Serial 1, the e-bike offshoot of Harley-Davidson, is still an outsider on the e-bike market, and the company is the first to admit to it. As a newcomer and still an outside player, it is in a position to take a long and hard look at cycling culture and, consequently, to accurately point out just some of the things wrong with it.
Available at the bottom of the page is a new Serial 1-produced short comedic film slash advertorial that does just that. It’s called The eBike Guru presents: “Just Enjoy the Ride,” and it’s a very funny take on modern cyclist culture, and the focus it erroneously puts on pain as a tool to gauge the usefulness of the bicycle. Like, if you can still stand on your own the next day, does the ride even count?
It does so by bringing to light many cyclist cliches, from sweaty spanx outfits to aggressiveness in traffic (including to pedestrians and fellow cyclists) and the desire to turn every ride into a painful competition. This is achieved by means of new Serial 1 owner Greg (played by Geoff Dow), a former traditional cyclist for whom his wife Kathy (Angie Campbell) stages an intervention with the e-Bike Guru, played by Doogin Brown in a rather unconvincing wig and all-linen outfit.
The e-Bike Guru is here to take Greg out of the “pain cave” and onto the road of the modern-day cyclist, the kind that stops to smell the roses – and “just enjoy the ride.” It’s a task with plenty of challenges but one that, as you might have guessed, has a happy ending.
“The e-bike market is crowded and chaotic, and a content piece like this is one way to stand out. We wanted to have a little fun and to take advantage of our status as outsiders in the cycling industry to make some humorous content that could only come from Serial 1,” Aaron Frank, Brand Director at Serial 1, says in a statement. “At the same time, many of our mainstream customers are not cyclists and don’t understand that riding a bike isn’t all about suffering. e-Bikes are the best way to be active, have fun, and explore your world on two wheels.”
The short film was done in collaboration with Allies & Co and Bash, and credits Bash (Ryan Bingham, Josh Halverson) as director, Timm Gable and Shelley Gauthier as executive producers, and Kate Fiorita as producer.
Sure enough, this is a piece of marketing for Serial 1, and obviously so. But it can still be enjoyed by anyone riding or thinking of buying an e-bike, because it shows that e-bikes are fun.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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