There’s certainly going to be a lot of hurt in Australia, though some cities are turning that around. When I visited Melbourne there was some fresh looking cycling infrastructure and they’re finally getting a train to their airport. Sydney’s public transit was also easier to use than the last time I was there (more than 10 years ago).

Hopefully this crisis helps my aussie friends focus their efforts on funding and completing their shovel ready transit projects. :)

I agree the $300 level doesn’t land quite as hard with LBS compared to mail-order bikes. This is seen in the earlier program’s data:

“84 percent of applicants awarded $1,200 towards an e-bike purchase redeemed them, while just 24 percent of the applicants awarded a $300 rebate redeemed theirs. Expenditures on rebates during this pilot were $2.58 million out of an available $4.2 million.”

Still, a 24% voucher conversion rate isn’t nothing! And it did lift ebike sales, even if the voucher didn’t apply:

“The UW also found rebate offers substantially increased e-bike purchases: 92 percent of purchases in the income-qualified group and 70 percent in the non-income-qualified group were induced by the rebate, leading to an estimated 2,490 induced purchases overall. These results demonstrate that rebates are an effective tool for sparking new e-bike sales, particularly among lower-income households where larger incentives are needed.”

I’d consider that a successful program!

It’s good policy to keep tax money in the local economy, but there’s another reason to prefer subsidizing local bike shops: support.

Every bike requires maintenance to keep running, but most people don’t know how to take care of them. Things I’ve seen regular people do:

• They’ll oil the chain to keep it smooth rolling, which is good! But they never degrease the chain, creating artisanal grinding paste. A thousand kilometers/miles later they’ll get an expensive lesson when learning they need a new chain, cassette, and chainring. A lesson I just barely avoided with my cousin after I checked his chain wear (he’s on hot dip and drip wax now).

• They don’t understand brakes. It’s easy to glaze brakes in hilly areas, and doubly so with heavier ebikes. It’s common for new brakes to fall out of adjustment. It’s common for new mechanical brakes to have cable stretch. All of it results in squeaky, weak, or totally failed brakes in just a few weeks. Sometimes it’s just a worry with new riders, knowing that their brakes are the most important part of a bike. A friend got a class 3 ebike and was wondering if he needed to take it in for the brakes during a ride we took together. They were totally fine and my recommendation was to ride a few hundred more miles before taking it in for a tune-up.

• They don’t know you have to pump up your tires. Seriously. I ran into a young adult on the train with a pinch flat. He didn’t know you had to keep the tire pressures up and within a reasonable range. The best I could help was giving some pointers on tire pressures and some pump recommendations (he had space limitations).

• They don’t know when their fork is backwards. I helped another cousin’s car-less friend who got a great deal on a used bike, but it didn’t ride too great. Surprise, the fork was backwards. A quick adjustment of the stem, and some brake work too because of course those were also in poor condition, got her in a much more comfortable situation and back on the road.

The purpose of these programs is to get people onto ebikes. For many this is their first bike since childhood. They are interested and engaged, but they need help. That’s why these buy-local policies are important. A local bike shop will stand behind their work. Every LBS around me offers a free check and tune-up for a new bike. That’s the level of support required to keep a new rider on a bike for years.