Today we meet the founder of Moonbikes who proposes an ecological alternative to polluting snowmobiles.
Nicolas Muron is a 32-year-old mechanical engineer who graduated from the École Nationale des Arts & Métiers and Georgia Tech in the United States.
He founded MoonBikes a little over a year ago after working for six years in the aerostructure design office at Dassault Aviation.
Hello Nicolas Muron, thank you for agreeing to talk to us about the new concept you have created.
Can you explain in a few words what the MoonBike is all about?
Moonbike started from a simple observation: snowmobiles are very heavy, bulky, noisy and polluting machines.
Moreover, snowmobiles are currently rather unstable, difficult to handle and expensive. Thus, we created MoonBikes in order to solve all these problems and democratize the use of snow scooters.
What are the specificities of the MoonBike? How will it revolutionize the use of snowmobiles today?
The MoonBike is lighter, less expensive, electric, silent and easy to drive. The design is also better optimized than the classic snowmobile.
Contrary to the current snowmobiles which do not appeal to women (80% of the users are men), nor to young people (the average user is 45 years old), the MoonBike is adapted and provides a feeling of safety.
Indeed, it is lower, more stable and more maneuverable than the current big snowmobile.
The MoonBike is ideal for short trips in snowy environments, such as winter sports resorts or urban areas.
What market are you targeting? What need does your invention meet?
The Moonbikes market is segmented into two parts:
The resorts have a real need because the current snowmobiles are a real nuisance for the residents.
According to our studies, snowmobiles are a nuisance and create a feeling of insecurity among residents.
The MoonBike is perfectly adapted to the residents: silent, electric, light and easy to handle.
The other strong point of MoonBike is its “fun” part: in addition to using his MoonBike to move from one point to another, the user can use it to have fun with his friends.
This is a real turning point since at the moment very few young people go especially to the mountains to ride a snowmobile.
Soon this product will be on every resort and will become the new attraction for young people.
This new product is very fun, easy to use and inexpensive.
Could it become a mechanical sport? A new utility?
Absolutely the MoonBike can become both a sport and a new utility.
We are in contact with several stations interested in the utility aspect.
Some French and foreign individuals have also contacted us about their need for a utility snowmobile.
Is the MoonBike available on the slopes today?
The Moonbikes will be available next winter in 4 pilot resorts. The names of these resorts will be announced by October on our website.
What are your objectives for the next 3 years?
Our ambition is to become the leaders in micro mobility in snowy environments.
We will start by launching the MoonBike on the European market and then we will quickly move on to the other side of the Atlantic, where there are many requests, especially in Canada.
Once the prototypes are fully developed, we will approach major brands (such as Redbull) to create major MoonBike competitions.
Thank you Nicolas Muron for this interview!
MoonBikes started from an observation: snowmobiles are polluting, noisy, difficult to handle and expensive.
The MoonBike is electric, light, easy to use and affordable, with one goal: to transform the mountain experience.
To follow the rise of Moonbikes on the networks and find out in which resort you will soon be able to find Moonbikes snowmobiles, go to: www.moonbikes.com
