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 04/2012
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Dirk Zedler: Test seal – appearance of safety

It is manufacturer responsibility to perform the tests according to the DIN EN standards; this is not verified by external authorities. It is comparable to the responsibilities around the CE mark. It is a signal to the consumer that the bicycle complies with the product safety law.

This includes a comprehensive documentation of the test reports of bicycle components and of batteries and chargers; wiring diagrams must be added, too. These reports can originate from the respective presupplier and need not be drawn up by the bicycle manufacturer itself.

An external verification is ensured by seals such as the DIN Plus and the GS mark which are awarded by certified test institutes only. Most of the tests in the DIN EN field are not designed for the respective loads caused by the electric motors.

According to Zedler, the testing of the riding characteristics is neglected with all standards and testing seals. The costs for the payment of damages, recalls and insurances could be reduced by stricter test procedures.

And the dealer would also profit from that, says Zedler: Unjustified complaints could be declined on the basis of test reports. But stricter tests would result in better product quality and thus improve customer satisfaction.

Author: Christopher Müllenhof

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