Richard Peace

With new e-bike launches a little thin on the ground this week we catch our breath to take a look into other areas of the e-bike world. Perhaps most notably, after e-bike and e-scooter share schemes seem to have suffered from a post boom period of bad news stories, there are signs they are on the up again. On our more usual tack, we take a look at Espin’s battery upgrade and a new monster of an e-mtb from Italy.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• The Tricolore – a carbon-framed big batteries e-mtb from Italy
• Espin announces battery size upgrade for folding Nesta
• E-bike and e-scooter sharing – are they financially sustainable yet?
  
• New bike trails from Michigan and Germany
• Modmo likely to liquidate

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Moto Parilla Carbon Emtb, Espin Nesta battery Upgrade and Much More!

It’s taken a while, but now e-bike motor systems have become hugely capable and e-bikes are so popular they can inspire their own one-off designs, the traditional bike categories of road, e-mtb and city bike are being blurred at the edges. Take the new ‘SUV’ design from Giant we cover this week – it’s got elements of hybrid, mountain bike and tourer about it, plus modern e-bike features that are hugely practical and which don’t feature on many non-electric bikes (ie the belt drive and stepless hub gear combo). Clearly, no longer are e-bikes just a traditional bike with motor and battery bolted on, but ones where motor systems and many other features like gearing and lighting are fully integrated into the electric design.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Giant’s Stormguard E+ – an SUV of e-bikes
• Bosch launches Kiox update and withdraws Android version straightaway
• UK’s Peddle launches four new e-bikes
• Renault Mobilize Duo arriving in the UK
• Silicon Valley money for Aventon

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Giant’s SUV, UK’s Peddle and Much More !

This week’s news shows the great variety out there in the e-bike world; we are concentrating on new launches in this issue and have a smaller cargo bike with a rear hub motor, a slighter larger but still very manageable one with a powerful Bosch mid-drive, an all-wheel model from a car company with super powerful dual motors and last but not least, what claims to be a ‘smart’, lightweight and super-affordable friction drive. Prices? They range from $299 to $4799….

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Cannondale’s lightest e-bike yet
• Radio Flyer’s compact, folding e-cargo model shipping in November
• It’s steel-framed and has Bosch’s most powerful mid-drive….meet the Surly Skid Loader
• GM comes up with an AWD e-bike version of it’s SUV EV
• Livall now crowdfunding its simple-looking friction drive

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Radio Flyer Goes Compact Cargo, Surly Goes with Bosch and Much More !

The likes of Trek and Kona are trendsetters so it’s interesting to see Kona following Trek in a more budget, hub motor direction, with three varied offerings all powered by the same rear hub motor and in-frame battery combo. Just why they have chosen now to do so when they have had competition from cheaper hub motor machines for many years is an interesting question. Perhaps they foresee the arrival of more and more e-bikes from Asian competitors that look anything but cheap and cheerful as almost all once were. If the new Chinese NIU e-bike proves a raging success the $2000 ‘quality budget’ e-bike sector can only see more entrants. And with 916Wh battery capacity, a Gates Carbon Drive and full equipment, the Chinese e-moped specialist could well have just announced itself as a major player in this market.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• NIU’s highly capable looking BQi-C3 Pro goes on sale at $1999
• Kona launches three hub motor models around the $2000 mark
• Tiler’s charging kickstand system redesigned
• Kleuster Freegônes’ incredible e-cargo bikes now assembled and distributed at Renault’s French truck facility
• Just when will the UK legalise e-scooters?

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Niu Moped Specialist’s E-bike, Kona Goes Hub Motor and Much More!

Whilst most readers probably won’t be spending the $9,000 (or more) Trek are asking for their latest and lightest yet e-road bike, the implication from this week’s news is clear. You can only push prices down so far before something gives, is the implied moral of the fate of some 22,000 e-bikes from Ancheer which have been selling over recent years at sometimes seemingly unfeasibly low price tags. Whilst there are undoubtedly bargains to be had at the budget e-bike end of the market it’s also true that, as in most areas of life, you get what you pay for, so think twice before buying an e-bike with a price tag that pushes credibility…

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Trek’s 24lb e-road bike
• VELLO crowdfund lightweight e-cargo bike
• Robo System’s incredible 4-WD e-scooter
• Ancheer recall 22,000 budget e-bikes over battery fears

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Trek’s Lightest Road Bike, Vello Lightweight E-cargo and Much More!

Although today’s lead story about Specialized seems, on the face of it, to amount to releasing a couple of PR pics for their latest tease at the upcoming Globe Haul ST, there is a lot riding on the future success of Specialized’s forthcoming ‘budget’ e-cargo bike. To quote this Cyclist article on the history of Specialized, ‘Since then (the 1974 company founding date), the company has developed beyond all recognition, growing to the point where it not only follows trends in the cycling market but often dictates them.’

So will Specialized kickstart a new movement in the e-bike industry for companies that have traditionally produced premium priced bikes, often with elements of their own proprietary technology, to head downmarket? And will innovative design and tech be a feature of the new lower-priced models or are Specialized simply aiming to compete on price? EBR will let you know very shortly….

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Specialized gives first clear photos of Globe Haul ST
• People For Bikes Urges Class 1 Use Only On Non-Motorized Trails
• Delfast’s New Moped Style E-Bike
• All The Latest With E-MTBs
• NYT Looks at Van Moof and E-Bike Growth

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Specialized Again Tease ‘Budget’ E-bike, Class 1 Trail Access Policy and Much More!

Will Yamaha be the first major mid-drive manufacturer to be a global e-bike player as well? To date, competitors in this area like Bosch, Brose and Shimano have stuck to making mid-drive systems and not ventured as far as whole e-bikes – and that doesn’t look likely to change any time soon. But Yamaha are a bit different; after a strong start in the fledgling e-bike industry in the early 90s they faded from view somewhat but made a strong comeback around 2013 with their new triple sensor mid-drive system and a major push on the international market, supplying major players such as Giant and Haibike. They have made own-brand e-bikes for the US market for a while now and have always sold them in their home market of Japan, so it will be interesting to see how far their instantly recognisable and highly-esteemed brand name takes them in the intensely competitive European market.

In this week’s e-bike news:

• Vvolt’s new belt drive model with stepless gears – the Centauri
• Yamaha announce new own brand e-mtbs
• Premium Californian brand Ibis launch new e-bike
• OKAI wireless update sees speed increase
• Pure’s new, extra stable e-scooter
• Magene radar for rear view safety
• EAV supply e-bikes for London street cleaners

[Read more…] about E-bike News: Vvolt Centauri, IBIS and Yamaha EMTBs and Much More!