It’s straightforward to identify VanMoof electrical bikes on Amsterdam’s streets. The riders are sometimes younger professionals who’re barely pedaling as they whiz previous fellow cyclists.

But these using the glossy bikes as of late aren’t sitting so comfortably.

VanMoof, the Dutch e-bike maker that gained a zealous following, tripled its sales in the pandemic and raised greater than $180 million in funding, declared chapter final month, leaving riders in limbo. That’s as a result of the eye-catching e-bikes, which begin round $2,000, are constructed from proprietary components that solely the corporate makes, obtainable principally at company-run service facilities. And lots of the bikes’ capabilities are linked to VanMoof’s smartphone app.

“If I break it, or something else happens, I don’t know where to go,” stated Gideon Sutaman, 28, who lives in Amsterdam and has been using his VanMoof e-bike since December.

As the e-bike market boomed, the corporate offered about 200,000 bikes and opened shops throughout Europe, the United States and Japan. In the e-bike world, VanMoof was usually likened to Apple or Tesla, given its elegant designs, heavy use of customized supplies and premium costs.

The speedy, technologically superior bikes shift gears robotically and embody a lift button that gives an additional kick. An app can lock and unlock the bike, fine-tune its settings and observe a machine’s location. (For an additional payment, VanMoof employed “bike hunters” to recuperate stolen bicycles.)

Those distinctive options are actually on the coronary heart of VanMoof house owners’ nervousness.

“Your bike will remain functional and rideable, as we aim to keep our app and servers online and aim to secure the ongoing services for the future,” VanMoof said in a statement. The directors managing the corporate’s chapter within the Netherlands “are currently setting up a sales process for the assets and activities of VanMoof,” the assertion stated.

When contacted, the directors declined to enter specifics, however confirmed that there have been firms thinking about shopping for VanMoof.

VanMoof, named as a Dutch spin on the phrase “move,” was based in 2009 by the brothers Ties and Taco Carlier, and didn’t begin off making battery-powered bikes. But in 2014, the founders got here up with a design that put the battery contained in the bike body, serving to shield it from rain and thieves, and giving VanMoof bikes their signature streamlined look. The model took off within the bike-friendly Netherlands, and phrase unfold to early adopters elsewhere.

Despite the thrill, VanMoof ultimately bumped into monetary issues, together with a manufacturing backlog that led to monthslong waits for gross sales and repairs.

“They tried to do too much at once,” stated Horace Dediu, a co-founder of Micromobility Industries. “Overall the industry is very healthy,” he added.

Global gross sales of VanMoof e-bikes have been halted, and at firm areas that stay open, like its store in Brooklyn, repairs will be carried out provided that the components are in inventory.

In Amsterdam, the place all VanMoof areas are shut, most bike restore retailers can’t, or won’t, restore the model’s bikes. And that’s an issue, as a result of VanMoof bikes have developed a repute for breaking down.

VanMoof riders round Amsterdam stated they’d skilled issues with the bikes, at the same time as they praised the machines.

“When it’s working, there’s nothing better,” stated Michiel Smit, 28. But, he added, the bike “breaks often.”

VanMoof’s future is murky. At least one bidder has come out publicly, the e-scooter rental agency Micromobility.com (unrelated to Micromobility Industries). Its nonbinding takeover bid was “positively received,” Micromobility said on Monday. A worth was not disclosed.

Salvatore Palella, Micromobility’s founder and chief govt, stated that if the bid was profitable, he want to hold the model in addition to a lot of VanMoof’s workers. “We are fascinated by what we are seeing and how VanMoof created this amazing brand in the last 10 years,” Mr. Palella stated. He stated he would submit a binding provide by Friday.

One of the few locations in Amsterdam the place clients can nonetheless get their VanMoof bikes fastened is a slender alley within the heart of the town at WheelGood, a VanMoof-licensed bike store.

On some days, as many as 20 individuals cease by with damaged VanMoof e-bikes, stated Felipe Martinez, who works on the store. But they’ll do solely easy repairs that don’t contain VanMoof’s components.

Others are on the lookout for workarounds on-line. In Facebook and Reddit teams, VanMoof house owners commiserate and ask for recommendation on repairs. Others are providing their bikes for discount costs on e-commerce websites.

Christa Brethouwer, a resident of Amsterdam, stated she had not skilled any issues together with her VanMoof, which she acquired three months in the past after an eight-month wait. She additionally bought the three-year theft safety bundle, now nugatory.

Other riders expressed concern about theft, partially due to the elevated demand for components since VanMoof’s chapter.

“Here in the city, people hate you because you have a VanMoof,” stated Nadia Piet, an Amsterdam-based entrepreneur, who purchased her e-bike two years in the past. “Now people look at you with pity.”

Ms. Piet, 29, stated the “dreamy” bike changed the necessity for a automobile. Her companion, Steven Elbers, additionally owns a VanMoof. “I’m still a big fan,” Mr. Elbers, 40, stated. “I don’t understand how this could’ve happened.”

For others, the corporate’s collapse was not a shock.

“We saw it coming for a long time,” stated Joseph Page, a mechanic at WheelGood who used to work as a “bike doctor” for VanMoof. The e-bike maker’s advertising was spectacular, however “we knew it wasn’t great from the start,” he added.

Maria van Aa, a motorbike maker in Amsterdam for 38 years, who generally does easy fixes to VanMoof bikes, known as it an “overpriced” product with too little consideration paid to the technical particulars.

She stated there was a way of schadenfreude amongst her clients and fellow bicycle makers. “It’s the talk of the town,” Ms. van Aa stated. But it’s not all unhealthy, she stated, with VanMoof’s trendy design elevating the general public picture of bikes and bike makers.

“It’s a nice bike,” stated Emiliano Frigerio, a VanMoof-riding mechanic at WheelGood, “when it works.”