When peddling these bikes, pedaling is optional
Bill McClellan
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Bill's Biography
Bill McClellan
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
07/29/2009
Lou Siegfried rides his bike in the neighborhoods bordering downtown St. Louis. Sometimes he pedals. Mostly he doesn't. He likes it when people do a double-take, when they wonder how the bicycle seems to be gliding along when the rider isn't pedaling. When he sees that look, he'll stop and talk. What better way to advertise an electric bicycle?
The electric bicycle is the 52-year-old entrepreneur's latest idea. It came to him one day last year when he was in Forest Park and a motorized bicycle zipped past on Lindell. A motorized bike. Why not an electric bike? The idea wasn't totally new - there are millions of them in China - but Siegfried figured there was an opportunity for electric bicycles in St. Louis.
This sort of thinking is genetic for Siegfried. His great-uncle, Ben Blum, was a legendary businessman who bought whatever he could buy at a discount and then sold it. Siegfried followed in his great-uncle's footsteps and was selling pens and novelty items when he met a man who talked about being able to get computer components at a discount.
"I told him I didn't know anything about computers, and he answered with four of the best words I've ever heard: So what? You learn."
Learn he did. He founded Ultra-Comp in 1986. He started selling components and computer kits to hobbyists. Then the company began assembling computers to sell. His client list included AT&T, General Electric, Westinghouse, McDonnell Douglas, Anheuser-Busch and Monsanto. His major rival was Iowa-based Gateway Computers. In his first year of business, he had sales of $1.5 million. The next year, sales jumped to $5 million.
Here is how the story began: "Louis Siegfried, the 32-year-old owner of a $6 million mail-order computer business, kicks back in his leather wing chair and rests his Reeboks on his desk. Obligingly, and without prodding, he tries to distill his approach to business into a few tips for success. His main piece of advice: Have fun. 'Confucius said, "Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life," I kind of like that one.'"
The computer business was fun for a long while, but Siegfried shut the company down in 1998. "Gateway just did it better," he said. He went into website design for a while, and then he saw that motorized bicycle zip past.
Why not an electric bike? It would be cleaner, greener. A little research showed him there were plenty of electric bikes already. Why, then, didn't he ever see one?
He decided that part of the problem was marketing. For instance, Lee Iacocca started an electric bike company in 1997. Siegfried learned that Iacocca, with his connections in the auto business, was able to get his bicycles into auto dealerships.
"Think about it. Would a salesman want to sell a $1,500 bike, or a $15,000 car?" Siegfried asked. In the same vein, some bicycle manufacturers produce electric bikes, but most bike shops are owned by purists. Most serious cyclists would disdain an electric bike.
So marketing would be a challenge. First, though, he had to get a product. He decided on a 36-volt lithium ion battery that would go about 30 miles on a charge and could be recharged in a standard socket. Without pedaling, it would go about 15 miles an hour. He decided on a foldable bicycle so it would be easy for people take the bike into their apartment or house. The bicycle would have three operating modes - all-electric, all pedal or a combination. For those who wanted to pedal, it would have six gears.
He found a company in China that agreed to produce it.
He named his bicycle Bolt, and he decided on a price of $1,295. He rented a place in the 1700 block of Delmar as his headquarters. He received a couple of Bolts in December. He was thrilled. "I love the product. It's therapeutic," he said. He received a shipment of 50 bicycles in May.
But how do you market an electric bicycle? He found a couple of stores that agreed to display them, but mostly, his sales, which have been slow, have been the product of word of mouth. Despite the slow sales, he is convinced that when people see the Bolt, they will be intrigued.
So you see him around the downtown area, sometimes heading north on Broadway, sometimes heading south toward Soulard. When you first see him, you figure he's gliding along after a couple of strenuous pedals, but then you realize that he's not pedaling and still gliding. If he notices your puzzled look, he'll glide over.
"Bet you've never seen a Bolt before," he'll say.
It's old-fashioned marketing, but more, it's fun. He still thinks Confucius had it right.
I went Monday and bought a half-link for my 41 Granger chain and have joined the tensioner free club. 
