African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 562 - 240 Bicycle Industry

The history lessons of East Africa can be roughly divided into two categories: one part is Far East history, and the other part is the history of Rome and the Holy Roman Empire.

This is not intentional, as the ancient history of the world is essentially centered around the Eurasian continent, along with North Africa, and East Africa certainly won’t deliberately expound on the history of the Arab regions. As for Indian history, it’s more like listening to myths.

The history of the German people is quite scarce, indeed it can be related to the Ancient Germanic People, but to Rome, the Ancient Germanic People were pure barbarians. Speaking of which, countries like England, France, Germany, and Austria all have connections to the Ancient Germanic People, after all, the fall of the Western Roman Empire was their doing. So it might as well be better to connect the history of the Roman Empire with that of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, these have nothing to do with East Africa. East Africa only needs the experiences and lessons behind history to prevent the future spread of historical nihilism or pseudo-history theories.

Learning from history is not difficult for the people of the Far East in the past life. Occasionally one can draw lessons in life when encountering problems, but for many countries that lack history, it is very challenging.

Of course, some countries deliberately conceal history and cover up national crimes, and at a certain point in the future, they will still follow the old path, because their descendants have not accepted the correct historical values, so repeating the same mistakes is inevitable.

This is also why Ernst does not deny the colonial history of East Africa in the future. Achievements are achievements, mistakes are mistakes, as long as it provides enough caution for future generations in East Africa.

Just like the modern humiliation history of the Far Eastern Empire, it is also a crucial reason why the Far Eastern Empire could shine in the 21st century, at least letting them understand the lesson that backwardness leads to being beaten.

Yet the development path of East Africa has been too smooth, without encountering major setbacks, which might create an illusion for the East African nationals in the future. Hence, it’s good to occasionally remind them by learning from others’ history.

Take, for example, the Soviet Union. Ernst believes it developed too smoothly in the earlier stages, and when things slightly didn’t meet expectations later, the whole country collapsed.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, it virtually had no weaknesses. Even if the economy was bad, it was much stronger than most countries of the same period, yet it was abandoned by its entire population. But it was different for the Far East; during the same era, the economy of the Far Eastern Empire was so poor, even less than some African countries, yet it forcefully survived the most tumultuous nineties.

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"Your Highness, this is a bicycle equipped with the latest hollow rubber tires. After using the hollow tires, the weight of the bicycle is greatly reduced, the difficulty of riding is significantly lowered, it’s more convenient to use, and most importantly, it is more comfortable."

The greatest improvement hollow rubber tires bring to bicycles is comfort. Riding on hardened paved roads in East Africa with the old solid tires was no problem, but once outside the First Town and Soga City, road conditions became complex. Considering the road conditions in East Africa, the old bicycles could practically shake out kidney stones.

Amidst the astonished expressions of the crowd, Ernst mounted this large-bar East African-made bicycle and rode around the fountain twice.

"It feels good, the performance indeed can meet basic needs, although it’s still quite heavy."

While Ernst mentioned it being heavy, it indirectly implied that all used materials were genuine. Just the sturdiness of the frame can easily carry hundreds of pounds of cargo.

In the history of the previous life, it wasn’t until 1889 that the Scottishman John Boyd Dunlop invented pneumatic hollow tires, but in East Africa, research on hollow tires began as early as 1876.

Now, East Africa’s rubber industry is booming, having replaced Brazil to become the world’s largest rubber producer, so much effort has been put into researching the applications of rubber.

Under Ernst’s guidance, important parts like ball bearings, saddles, pedals, handlebars, and even the rear seat of bicycles were improved and applied. Hollow tires have filled the last gap, and in the future, bicycles can be fully promoted.

"This bicycle industry holds great promise in East Africa and is also significant for the world. Its application is very extensive, so I plan to vigorously support this industry," Ernst said.

In fact, Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company under the Heixinggen conglomerate is itself the world’s largest bicycle manufacturer, but previously bicycles were purely an indulgence for the wealthy, with a very narrow market. Now, after thorough perfection, they can be promoted regardless of age or wealth disparities. Of course, those too poor still might not afford them, but most of the salaried class in Europe should save up enough to buy one.

As for East Africans, they can also own one after saving enough, and some groups can directly receive allocations, such as in Soga City, this new city in East Africa.

Of course, this scenario speaks to when the industry chain is completed, which may take a few more years.

Hence Ernst said, "Factories can be built in advance in Mbeya, Harare, Bulawayo, Nairobi, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Bajamojo; these inland cities mainly supply East African domestic demand, while the port cities also cater to future export needs."

The exports are naturally aimed at the Arab regions, the Far Eastern Empire, and other industrially underdeveloped countries. As for Europe, Heixinggen conglomerate in the German region can expand its bicycle factories.

This time, Ernst is indeed making a big investment; constructing factories in seven cities means previous investment in seven bicycle factories. The production of bicycle parts is also related to many associated industries, such as chains, hollow steel pipes, tires, etc., all requiring investment and design, hence necessitating the construction of a large number of factories and enterprises.

One must know that in the 1980s of the previous life, the Far Eastern Empire had only over sixty bicycle manufacturing enterprises. These manufacturing enterprises were certainly not small in scale, whereas East Africa also aims to take the path of large factories.

The bicycle industry currently is still dominated by small workshop production. This kind of low-demand item is mostly completed manually, with many parts self-manufactured, which is why Heixinggen Daily Necessities Company could become the world’s largest bicycle manufacturing enterprise.

The investment is enormous, but once the construction is completed, backed by the advantage of production cost and market acceptance, East Africa can make the money back in the future. In Ernst’s impression, bicycles have always been a hot-selling product.

"The military can also order a batch then, as I believe bicycles have extensive applications in the military."

Applications in the military field? Could it be for sending messages, transporting supplies, reconnaissance, etc.?

People of this era do not understand how the army can use bicycles. The above two guesses are naturally both possible, but horses in East Africa can entirely fulfill these roles.

Ernst mainly believes bicycles could be used to establish a rapid response force, especially in some terrain-complicated areas, like Southeast Asia.

The most famous bicycle troops were the Silver Wheel Team of the little devils during World War II. Due to the rainforest climate of the Southeast Asia region and muddy roads, tanks and vehicles found it hard to maneuver, so the Japanese army equipped some attacking forces with bicycles to chase retreating Allies, which played a significant role in advancing in the Malay Peninsula, even being jokingly called the "Blitzkrieg of the Orient."

As a tropical country, and possessing the overseas province of Lan Fang on the Nanyang islands, Ernest feels that bicycle troops can greatly function in the Nanyang tropical rainforest regions. This aligns with the East African military’s focus on training for combat in tropical rainforest and other exotic climate regions.

"The military might have some special requirements for bicycles, this can also be investigated, for example, folding bicycles, or tricycles with cargo boxes, such needs might not only exist in the military but also among civilians."

Suddenly Ernst thought of three-wheeled bicycles, even the "Reverse-Donkey" (tricycle with the compartment in front), which could surely be convenient for transporting goods.

Though an Aud Biao bicycle with two wheels could already haul lots of goods, the tricycle has a broader application form, this still is a widespread mode of street transport in the Far East even into the 21st century, though many have been replaced by electric tricycles.