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

In our daily work as we deal with bicycle safety, technology and user manuals we come across lots of safety risks. The most frequent ones are published in articles of the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR – Europas Rennrad-Magazin Nr. 1, BIKE – Das Mountainbike Magazin Europas Nr. 1 and E-Bike – Das Pedelec-Magazin to make this information important for the sector accessible to a wider public.

For many years now the Eurobike Show Daily accompanying the annual international Eurobike Show has given us the opportunity to publish our perspective on major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent lectures about all topics relating to bicycle technology and bicycle market. In addition, we are regularly cited by further special-interest magazines or trade journals as well as more and more by radio and television and in their media reports, which shows us that we are completely right with our information. The section NEWS informs you about the latest news from our specialist fields. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to topics of interest.

Süddeutsche Zeitung 2016/04/21
Reading time 4:00 minutes

How good are bicycles from the discount store?

German discount stores, like Aldi, Lidl etc., have bicycles at 200 Euro already. From the tests they mainly come off with poor results. What you should consider.

Bicycles from discounter, DIY-store, department stores, supermarket chains

Last week, the news spread quickly: Ikea will sell an own bicycle from August on.

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The question arising immediately with regard to the bike of the furniture company: How good or bad is Sladda? Ikea is not especially known for furniture lasting a lifetime. And bicycles from discount, DIY, department stores and supermarket chains do not have a particularly good reputation. Only recently, the German television channel NDR tested four cheap bicycles. The results: broken handlebars, displaced rim tapes, imbalances of the tyres and slipping handlebar grips. According to the experts, the bicycles should not have been sold at all. Hagebau and Lidl withdrew their models even from the product range.

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If I decide to buy nevertheless: what should I keed in mind?

According to Dirk Zedler of the German institute for bicycle technology, the most sensitive areas are the brakes and the gear systems. "These are the first components to fail," he explains towards the German TV channel WDR. These components should therefore be checked for functioning. The other shortcomings can hardly be identified. Nico Langenbeck of the German foundation for comparative product testing (Stiftung Warentest) states "as a non-professional it is hard. In these cases I am simply not familiar with the components and add-on parts. I must be able to rely upon the seller." You should best take an expert with you, just like you do when buying a used vehicle.

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Read the entire article here.

Author: Felix Reek
Photo: Ikea

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