Discovery of the month: Möbius bike and soft mobility

The surf sector is a polluting industry that deserves our full attention to improve what can be. If not everyone is surfing; on the other hand everyone moves! 
We met the team of Mobius bike, the French brand of eco-responsible bicycles which works to minimize the impact of its 2 wheels and which also participates in the democratization of the "bike lifestyle". Their commitments and values ​​around eco-responsibility and performance immediately echoed at NOTOX. Discover their history and their vision of eco-design.

Interview with Imane and Margaux from Möbius 

WHAT IS THE GENESIS OF MÖBIUS BIKE?

"In 2020, during the first lockdown and at the worst of the COVID crisis, we had a revelation! Our urban neighborhoods usually with increased noise and air pollution became, overnight, breathable and peaceful again and we We could hear birds singing again in the morning. The difference was obvious: almost no more thermal cars, only pedestrians and cyclists. Our desire to have an impact and clean up the air in cities for our children, coupled with our engineering skills, we decided to design bikes for city dwellers like us.

Soon enough, we make another discovery; 1 bicycle is produced every 4 seconds in the world with materials of extractive origin, very energy-intensive processes and sometimes toxic products, and at the end of their life more than 15 million bicycles are thrown away every year and end up in bicycle cemeteries, or closer to home at the bottom of the Seine for example. The cycle industry is actually very polluting itself! 

Möbius was born, not only do we tackle the 30% air pollution linked to thermal transport but also pollution from the cycle industry, so as not to harm the planet elsewhere. 

It is then in a global 3R approach; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle across the entire product life cycle, as we design our products. From design with bio-sourced materials such as bamboo, grape leather or recycled materials such as recycled aluminum, to end-of-life management with the recycling of our products.

We are also a company with a mission, concretely this means that our mission to "clean up cities with the most eco-responsible soft mobility solutions possible" is written in our statutes and we have the obligation to respond to it. in each of our daily decisions and actions"

What are your values? 

"Our values ​​are eco-responsibility, innovation, transparency, respect, inclusiveness, and the obsession to have a positive tangible impact."

If you had to describe Möbius and its products? 

"Allowing city dwellers to travel with eco-responsible, design, comfortable and high-performance products, all at a fair price and without harming the planet elsewhere (truly global and not just local approach)."

What are the things you would like to improve on your bikes? 

"We are constantly looking for ever more eco-responsible materials and partnerships in this direction. We also rely on feedback from our customers to improve and optimize the driving experience."

We now know that the soft mobility sector is a fairly competitive market, how do you manage to differentiate yourself from your competitors? 

"Bamboo bicycles have existed since the 19th century and were born in Asia. At Möbius, we are bringing the bamboo bicycle into the world of tomorrow: more design, more technological, more eco-responsible, all at the fairest price.

We have selected biosourced and recycled materials: For the bike frame, bamboo was quickly obvious because this material has many ecological advantages and is very resistant, it is associated with recycled aluminum and carbon fiber. carbon to ensure the bike has optimal durability.

We have pushed eco-design down to the details in order to reduce the carbon footprint of the materials used as much as possible. For example, in addition to bamboo and recycled aluminum, we are the only ones in the world to have selected grape leather for our saddle and grips. Indeed, we are aware that animal leather, for ecological reasons (cattle breeding represents 20% of GHG emissions) and ethical reasons, is not a sustainable material. We then turned to vegetable leather, made from waste from the wine industry (nothing is wasted…). The tires of the electric bike are also made of recycled materials

We have also made it a point of honor to design our bikes: minimalist, timeless and mixed. And since everything is still in the details, we have chosen molded joints to avoid any trace of welding.

Our electric bike is connected to a mobile application (optional), developed in France, which tracks driving data, battery status and geolocates the bike. This app also tells you your positive impact on the environment every time you choose the bike over the car; good motivation!

We have also worked a lot on the repairability and robustness of the product, so we have two patents on the assembly technique and the various reinforcements.

Finally, in order to democratize the eco-responsible bike, we have from the start worked to have the fairest price and we are thus 1000€ cheaper on average while having a high-end level of finish and the eco value proposition. - the most complete manager.

Are your bikes produced in France? Are they recyclable? 

“The bicycle has not been entirely manufactured in France since the beginning of the 1980s. No brand carries out 100% French large-scale production.

At Möbius, we want to be transparent about the manufacture of our bikes. Thus, we detail the origin of each part of the bike on our website. Tires from Germany, grape leather from Italy, electronics and bio-based bamboo from China and wheels and rims from France. We are in direct contact with all these partners and are working hard to bring them as close as possible to the place of assembly: in Saint-Étienne in France."

Do you have other ongoing projects? 

"Plenty! We can mention a new product aimed at a particular segment of customers following many requests. We will have to be a little patient before finding out what it is :)"

Möbius: making an impact, one bike at a time