Moof Over

Six weeks ago, on a sunny Friday evening, I sat on a terrace of a diner on de Clercqstraat. De Clercqstraat is a great street to people watch, but on that Friday evening, it wasn’t the people passing by that caught my eye. It was the eight VanMoofs, all parked in a row, all within a 100m strip of sidewalk. It slowly dawned on me that there was approximately 20,000 euros sitting on this 100m strip of sidewalk. The people passing by navigating their way through the maze of what has been dubbed as the ‘Tesla of e-bikes’.

Like many products and services in this city, VanMoof’s 150 euro price increase in August 2022 (bringing the price of a single e-bike to 2,498 euro), was to cope with rising inflation rates. Their price increase, they claimed, can help ensure they “can continue to produce [our] bikes to the highest-possible standard” and “stand by their [our] commitment to provide the very best products and services to [our] riders in cities across the world.” VanMoof goes on to explain that “electric biking is key to improving [our] cities, our wellbeing, and our bank balances”, citing their own blog post on “Five reasons riding an e-bike will change your life”.

The Dutch Central Statistics Office (CBS), published that in 2016, one in five bikes sold are e-bike, going further to state that they are becoming increasingly popular among seniors. However, the CBS published in 2019 that e-bike usage has increased significantly, especially among people under 65 compared to their 2013 statistics.

Going Broke

Fast forward to last week, whilst walking my dog in Vondelpark, a man bikes pass me on his VanMoof, just close enough for me to overhear his phone conversation. “Ze gaan dus faillet” — “they’re going bankrupt”, I hear him say. The ‘they’ he was referring to is the maker of the exact e-bike he zoomed off on.

As of July 17, VanMoof released a statement that the Amsterdam District Court had declared VanMoof Global Holding BV, VanMoof BV and VanMoof Global Support BV bankrupt. In their Tweet, the company declared that “by filing for bankruptcy, there is a better chance of restarting the VanMoof business, as potential investors can acquire the assets and activities without taking on existing debt.”

By end of June, VanMoof stopped taking on new orders and have been trying, since January, to raise enough capital to avoid bankruptcy. According to the company’s annual report for 2021, VanMoof suffered a loss of 82.2 million euros. The losses for 2022, were reported at around the same with negative equity rising to 132 million euros.

Companies going bankrupt aren’t anything new. It’s something we hear about every day. Yet, inevitably, this bankruptcy is, one way or another, bound to change the fabric that has become the 2020s in Amsterdam. As the Netherlands watches to see how these bankruptcy proceedings unfold, I, for one, would not be mad to witness the extinction of the symbol of gentrification of this canal city I call home. And I know I’m not alone.

Now, before anyone jumps the gun and labels me as anti-VanMoof or anti-e-bikes. Let’s set the record straight. I am not anti any of these things, but like most things in life, there are nuances. Let’s explore these by breaking down why VanMoof believes that e-bikes are ‘key to improving our cities’:

1. Electric biking makes your life easier.

Yes, e-bikes make your life easier. There’s a lot of reasons why, it shortens your commute, and bikes are easier and, in most places, cheaper to park than cars, the list goes on. However, a lot of the benefits of e-bikes are the exact same benefits reaped from the good, old, ‘analogue’ oma or opa fiets (grandma or grandpa bikes).

Where I do believe that e-bikes can have a positive influence on the development of urban mobility solutions around the world and within the Netherlands. E-bikes should not be viewed, marketed, or used as a replacement for their ‘analogue’ counterparts.

Yes, e-bikes are a ‘greener’ solution compared to cars and is, without a doubt, one of the more sustainable individual mobility solutions; analogue bikes will always be the greener option and so is walking.

2. Electric biking unlocks your city. And makes it a better place.

Since the 1960s, Amsterdam has been, and will continue to be, the bicycle capital of the world. The activism during the 60s and 70s has successfully made this city one of the most bike friendly cities in the world. Amsterdam, for bikers, has been successfully unlocked and will continue to be even more biker-friendly as time goes by. However, since its emergence, e-bikes has spearheaded a cultural renaissance in the city.

Those of us still pedalling ‘analogue’ have all been victim of an e-bike tailgate. At 25km/h, e-bikes zoom right up behind you, demanding the lane cleared with an obnoxious electrical chime.

If you want to spot a VanMoof in the wild, you simply just have to stroll around Oud-Zuid for five minutes. Usually straddled by the yuppie, over 185cm, Amsterdam boy and his girlfriend dangling on the top tubes or handle bars. Or, a flock of 14 to 16 year old girls head-to-toe in Isabel Marant, Golden Goose and Zadig & Voltaire. Their commute no further than two to five kilometres to de Pijp, Zuidas or Jordaan — maybe six to Noord if they’re feeling adventurous.

It would be wrong, however, to only point the finger at VanMoof; Phatfour bikes, Cowboy bikes and BIROs have also plagued this city with promises of making life a little easier and the city ‘better’. And, as if to replicate a common phenomenon found in motorists, bike gangs start to form. As can be witnessed by groups of young boys on Phat bikes in the park. Rows of VanMoofs on a Friday night in front of the hippest restaurants of the summer. Or the food delivery guys on e-bikes hanging around take-away hotspots. Although for some, e-bikes have replaced cars, for many, e-bikes have just replaced their analogue bikes and that’s precisely the problem.

Many in this city view VanMoofs as a symbol for what’s wrong in the country, the steady stray from the good, old ‘doe normaal’ culture. Yet, if you look at the VanMoof virus under a magnifying glass, it’s clear as day that its spread is precisely the epitome of ‘doe normaal’ culture. It’s just that Amsterdam is a bubble with multiple bubbles. In some of the bubbles, the line of what is ‘normaal’ simply is the choice between analogue and electric. As Amsterdam continues to grow as a city, some of the bubbles that formerly collided will cease to do so. As goes another chapter in the story of La Gentrification d’Amsterdam.

3. Electric biking makes you feel better

Sometimes biking makes you feel good. Sometimes, when it’s winter, raining and the wind is over 20 knots, for many people, biking, analogue or electric, is not so fun. The fact that physical activity makes you feel better is nothing new.

However, what is true for a lot of people, me included, is that the possession of certain material has the ability to make you feel better about yourself for different lengths of time. Although the feeling may not be permanent, we commit to it anyway because we’ve become reliant on this spike of dopamine from buying new things that allows our overstimulated brains to feel something.

For some, having the same inanimate object as the people around you makes you feel like a part of the tribe, community, or bubble. Bubbles are safe and although many of us criticize bubbles openly, we all enjoy being in them more than we’d like to admit publicly.

Setting the debate on the search for dopamine spikes in inanimate objects aside. Chemically speaking, physical activity has been shown to release serotonin and dopamine helping to improve mode, regardless of whether the physical activity occurs on an e-bike or not.

4. Electric biking is a way to be free

This statement should probably come with an asterisk — VanMoofs break, a lot. Back in January, VanMoof owners were faced with a five-week waiting time for repairs. E-bikes, therefore, probably don’t offer you as much freedom as you’d expect if there’s a five-week wait for repairs.

5. Electric biking saves you money

Neither biking, nor walking costs money. Charging an e-bike costs money, albeit not as much as filling up a car or using public transport. If you were biking on analogue before switching to electric, you’re going from paying nothing per journey except for your own energy to paying a few euros.

While I completely understand the demand and need for an e-bike for commuters who travel upwards of 20kms per day. There are several owners of e-bikes within the city ring who do not make these distances. Despite the argument that e-bikes are the ‘greener’ choice, it truly depends on what the other option is. When e-bikes are replacing analogue bikes during an energy crisis — it’s pretty obvious which choice is truly ‘greener’.

Consumer woes

Do people eat up the marketing spiel? Or is it simply a guidebook on how to justify shitty choices?

Although VanMoof’s market share is marginal compared to other e-bike makers. It’s undeniable that over its 14 years in business the company has become somewhat of a household name in this canal city. In the post-pandemic Amsterdam, VanMoof has solidified its status as the ultimate symbol of gentrification. For some of us, it’s hard to remember this city without them, in the same way it’s hard to imagine we ever paid under 4 euros for a coffee within the ring.

It seems as if more money was spent on upholding the façade of the ‘Tesla of e-bikes’ than to remedy the supply chain and customer service issues that were at hand. Consumers ate it up because we’re too easily sold by design to dwell too long on functionality. “It’s a great bike, if it works” claims a VanMoof owner, but how can something be great if it keeps on breaking? Many Amsterdammers willingly succumbed to the VanMoof virus because like many things in this city, it just needs to look good on the outside for demand to surge.

Of course, VanMoof owners are outraged by the bankruptcy. Almost 3,000 euros spent on a bike that doesn’t work, no options for repair, and stores shut overnight; I’d be pretty pissed too. The company’s attempts to outsource repairs have failed. What is the consumer to do?

Companies fuck up, they do so more often than we can count. Although I firmly believe in a strong legal framework for consumer protection. In cases like these, it would be wrong to point the finger at the company alone. Consumers can be pretty stupid as well. News of problems with VanMoofs and repair delays have been heard through the grapevine long before January. Yet, shockingly, consumers were still buying in. Investors were still buying in.

Obviously, as long as their still working and unlocking there’s no need for consumers to think of an alternative. But, what about those stuck with broken bikes desperately waiting for a solution? What if your bike breaks down a few months later? Are you meant to just throw your e-bike out, the same way you throw out your disposable vape pen?

Does the death of VanMoof mean the death of e-bikes? No, most definitely not. People have gotten used to them, like we’ve gotten used to having the latest iPhone. As VanMoof is struggling for someone to throw them another lifeline, other e-bike makers are already trying to find their moment in the sun.

Hate them or love them, the bankruptcy of VanMoof should be (in an ideal world) a wakeup call for consumers to make better choices and practice a certain level of due diligence. For Amsterdammers, it should perhaps go a bit deeper. It should make us reflect on where we’ve come as a city, the bubbles we’ve created and the bubbles we’ve affected.

Read it on Medium.