PORTLAND, Ore. (BRAIN) — Urban Arrow, a Dutch cargo bike maker, has appointed Ed Rae of Portland its U.S. agent.
"We see the U.S. rapidly accepting and accommodating use of the bicycle in a much broader context than sport, race and recreation," said Henning Thomas, the company's international sales manager. Urban Arrow bikes are designed from inception as e-bikes, as opposed to electric conversions, the company said.
Rae is a bike industry veteran who was the North American agent for Brompton for 8 years.
Rae said, "While there may still be controversy about e-bikes for some applications and locales I think we all agree for cargo and transit, such as a parent moving children and a batch of groceries, or a business delivering product, or tradesman appearing at worksite and more, the additional power and range is welcome or even essential."
"The growth we all want and need isn't going to come from yet another wheel size or shock design for off road, nor from another added cog or further 50 gram reduction in road bikes," he said. He said for bike retailing to survive the industry must "bring into stores some of the 90 percent of people who never darken the door of bike shops.
"Imagine if we brought in just 10 or 20 percent more of the population into our IBD's - we'd easily double our volume and current woes would be very diminished. This will require more than a few tweaks - it means re-envisioning the role of the bicycle in our culture. We're still a long way from the embrace of bikes the Dutch have, but some regions here are making great strides in citizen cycling and everyday use of bikes in the broader culture. This is not only great to witness but essential for IBD's to survive in the changed economy we now face, and Urban Arrow is at the forefront of this shift."
Rae can be reached at ed@urbanarrow.com and 503-703-7626. More information at urbanarrow.com.
