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.

LERNEN FOERDERN, issue 2 - June 2014
Reading time 2:40 minutes

Bicycle workshop Marbach – A successful education partnership (CCI)

In Marbach, Baden-Wuerttemberg, there is a very particular kind of education partnership for kids and teenagers with and without learning disabilities: A cooperation between Zedler – Institut für Fahrradtechnik und -Sicherheit GmbH, Ludwigsburg, the school social work Uhlandschule Marbach as well as Uhlandschule Marbach, Tobias-Mayer-Schule Marbach (TMS) and Anne-Frank-Realschule Marbach (AFRS). The project is actively supported by the friends’ association Uhlandschule Marbach.

In the frame of this inclusive educational offer all interested, bicycle enthusiastic pupils from the three mentioned schools have the opportunity to meet at the “pupils’ get together” of the school social work. Here they learn practical and theoretical basic knowledge with regard to the future mobility bicycle and e-bike or pedelec.

Within this cooperation the special knowledge of the Ludwigsburg Zedler institute comes into effect. Because in this institute extensive technical knowledge about e-bikes and pedelecs and their use is collected - thanks to many years of experience in the development, testing and expert activities. The legal framework, such as laws, regulations and standards for e-bikes and pedelecs or the requirements of international surveillance authorities are also part of the core competencies. The institute professionally accompanied the arrival of the electromobility in the cycle sector from the beginning. The technical equipment of the bicycle workshop at Uhlandschule was also made available by the Zedler institute and they continuously provide the workshop with materials and spare parts.

Zedler and the education partners

At the beginning of the school year (2013/2014) all pupils in the seventh grade of AFRS and TMS were informed by a letter of the school social work of Uhlandschule about the project. There were all in all six motivated pupils (unfortunately no female pupils) – two pupils with special needs, two WRS pupils as well as two pupils of Realschule Marbach. Since then there are groups of three who are instructed by a master mechanic cycle craft of the Zedler institute and the also enthusiastic school social worker of Uhlandschule at the bicycle workshop where they work on the object "bicycle" every Tuesday afternoon.

On this occasion the boys profit a lot from the broad knowledge of the Zedler institute!

Objectives of the project

The objective of the project is not only to make the young people aware of bicycle technology, but to give them a first practical qualification and vocational orientation. This education partnership offers many chances for boys and girls interested in craftsmanship and technology and enthusiastic about bicycles. It may even offer an apprenticeship at the Zedler institute.

What is more, the project enables the learning of pupils from all types of schools in meetings with pupils from all school types – through the medium of the bicycle. Boys from different Marbach schools meet there due to common interests, get to know each other and have the opportunity to establish further contacts.

The special icing on the cake is a joint cycle trip with all interested parties in spring to Ludwigsburg with the highlight of visiting the Zedler institute.

This education partnership aroused the huge interest of the Junior Traffic Training Centres (police) as well as of the Mayor of Marbach. In 2013 visits to the workshop in Marbach as well as to the Zedler institute in Ludwigsburg took place.

Ute Matthäus, FUM

Mark Lange, school social work Uhlandschule

Bernd Schlegel, Principal of Uhlandschule

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