There are screenshots where people wrote to Serial 1 about the app, and they were simply told that it was coming soon with no indications that it would not be compatible with the then current generation. So the actual company - not dealers with secondhand knowledge, perpetuated the idea that the app would be applicable to existing users by not correcting any misconceptions. In fact, they're still flaky on it. On the page that mentions the app:
Serial 1 App ; it says nothing about not being compatible with the previous generation. People who aren't actively researching and following Serial 1 would not know the difference between Gen 1 and 2 (as evident from the above).
It's not a matter of simply being obsolete. In the grand scheme of things, it screws over early adopters and it doesn't speak well for the company and how they perceive their customers. It is obsolete because it is abandoned as a platform. Obsolete doesn't necessarily mean useless. A bike is a bike - a 20 year old bike will have it's uses. Obsolete means: "no longer produced or used; out of date. ", or "cause (a product or idea) to be or become obsolete by replacing it with something new. " Both of which is true in this case - Serial 1 just isn't being very transparent about it.
Also, while it's awesome that you love your bike and don't care about the app, the truth of the matter is that it's a big selling point. All the big name bikes offer a very complete package and experience. Route planning, GPS tracking, remote locking and monitoring - these are amazing life of quality features. Now it is truly a $5.6k bike.
What's a true kick in the gonads is the fire sale pricing - it shows that they've really abandoned it, instead of potentially offering an upgrade path to existing owners. I imagine it's as simple as replacing the controller with the updated connectivity-enable controller and snake a couple additional wires through the frame.
Alas, I rant. I love the bike (Rush/CTY Speed), but I am not liking the company.
