Ludwigsburg. "All the big names in the cycle industry will visit the Eurobike Show," says Dirk Zedler, managing director of Zedler – Institut für Fahrradtechnik und -Sicherheit in Ludwigsburg. He and his team will attend the worldwide biggest show of the cycle industry on Lake Constance to get informed about the latest, state-of-the-art trends and technologies. In general, the sales of electric bicycles, i.e. of pedelecs and e-bikes, were continuously increasing. On Germany’s roads alone there were about two million e-bikes, more than 400 000 of these bikes were sold last year. "The e-bike has developed into a form of mobility which is affordable and spread all over Germany," states the bicycle expert. Whereas the electric bicycle was still derided as "auxiliary device" for elderly people a few years ago, this attitude has meanwhile largely changed. "Especially for young people there is a current sports trend towards e-bikes", says Dirk Zedler. No matter whether city bike or hightech mountainbike: Nearly all major bicycle brands have started to electrify every bicycle type. Integrated batteries and motors are built in a way that electric bicycles hardly differ any more from standard bicycles.
No increased risk of accident with electric bicycles
Cycling an e-bike in the city is meanwhile considered "chic" and "sexy". Also in terms of safety a lot has changed in the past years: "Engineer thinking has led to reasonable professionalism on all levels." Studies have shown that electric bicycles are not more often involved in accidents than standard bicycles. In Dirk Zedler’s opinion the trend will even develop in a way that the accident frequency of e-bikes and pedelecs will decrease. "We will face a lot of developments in future which will increase bicycle safety to a considerable extent."
Pedelecs with a 250 watt motor limiting the speed to 25 kmh are a well-established means of transport in the city. A new development and therefore very interesting for rural areas were the so called "speed pedelecs" reaching speeds of up to 45 kmh. These bicycles, however, require an operating licence, as they are classified as mopeds and thus need to be insured and have a number plate.
Pedelecs with a 250 watt motor limiting the speed to 25 kmh are a well-established means of transport in the city. A new development and therefore very interesting for rural areas were the so called "speed pedelecs" reaching speeds of up to 45 kmh. These bicycles, however, require an operating licence, as they are classified as mopeds and thus need to be insured and have a number plate."
As an example for a city which has consequently realised the mobility trend with the use of rental bikes in the past years, he names Paris. "There you find a booth with rental bikes in very good condition every 800 metres, and they are even aiming at making them available every 300 metres. In this point there is still a lot of catching-up to do in Germany, but especially in the automotive city of Stuttgart. All futurologists would agree that the mobility with e-bikes and pedelecs were a "mega-trend". "For urban mobility I see here a great future", says Dirk Zedler.
45 000 visitors are expected at the cycle show
Show. The cycle show Eurobike will take place from August 26 to 29 in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. Besides around 1350 exhibitors from 53 countries more than 45 000 visitors from about 100 nations and nearly 2000 journalists from 40 countries are expected. From Wednesday to Friday the Show will be open to specialist trade visitors and accredited journalists from 8.30 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. The public day, on Saturday, August 29, the show will be open to all bicycle fans from 9.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.
www.eurobike-show.de
Autor: Bettina Nowakowski