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The Inspiration :
The development of OSET electric dirt bikes were inspired by young Oliver Smith, son of OSET founder Ian Smith. At the age of 6 months Oliver was already obsessed with
bikes. This was helped by the fact that one of Dad’s businesses was producing Motorcycle Trials DVD’s. Oliver watched the DVD’s constantly, and played with toy bikes all day
long. It was clear that Oliver would want his own bike at the earliest opportunity.
As Oliver got older, the obsession continued. Dad didn’t want to wait until he was
5 or 6 or 7 to get a bike, and, looking at the marketplace, didn’t find any of the bikes
suitable anyway. Putting a kid on a 100lb+ bike with terrible suspension, no power and
a hot exhaust didn’t seem too appealing, so the cogs started turning in Dad’s brain.
The Beginning :
Ian came up with the concept of an electric Trials bike. The resultant bike was completed
when Oliver was 3 years 3 months old. Oliver rode the bike, standing up and in control on his very first day. 1 week later, he rode his first Trials competition! We fiddled and modified this bike constantly. One thing was very clear… this bike really did work! At this point, we knew we were on to something!
Philosophy & History :
From this point forward we started working towards production. More prototypes were built, manufacturers contacted. Patents were applied for. Lawyers were engaged for Trademarks, contracts. The result of all this is that we now have two bikes for production, the OSET Spider 12.5 and the OSET Spider 16.0. Design of the bikes, the plastic, the graphics etc has all taken place in the States. All of the testing and development has been done in the USA also. It was decided early on that to reach our goals we would have to do the manufacturing in Taiwan or China. This decision was made reluctantly, but the truth is that if we were to manufacture in the States we would have some serious issues. Clearly, the bikes would have to cost more…. probably about double. So made the decision to produce in China.
The Benefits :
There are a lot of problems with the traditional approach to bikes for kids. By using petrol, you immediately severely limit the locations the bikes can be ridden. Petrol bikes are loud in any scenario outside of designated riding areas. Unless you’re one of the lucky few, the backyard is out of the question. Even if you are fortunate enough to have a riding area outside your back door (away from any neighbours), the effort involved in having your child ride is often too much. OSET’s on the other hand, make virtually no noise, so definitely CAN be used in the backyard. From experience we know that taking a young kid riding on a gas bike is a major chore. First, there’s transport to the riding area. Next up is prepping the bike, filling with fuel etc. Then, the parent usually has to start the bike. The child then rides around in some big circles, but stalls or falls off in the spot furthest away. The kid then needs help to pick the bike up, restart it etc. Hopefully the rider has escaped being burned by the exhaust or had fuel spill out onto them. As well as all this, the petrol bikes are really way too heavy. It’s a losing battle for the kids. A 4 or 5 year old weighing 40lb’s on a 100lb+ bike is a bad ratio. This doesn’t get much better until the child reaches their late teens. The kids get bigger, but the bikes get bigger and heavier too. A 60lb 7 year old might be on a 120lb bike. There is really no way the child can learn correct technique on these bikes. With OSET’s, the Trials bike based design has many advantages when kids are developing their riding skills. They get to sit down at a nice low height to begin with, then as they get better they stand up and begin to learn all about weighting the pegs, body positioning and soon. Kids can really learn proper techniques on these bikes.
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