The non-Brompton thread

[Fastpedaller]

Anyone else see the FLIT ?
I bought some miniV brakes from an Ebay supplier in Cambridge. Along with the very speedy delivery came a leaflet for the Flit bike. It's an electric-assist bike made in Cambridge - looks like bonded aluminium is the main construction method.
FLIT.BIKE
ETA - I enquired (out of idle curiosity) whether they had plans to make a non-electric version. The answer ......
Thanks! We're one of the only bike manufacturers in the country. We're based in Cambridge and make the bikes here.No plans for a non-electric version, but we do have some available for £1,000 off. If you are interested or know someone who might be then let us know!

I have no connection with the company, other than as stated above.

 

[biggs682]

Anyone else see the FLIT ?
I bought some miniV brakes from an Ebay supplier in Cambridge. Along with the very speedy delivery came a leaflet for the Flit bike. It's an electric-assist bike made in Cambridge - looks like bonded aluminium is the main construction method.
FLIT.BIKE
ETA - I enquired (out of idle curiosity) whether they had plans to make a non-electric version. The answer ......
Thanks! We're one of the only bike manufacturers in the country. We're based in Cambridge and make the bikes here.No plans for a non-electric version, but we do have some available for £1,000 off. If you are interested or know someone who might be then let us know!

I have no connection with the company, other than as stated above.

Looks interesting but pricey imho

Need to offer a non electric version

 

[FrankCrank]

Another vid from Sam at Bikes Custom Made over in China

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGPEdXaaypM


The 18" wheeled version looks interesting, somewhere between the two Brommie sized offerings.
Sam's enthusiasm comes through as always, and he's not afraid to innovate.
Clearly, money is not squandered on slick presentation, and clearly, his factory is not a 'sweatshop' as is often quoted when referring to stuff made in the East. The haters will no doubt still hate, such is life.

 

[Fastpedaller]

It looks as though they are enthusiastic and wish to innovate - that's to be applauded. I have a concern with the attachment of the handlebar stem to the steerer tube. What testing is done on these bikes, and do they have to comply with standards?

 

[Andy in Germany]

Clearly, money is not squandered on slick presentation, and clearly, his factory is not a 'sweatshop' as is often quoted when referring to stuff made in the East. The haters will no doubt still hate, such is life.

Maybe he's a great employer, and he clearly loves what he does, but he still chose to open his factory in China, a country known for aggression towards their neighbours and some fairly egregious human rights abuses.

 

[Drago]

Maybe he's a great employer, and he clearly loves what he does, but he still chose to open his factory in China, a country known for aggression towards their neighbours and some fairly egregious human rights

the UK during the Empire years was no better. The west is where it is now because of the manner in which it abused, oppressed and exploited other nations, their natural respurces and populations across the centuries. That is a simple matter of recorded history, not P.

While we may think of our countries and righteous and pious today, we would do well to remember that a lot of the countries that may seem less advanced economically and socially are that way because of the manner in which they were expoited. It wasnt so long ago in the grand scheme that the British Empire attacked China because China tried to stop the Empire selling opium to its citizens. Who are we to now get hoity toity when China behaves in a less than stellar manner?

We should at least acknowledge that which created the foundations upon which our own current social and economic position stands (again, staying out of the P) before being too quick to criticse others. For example, the device upon which you typed that message almost certainly contains cobalt mined in the DRC by workers, often children, who earn pennies a day and work in the most appalling and dangerous conditions.

Be not quick to judge lest one look like a pillock, or something like that.

(Sorry, currently doing the history of commerce for my latest degree!)

 

[FrankCrank]

Perhaps a more deserving cause when it come to shining a spotlight on exploitation, is the football shirt industry.
The countries that make them, by all accounts, really are using the 'sweatshop' system, where workers have no choice but to submit to slavery in all but name. The clubs usually say something about being unaware of any exploitation, cos they get the goods via a third party, nothing to do with them, and the tills go kaching. Not sure who to pity more, the sweatshop workers, or the loyal fans who stump up each season for the new strip.