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E-bike Madness: A sea of batteries and motors from Friedrichshafen to Las Vegas

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With each annual edition of the tradeshow season, there seems to always be at least one discernible trend. Manufacturers and the industry seems to latch onto a concept in lock step and then all of a sudden it’s the show of 29″, 650b, fat bikes, and now plus bikes. E-bikes are a little different. For years, they’ve been there. Silently charging in the background just waiting to take over the world. Ok, that might be a bit dramatic, but we have been seeing e-bikes at trade shows for years, but this year stood out.

Eurobike has always been a haven for e-bike technology, but for 2016, Interbike had almost an entire wing of the show floor devoted to anything and everything with an electronic motor. So what does that mean for the future? From what we saw at the show, it seems that most manufacturers feel that they can no longer ignore the category. Considering brands like BMC were showing off elaborate prototypes of future e-models, there are a lot more companies building e-bikes than just a few years ago. The depth of the e-bikes at the two shows also serves to highlight just how vast the difference between separate motor technologies can be. Some bikes provide just enough boost to feel like you’re having a great day on the bike, while others shown were literally electronic street motorcycles.

It’s not all doom and gloom though. While there certainly were some WTF machines, the majority of the bikes seem to be headed in the reasonably powered, pedalec direction (meaning you have to pedal). After all, a throttle is the only thing that separates an e-moped from an e-bike (pedalec)…

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Maybe it was the matte grey finish or the odd grey plus tires, but BMC’s prototype e-bike had a futuristic, almost menacing look. One of a number of new bikes to be built around the new Shimano XT level STEPS e-bike system, the bike seems to follow Specialized’ lead with a mid travel full suspension plus frame and an integrated battery. Estimated for potentially 2018, we’re told that this bike will be available in Europe only at first.

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More than just a prototype model, BMC had a fully functional e-bike prototype in their booth to serve as the test mule for the new bike.

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Scott will be another brand to take advantage of the E8000 system with a new version of the E-Spark. Built with 120/130mm of travel with an inverted trunion mounted rear shock, the bike rolls on 27 x 2.8″ plus tires which seems to be a recurring trend for e-MTBs. Shown above is the top end 700 Plus Tuned E-Spark, but 710 and 720 Plus versions will be available as well.

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At this point, Scott actually has quite a few e-bike models including this new E-Silence EVO which makes use of the Brose motor and integrated battery along with a Nuvinci Harmony N330 hub.

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Not only has Bulls been knocking on consumers’ doors stateside with direct sales, but they’ve also been introducing a ton of new e-bikes. Not all of them are available through Bulls USA, but it’s probably only a matter of time before bikes like these new E Core Di2 FS and hardtail e-bikes with the new Shimano STEPS E8000 motors start popping up. Score another one for plus tires and Shimano e-drivetrains.

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Bulls also had an interesting take on the Bosch Performance Line CX system with the SIX50 + E FS3 and Aminga E FS 3+. Compared to other Bosch bikes we’ve seen it looks like the motor has been rotated counter clockwise to create lines that flow better into the frame in a way that makes the external battery look more integrated.

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Yet another Shimano STEPS E8000 plus mountain bike, this time from KTM. One nice thing about the Shimano equipped bikes like the Ventura Vamos (and other integrated battery systems) is that some brands have been able to keep the water bottle cage inside the front triangle.

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When e-bikes first started popping up, they were mostly retrofits with companies like Bionx offering kits to bolt on to your current bike with hub driven motors. It looks like Bionx is either working on their own frame or with partners to create an integrated battery system that would still use a motor like their D 500 DV model.

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If you need further proof of just how much the world of e-bikes is growing, just take a look at how many manufacturers had their own motors and battery systems on display. TranzX was showing off multiple new products in their e-bike systems line including the Integra fully integrated frame and drive unit concept with the M16-GTi motor.

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To go along with their tires and Conti belt Drive System, Continental also has their own eBike system now with an integrated battery, mid drive motor, and control unit.

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Panasonic lookg like they’re working on a more integrated system as well, with a much more streamlined battery than their current system.

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While retrofitting normal bikes with hub motors seems to have gotten less popular recently, a number of companies at Eurobike were showing mid-drive retrofits like the Sunstar Virtus and Pendix drive systems which mount a battery on the down tube and drive the crank. The most clever one of the bunch appeared to be the Relo system which uses a hinged motor system that allows it to fit any bike. The system weighs a claimed 3.7 kg with the battery, it provides 250w, and allows you to use your own cranks (square taper, Hollowtech II, or Octalink). In terms of form, this was one of the cleanest designs we saw at the show for a retrofit. Depending on your bike and desire, the battery can also be positioned in line with the seat tube.

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And then there was this thing. Brose is a brand of drive system that we’ve started hearing more from here in the U.S., but they’re already pretty big in Europe. This concept bike was one of the more wild takes on e-bikes at the show. If anything, this highlights a future where the line between e-bike and e-motorcycle/moped is extremely blurred. That doesn’t mean we wouldn’t want to ride this though…

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Highlighting the future of clean energy and transportation, Stromer had a limited edition Solar Impulse version of their e-bike named after the Solar Impulse 2 plane that recently completed its trip around the world using only solar power. The bike might actually go as fast as the plane as it had an average speed of just 45 mph!

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E-bikes with integrated batteries and drive units are starting to become more prevalent, as are full on e-road bikes. It won’t be long until more e-bikes are like the city bike at the bottom right which to the untrained eye would pass as a standard bicycle.

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E-cargo bikes also proved to be quite popular and for good reason. Of all the different types of bikes, this is the category we see as the most deserving of an electric motor. No one wants to try to muscle a few hundred pounds of cargo and bike up a hill at 2 mph. Slap a motor on there and get your errands done, pick up the kids from school, or sell ice cream out of  your bike all while leaving the car at home.

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From there thing start to get a bit more weird…

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Or inspired by classic motorcycles.

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Or just full-on electric motorcycles. Yes, these things were at Interbike.

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Electric scooters were also big at Interbike this year. With them you can do many things, like carry show materials in boxes to your booth!  The massive tire scooter hybrids were interesting – it’s like a scooter, a Jazzy power chair, and a golf cart got drunk at the 19th hole, and this is the result.

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Overall, it was pretty interesting to see the difference in how e-bikes were presented in Europe vs. America. At Eurobike, it’s clear that the e-bike has reached a wider acceptance and the bikes presented were (mostly) more utilitarian and sophisticated. Interbike’s e-bike zone was more of a side show lacking a lot of the more advanced technologies we saw in Europe.

The takeaway seems to have been that e-bikes are not going anywhere – as much as you might want them to. After all, they’re fun to ride and there is the potential for bicycle manufacturers to appeal to a larger market (read: more $$$). Whether or not the U.S. market will get to the point of Europe’s in a few years remains to be seen, but the wave is out there. And it’s coming.

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Groghunter
Groghunter
7 years ago

Well, Taipei should be interesting…

Heffe
Heffe
7 years ago

This is probably the best article about e-bikes that I have read: http://www.pinkbike.com/news/history-and-deception-opinion.html

in light of this, how many years are left before regulatory bodies intervene in e-bike usage and they are required to have licensure and insurance for road use, and are limited to trails for motorized vehicles for off-road use? Will motorcycle companies then swoop in and takeover this market entirely?

Dinger
Dinger
7 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

The US Bicycle market dwarfs the US motorcycle market (which finally got back above 500k units last year). Yamaha already makes a good e-bike system found on many brands and some of the other leading system providers are Automotive OEM’s (Bosch, Brose).

As for the regulatory stuff, I don’t see that happening. The industry is collecting around a product type that is decidedly not a motorcycle or scooter. These are bicycles that behave like bicycles and states that are updating their laws are doing so in a way that includes e-bikes among conventional bicycles instead of setting them apart.

Wuffles
Wuffles
7 years ago
Reply to  Dinger

Decidedly not a motorcycle or scooter? Uh, in my state, and most others, e-bikes are most definitely regarded as motor vehicles. Below certain power and speed thresholds you do not have to register and insure them as motor vehicles, but the same is also true for low-powered minibikes and mopeds. Once you hit the 750W / 20 mph mark, it needs to be fully registered and insured. Off road, they are considered motor vehicles regardless of power.

paquo
paquo
7 years ago
Reply to  Wuffles

except that 99% of those ebikes sold are under the threshold

Robert Bowers
Robert Bowers
7 years ago
Reply to  Dinger

Has a motor (electric or otherwise) regardless of wattage then it is a “motorcycle”. “Pedal assist” you say. If the motor is powering it then it is a motorised bicycle. “Behaves like a bike” that weight a bit more because it has a motor and goes better than a bicycle because the motor pushes it along.

just_lookin
just_lookin
7 years ago
Reply to  Robert Bowers

Motorcycles weigh 350+ lbs. E-bikes weigh 55lbs. They handle much more like bicycles than motorcycles. The term “e-bike” is a perfect way to describe it by separating it from a standard bicycle without throwing it in the same category as a ZX-10r. “It has a motor so is literally a motorcycle” is just being pedantic and shutting down good discussion.

bearcol
bearcol
7 years ago
Reply to  just_lookin

The word “ebike” is just a marketing term to avoid calling them what they are: Mopeds.

ksan720
ksan720
7 years ago
Reply to  Heffe

It may be wiki, but its worth looking at if you work in a shop. Knowing the national and local laws pertaining to e-bikes I can only see as helpfully for all. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_bicycle_laws

Ripnshread
Ripnshread
7 years ago

I would like to forward the theorem that a “throttle” can be activated by twisting your wrist, pressing your thumb, pushing your foot or palm of your hand as well as spinning your legs. If you are activating a motor to increase your speed you are in essence using a “throttle”…no?

Marc L
7 years ago
Reply to  Ripnshread

Only if you’re not trying to pretend motorized bikes don’t have motors.

I can think of a couple of vehicles in our garage that have foot-operated throttles.

Erik
Erik
7 years ago
Reply to  Ripnshread

okay, ill take the throttle bike, and you take the pedal assist bike, lets ride up a huge mountain, and lets see if they are the same thing. One of us will not be tired, and one will. One thing people forget about pedal assist bikes, is that they are still letting you get a workout. In fact, I would say when i commute 25miles to work on my 28mph pedal assist e-bike, I am pushing harder than I would if I was on my standard road bike. Because for E-bikes, you are rewarded for pushing harder……you go faster. With a standard road bike, if you pushing harder, it might be just trying to keep pace up a hill, but remain the same speed.
When I ride to work on my E-bike, I still put my road kit on, because I still get a good workout. The difference is, I get to work in a shorter time (and more reliable time) than if i took my road bike.

Jeb
Jeb
7 years ago

the only consolation I take from this whole eBike thing on the MTB side is that when the people who buy these are faced with maintenance or the myriad of issues adding a motor brings, AKA the honeymoon period is over these will just sit. Clearly they are too lazy to pedal what makes you think they are going to want to deal with the issues of regular maintenance. Give it 5 years and emtbs will be a novelty that we’ll laugh about.

TheOracleWolfe
TheOracleWolfe
7 years ago
Reply to  Jeb

Not only are you sadly mistaken but you have no idea what you’re talking about. It doesn’t matter if you like it or approve, they are not going away. The primary US ebike market is driven by people with money who have some type of injury or disablilty, the elderly and those who are admittedly overweight and out of shape. This market has little to do with being lazy. They want to ride again (or for the first time) and this is the way they’re going to achieve that goal. Experienced or “real” riders like you and I are not the ones purchasing these machines. These bikes are appealing to an entirely new and different market. In case you haven’t noticed the bike industry has been relatively stagnant for several decades, some would say dwindling or even failing. The “big brands” have been lobbying land access managers for the past 3-4 years, well before this recent onslaught of new e-mtbs being released. Simple business 101 class happening before us. Good day sir.

Jeb
Jeb
7 years ago
Reply to  TheOracleWolfe

“have some type of injury or disablilty, the elderly and those who are admittedly overweight and out of shape” You think land managers are going to be too happy when they have to start baby sitting these people every time something happens to them or their bike and because of their limitations can’t get back to the trailhead? MTB riding is by and large self limiting in it’s ability for people to get into trouble. The fitter more experienced you are the farther you can go. These eMTBs totally jump that learning curve allowing people to go and do far more than they should. You’ll see, there will be watershed moments that will set the eBike back. I’m betting a lawsuit against a manufacturer when just such an incident results in a death.

James Fryer
7 years ago
Reply to  TheOracleWolfe

“The primary US ebike market is driven by people with money who have some type of injury or disablilty, the elderly and those who are admittedly overweight and out of shape.”

Source needed.

“…the bike industry has been relatively stagnant for several decades, some would say dwindling or even failing.”

Again, source needed.

You can’t drop bombs like these and expect people to buy it.

Roger Howard
Roger Howard
7 years ago

Is the entire argument of a bike as transportation vs the bike as exercise completely lost?

Robin
Robin
7 years ago
Reply to  Roger Howard

Who says the bike has to be the same thing for everyone?

ZeGerman
ZeGerman
7 years ago
Reply to  Roger Howard

I thought bicycles are for transportation and leisure or for health or simply for fun

Matteo
Matteo
7 years ago

However, the fact of trying to hide the battery into the frame tube makes these bikes horrible.
These should be called fatty bikes (or pregnant bikes for some others)!

I think it would be much nicer design a good looking bike and place on it a good looking battery.

Paleo Velo
7 years ago

There is an old man in my neighborhood who has one. I’ve watched him coast up hills faster than any human can pedal up them. If you like it, that’s cool. But trying to convince yourself and others that this isn’t a motorcycle is just silly.

Haromania
Haromania
7 years ago
Reply to  Paleo Velo

I don’t care if anyone thinks it’s a motorcycle. I do know that most everyone who has tried one liked it and found it fun and this market is going to explode, whether you like it or not. Speaking as somebody who had his health taken at the ripe old age of 45 and have tried in vane to get it back and has failed, if this get’s me back out there then great, I win, and I won’t lose a bit of sleep over what you or anyone else thinks about it. Consider yourself lucky yo don’t have to make that decision yet. I’m jealous of you.

Paleo Velo
7 years ago
Reply to  Haromania

I don’t doubt that they are fun and allow some people to bike who would not otherwise be able to. But motorcycles should be regulated as motorcycles. As a way to commute around town, no big deal. But we’re having trails closed to bikes left and right where I live. Putting motorcycles on those trails is not a good recipe for access, and the MTB industry will have a lot to answer for if it kills its own market.

thesteve4761
thesteve4761
7 years ago

I’m just here for the hate.

ascarlarkinyar
ascarlarkinyar
7 years ago

Not interested in any ebike motorcycle not matter much they look like a regular bike

Lumpa Lumpa
Lumpa Lumpa
7 years ago

To put the Biomega Oko, with a full carbon frame with integrated fenders, a pure design and a great function in the weird gallery is a sort of shame. You need to open your skills, mind and to take some step back……

predrulez
7 years ago

Panasonic looks great.Find more electric bikes https://electricbikeplus.com

Rob
Rob
7 years ago
T Asbury
T Asbury
6 years ago

I am a 57yo, cancer survivor, 3 herniated disc in neck, 33yrs mtb rider, guide, bike shop owner, ridden in 5 countries, numerous states……ortho surgeon advised me to “be first one up the mtn and last one down” bought ebike in june, 230miles later seeing trail hadnt seen in yrs due to limitations above, happy as hell. Exercise physiologist, elementary school pe teacher, bike commutes to school 165days/yr still rides mtb with wife and friends, use ebike like a treadmill to “sweet spot” my hr training. Ebikes not for everyone, but GREAT for me…wildlife sightings, access secluded stream sections to fish. Pedal assist is king, eliminates the 180hr grunts that make 2 hr weekend ridesout of 3hr rides before. Better wt mgmt, leg strength and the post ride beers go down just the same…only a little earlier. To each his own, dont hate on me. Tks

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