If something is logical, it doesn't necessarily make sense.
I don't remember where I read, or from whom I heard, that. But it has helped me to understand some strange and unusual developments--and to feel equal parts of shock and disgust but absolutely no surprise.
One such development is this:
The GMC Hummer EV All-Wheel-Drive e-bike is the Frankenstinian offspring of the maker of the world's most over-the-top motor vehicle and Recon Power Bikes.
Before I say anything else, I should point out that a bicycle cannot be all-wheel-drive. "All" refers to entities of three or more; then again, I guess "both-wheel-drive" doesn't have the same macho appeal.
Now that I've done my writer/English teacher duty, I want to explain how this contraption makes perfect sense. I will start by laying out an axiom that comes from years of observation: The fancier the van or pickup truck, the less likely it is to be used for any sort of work. So those souped-up diesel-powered rigs with the most unnecessary accessories and flashy (or garish) paint jobs are, more than likely, being driven by some 20-year-old (whether chronologically or emotionally) dude who's overcompensating for how little he contributes to society and where he's lacking in his body, if you know what I mean, as well as his mind.
The ridership of fat-tire electric bikes is very similar to the drivership of those begirded, bejeweled (well, at least it's jewelry for the ones who drive them) behemoths. By straddling a two-wheeled vehicle that has pedals, even if they're used only to start the engine, riders of those machines think they're projecting an image of hard work and toughness. Put them on a bike without a motor and even I, at my age, could run rings around most of them.
Anyway, if a Hummer driver is going to bring a bicycle with him, I don't think it would be a light, airy road machine or even a high-end mountain bike. Such bikes simply won't do for someone who's trying to compensate for, well, all sorts of things. If he's going from four wheels to two, he simply cannot give up that feeling of invincibility he gets from the roar of an engine and the width of his tire tracks.
So...In its way, the new Hummer eBike is completely logical, at least given its target market. But does it make sense? Probably not, to or for anyone not in that target market.
