All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

The most common safety risks that we come across in our daily work around bicycle safety, technology and operating instructions are also published by us in articles in the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR (Europe's road bike magazine no. 1), BIKE (Europe's mountain bike magazine no. 1), MYBIKE and EMTB in order to make this information, which is important for the industry, available to a wider public.

For many years now, the Eurobike Show Daily, trade fair magazine of the annual Eurobike Show, has also given us the opportunity to publish our view of major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent expert presentations about all areas of bicycle technology and the bicycle market. In addition, we are quoted by further special-interest magazines of the industry and the trade as well as increasingly by radio and television in their media reports, which shows us that we are spot on with our advice. The section "News" informs you about the latest news from our specialist areas. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to areas of interest.

RadMarkt 06/2014
Reading time 1:30 minutes

CE-marking of e-bikes

This time the legal requirements on e-bike safety were in the focus. 

According to Zedler, manufacturers and dealers had to face challenges resulting from the CE-marking without being aware of them yet. The CE-marking were the manufacturer’s declaration that their products meet the respective legal requirements of the EU. In Germany, the product safety law is applicable for this issue. In the case of e-bikes, the following applies: For selling an e-bike the CE-marking is obligatory. Zedler accordingly draws the attention to the risks of the dealers: "Never buy an e-bike without CE-marking! As soon as you import it into the EU, you become manufacturer in the eyes of the authorities and herewith assume liability for the product." Whoever sells e-bikes without CE-marking, must take into account that the authorities would impose a sales ban and seize the goods.

Many dealers do not hand over the user manuals to the end customer. In connection with the CE-marking they must be supplied together with the product in the respective language.

It is recommended to document the handing over of the user manual on the invoice. A new problematic issue is the replacement of components: If the e-bike customer doesn’t like the handlebars or the seat post, he cannot simply replace these components. "Each e-bike must have a parts list. It only meets the requirements of the CE-marking with the parts mentioned on the list," says Zedler. If a dealer mounts another handlebar, he modifies the e-bike and is held liable in the case of an accident. "Be sure to only assemble original parts or ask the e-bike manufacturer whether a handlebar is approved. If it is not, mounting is not allowed."

The manufacturer is obliged to perform random quality control tests of all parts used. But testing is expensive. Therefore Zedler requests from the manufacturers to adopt a stronger platform thinking: "The automotive industry shows how to do." More carry-over parts in production join forces in purchase and reduce quality control costs. Conducting tests is the only way to supply safe products and to protect yourself against claims for damages.

Author: cm

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