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.

e-bike 02/2015
Reading time 1:50 minutes

Replacing a car

The test winner speed pedelec in e-bike issue 3/2013 had to prove over 8,000 kilometres whether it is able to cope with everyday challenges. 

The biggest challenge of this test was not the technology of the full-suspension Riese & Mueller bicycle: The point was to find a trail from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg which was fun to cycle with the speed pedelec and which was allowed for them. The aim was to avoid tarred, however forbidden field tracks as well as roads with crowds of hectic car drivers. The allowed and realistic speed of 45 kmh is in most cases too fast on cycle lanes, but also too slow to go with the flow of traffic. Finally, and after a short climb from the Neckar valley the everyday way led up and down through the countryside, at the end through the city and unfortunately again and again right through the grey area of what is permitted.

Due to the mud on service roads the kickstand did no longer fold up automatically already after a few rides. Mudguards mounted too tight clogged so that the rider was forced again and again to deflate the tyre a little and to remove the wheel to free the mudguard with the quick-release from the mud. The regular cleaning of the bicycle with plenty of water is therefore a must under such conditions of use.

Gear shifting was also affected by the mud, the shift cable had to be replaced several times. With a too far compression of the rear frame the mudguard collided with the insurance plate. The plate is however fixed so high that it slightly reaches over the rear light. The lighting system proved to be reliable, but insufficient. In the dark the B & M headlight urges a comfortable ride in spite of its 40 lux. Only the additionally purchased battery-operated lighting allowed higher speeds.

During the second winter the tester resorted to more drastic measures and mounted the Lumotec IQ2 Luxos U lighting set operated by the hub dynamo at 70 or 90 lux from Busch & Mueller as well as a thinner rear wheel tyre. Nota bene: Such modifications are illegal, as long as you don’t let them register by TÜV or Dekra (in Germany). We haven’t tried whether this is possible; we had the privilege of using the modified pedelec as a test bike with a red number plate.

(...)

Author: Dirk Zedler

If you want to read the entire article, order the respective issue from Delius-Klasing-Verlag or (if it is sold out) send us an addressed and pre-paid envelope (DIN A4) and 3.00 Euro in stamps together with a short note indicating which article you are interested in. You will then receive from us a copy of the respective article.

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