however. No, mine is not for sale.

Jon

 

[Grolsch]

Hmmmm, well at about $100 a pound I think I know whos having the big Ha.
~50lbs @ $4600.


"Martin Krieg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Spotted my second Big Ha on the sidewalk at the Tour de California
> prologue in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. The owner of the first one I saw
> in nearby Menlo Park the year before is friends with one of the bike
> company owners and he tells me that they have actually sold 250 of them!
> I began to believe such a thing might be possible when I saw my second
> Big Ha in two years. After all, this a a big country!
>
> I started to feel it necessary to throw caution to the wind however,
> when the second owner didn't even know that his bike was not a happily
> known part of the recuumbent bicycle universe. Nor was he much aware of
> the connection between his machine and the BikeE that so many people
> used to love and enjoy Owner #2 found his on the web.
>
> I will admit that Owner #1's bike rode beautifully but you have to
> wonder about a company that is led by a lot of the same people who were
> at the BikeE helm when that company went out of business the way they
> left so many people holding the bag. Especially when one of the featured
> products at their web site http://www.bigha.com is a star gazing chair.
> They also seem to specialize in binoculars, telescopes and laser
> pens.... Big Ha or Big Hmmmmm? Hmmmm.....
>
> I wonder if all those once loyal BikeE dealers and fans are saving their
> Big Ha's for a bike that is not only overpriced for what it is but was a
> machine that participated in the demise of the BikE as they knew it?
> And/or was/is the Big Ha only so much hubris?
>
> Long Live BikeE!
>
> To see the pictures, this is also at our bent news blog
> http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/News/index.html#000186
>
>
>
> Perfect love drives out fear - John 4:18
>
> Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author
> 2009 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"
> http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR
> '79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides
> Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor
> NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist

 

[Grolsch]

Hmmmm, well at about $100 a pound I think I know whos having the big Ha.
~50lbs @ $4600.


"Martin Krieg" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Spotted my second Big Ha on the sidewalk at the Tour de California
> prologue in Palo Alto a few weeks ago. The owner of the first one I saw
> in nearby Menlo Park the year before is friends with one of the bike
> company owners and he tells me that they have actually sold 250 of them!
> I began to believe such a thing might be possible when I saw my second
> Big Ha in two years. After all, this a a big country!
>
> I started to feel it necessary to throw caution to the wind however,
> when the second owner didn't even know that his bike was not a happily
> known part of the recuumbent bicycle universe. Nor was he much aware of
> the connection between his machine and the BikeE that so many people
> used to love and enjoy Owner #2 found his on the web.
>
> I will admit that Owner #1's bike rode beautifully but you have to
> wonder about a company that is led by a lot of the same people who were
> at the BikeE helm when that company went out of business the way they
> left so many people holding the bag. Especially when one of the featured
> products at their web site http://www.bigha.com is a star gazing chair.
> They also seem to specialize in binoculars, telescopes and laser
> pens.... Big Ha or Big Hmmmmm? Hmmmm.....
>
> I wonder if all those once loyal BikeE dealers and fans are saving their
> Big Ha's for a bike that is not only overpriced for what it is but was a
> machine that participated in the demise of the BikE as they knew it?
> And/or was/is the Big Ha only so much hubris?
>
> Long Live BikeE!
>
> To see the pictures, this is also at our bent news blog
> http://www.bikeroute.com/Recumbents/News/index.html#000186
>
>
>
> Perfect love drives out fear - John 4:18
>
> Martin Krieg "Awake Again" Author
> 2009 w/"How America Can Bike & Grow Rich"
> http://www.bikeroute.com/HBGR
> '79 & '86 TransAmerica Bike Rides
> Coma, Paralysis, Clinical Death Survivor
> NBG Founding Director, HiWheel Cyclist