A visit to the infamous Eurobike - 2018
When I first visited Eurobike in 2012 I was totally flabbergasted by the amount of eBikes on offer although at this point the ratio of eBikes to traditional bikes was 25% to 75%. The range of eBikes is now much bigger and I would estimate that there are around 70% eBikes compared to 30% traditional cycles! It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING and makes me extremely proud and grateful to be in the eBike industry.
In the UK our market is lagging behind the rest of Europe. However it has meant that as technology has improved the eBikes we do import are far more superior and with more longevity. They are also more easy to service and recycle. This keeps better residual values of eBikes so costs of ownerships are less and also less bikes being thrown away . Much better for our planet!
Even if you buy a cheaper eBike for less than £1000 from the big chains it is a better alternative to driving a diesel car or a 2 stroke moped, for example, but we are hopefully educating people now that “If you buy cheap you buy twice”. A far better experience will be had by investing properly into your first eBike. You will have a far better experience. Most of our customers have been become fully immersed in the eBike world after getting Fully Charged!
Anyway, back to Eurobike… There are a huge amount of vehicle manufacturers including Maserati , BMW, Benelli, Ducatti and Fiat that have only eBikes or a majority of eBikes on their stands. Then there are the bike manufactures that have added the eBike to their range such as Raleigh and KTM. However what stands out and what excites me are the true “eBike only” manufacturers. TRUE SPECIALISTS who are not owned by buying groups trying to do everything, such as Haibike. (Even though they are an impressive company)
Spending most of my time riding eBikes and being totally immersed in this business it is easy for me to spot the brands that really stand out. The Founders passion of these brands can be seen to be passed on from their own staff to the dealers and then onto the customers. Their ethos is just about sheer excellence and positivity to be the best. The quality of the people within these organizations is just incredible and the design detail in every aspect is just truly enlightening and inspirational.
I am referring in particular to Riese & Muller and Moustache. There are also other incredibly talented companies that have gone from strength to strength such as Kalkoff, Tern and Stromer. They are really impressive this year! The new ST5 is a ROCKET and they have just had another €75M thrown into the company . There are some dealers in Belgium and Switzerland doing over 500 units out of 1 location!, We have just ordered a few special eBikes from this company and are having training over the next 2 months prior to their arrival.
Here are some of the changes that have been and are being made to the exciting brands we carry . We have put incredibly large pre-orders in so we will be getting the first of these eBikes to leave these epic factories.
What's new for 2018?
Riese and Muller
Big news is all Rohloff hubs have been replaced with E14 that works seamlessly off the bosch system and is bullet proof, auto downshifting, super quick up shift with a “mouse click” of the thumb and maintenance free.
Nuvinci has changed its name to Enviolo and made some minor improvements.
Staying the same because they are already brilliant are – Tinker, Charger, Delite, Roadster, and Packster. Although Tinker will only be Nuvinci and Charger has new long double rack system for 1 x Adult passenger or 2 kids or whatever you can think of.
Big changes are Homage (full suss step through), Nevo and Culture have all gone full integrated power tube with Gates belt drive and E14, these are the ultimate mixed purpose, relaxed geometry weekday commuters and weekend explorers.
The Load (full suss cargo) has grown 6 cm and got a 3rd seat in the front so 3 children or 1 large adult. Could actually have 4 children with one on rear rack!
Moustache
All dealers have been embargoed about sharing information as they are still manufacturing current production. So there is limited photography and information.
The news we can disclose is there is a new Fatboy, there is a similar bike to the homage in shape of an Xroad, they have some new colours which are beautiful. There is a cool FS urban bike. We have ordered a LOT of bikes and we will have bikes starting to arrive end of August and I am waiting for permission to go live with more information.
Most important news like Riese and Muller they are growing in a fast controlled manor moving into a new factory close to their original factory and there whole entire team is incredible and their build quality attention to detail is spectacular – Look out for more info soon…
Bosch
To most of the industry it is obvious how far ahead Bosch are in the quality of their tech. Also for the following reasons; battery tech, intuitivity, reliability, refinement, fame manufacturer selectivity, designed in Europe for Europe in touch in tune, just spot on.
I was very excited to see there new Kiox display (mini nyon) thats coming out later this year. In addition, a new 6AMP fast charger that will charge a 500W battery in 80 mins from flat is coming for 2019! Also the new Active Line plus that came out this year is the lightweight option, which has much less resistance when pedaling past 15.5MPH.
Tern
A real pleasure to properly meet the family behind Tern and spend some time with them along with the great loyal team. GSD has got brilliant accessories such as mini rear handlebars that adults or older children can use, really nice anodized black front and rear racks with a Enviolo option for GSD which is great for all types of rider, some who may forget to downshift ;)
Having ridden the Active Line Plus Vektron with the new battery position I was very impressed with the riding experience and the invisible resistance at 15.5MPH I thought it was derestricted to US mode (20mph) FANTASTIC.
Stromer
New ST1, New ltd edition ST3 in British Racing Green only 500 pieces. New Rocket ST5 (£10,000) and a serious team offering fantastic support with amazing technology.
Haibike
New FlyOn 120 NM Motor and 630wh intube AKKU Battery with Carbon Frame and absolutely spectacular looking intergretation to motor and battery, quite flash though and having rode it on the MTB test track it was like driving a Lamborghini Gallardo, Seriously fast, not so refined but loads of fun.
KTM
They have come out with a new affordable integration for their entry level eMTB Macina Ride (name change from “Force”) and SPORT ebikes they are coming in at under £2000 which is fantastic for people that want a great ebike from a well recognized brand using quality components.
There high end bikes were very late this year (as usual) so they are not changing this time round apart from fazing out the name Lycan into the new Chacana – there are a lot of 29” options for those of you that like to stick with the larger wheel size, where as a lot of the other brands only offer 27.5 such as Moustache.
Desiknio
Having mastered the Pinion drive so much that they have completely sold out till September and they are narrowing their dropouts slightly. These bikes were getting a lot of attention on the ebike Motion stand next to the Orbea Gain it offers a lot more style with its urban looks and cool colours.
Coboc
Coboc unveiled a 10.8 KG urban ebike called Ecycle still in protoype form along with the British racing green gravel bike and new cool stuff for dealers so we can use apps to carry out software updates.
