CE marking made easy

To manufacturers and importers of pedelecs who feel insecure about CE marking Zedler-Institut offers a comprehensive service package which ensures that nothings stands in the way of appropriately placing products on the market according to the requirements of the Product Safety Act, the standards and the Machinery Directive. For a good start into this subject we recommend a training and/or a workshop on CE marking in our house or at your company. With safety tests (CE testing) and assistance in drawing up the technical documentation (user manuals, risk analyses) we provide legal certainty and release from liability for you. In this respect you can rely upon our knowledge with regard to all applicable standards around bicycles and pedelecs. We have built up this wealth of knowledge in the business fields of expert reports, user manuals and testing technology over the past decades.

As a reminder: The Product Safety Act has been in force for 20 years now, and yet there are many manufacturers and importers of bicycles who are still not familiar with it. For whoever imports a pedelec into or manufactures a pedelec in the EU there is no getting around dealing with the CE marking. By providing a product with a CE mark manufacturers confirm that the product meets the existing directives of the EU. This does not apply to bicycles, but also for pedelecs with a pedal assistance of up to 25 kmh/15 mph this marking is a must. Without CE marking these bicycles with electrical auxiliary motor must not be sold. If they are placed on the market nevertheless and if they cause damage in use, manufacturers or importers must be prepared to face legal action and high costs of compensation.

Are you interested in knowing more about CE marking and its significance for manufacturers and importers of pedelecs? For more detailed information read a specialist article written by graduate engineer Dirk Zedler for the special-interest magazine Eurobike Show Daily in August 2017.

Stiwa confirms quality of the Zedler user manuals

In the latest bicycle test of the German foundation for comparative product testing (Stiwa) user manuals were also included in the tests. The operating instructions of Zedler-Institut were once again among the instructions awarded with the highest marks.

In the 06/2017-issue of their magazine the German product testers rated the trekking bikes of 10 brands. As it was already the case in the past, the user manuals were a sub-criterion of the test. Experience has shown that it is very difficult for the instructions to win the Stiwa testers’ favour. Not a single manual was rated "very good". The mark "good" was awarded only once, namely to a user manual made by the Zedler-Institut. Another manual made by Zedler was rated "satisfactory", however none of our manuals was rated "adequate" or "inadequate".

Petra Grunewald, Head of Technical Documentation of Zedler-Institut is very happy with these results: “The fact that our manuals are once again among the best in the test conducted by Stiwa is an acknowledgement of the quality of our work which has been performed by us for many years. It also shows that a practice-oriented user manual not only means maximum release from liability for a bicycle manufacturer, but that it is also a means to stand out from the crowd.”

Extended guidelines for parts replacement on pedelecs

What owners and specialist workshops are allowed to adjust and modify on pedelecs is clearly stipulated in the guidelines for the parts replacement. This work of reference for standard pedelecs (up to 25 kmh/15 mph) was now updated by Zedler-Institut together with industry and trade associations. In addition, it was extended for the first time by a version for speed pedelecs (up to 45 kmh/28mph).

Due to the fact that pedelecs up to a pedal assistance of 25 kmh/15 mph must comply with the machinery directive, they are subject to specific regulations when it comes to replacing components. To provide the trade and the industry with an easy-to-understand and practical overview of these regulations, Zedler-Institut published guidelines together with the German bicycle association ZIV, the German service and bicycle association VSF as well as with the umbrella organization for German industry guilds, BIV, in 2015. These guidelines have been available for a few weeks now in an updated version containing recommendations for use for additional components and a new, still more comprehensible wording.

Speed pedelecs with a pedal assistance of up to 45 kmh/28 mph are subject to even stricter legal requirements, because they are considered motor vehicles by law. What has to be considered when doing any reworking and servicing on these vehicles is stipulated in the guidelines for parts replacement of speed pedelecs published for the first time.

Both guidelines can be downloaded for free in their latest version here.

2,742 kilometres through the rain for Africa

Some of our participants in the Lichtenstern Tour

In spite of heavy rain team members of Zedler-Institut participated again this year in the cycle tour organized by the local cycle association. A great incentive was the annual donation to the World Bicycle Relief organization and the prospect of being awarded “strongest team”.

Due to strong winds and heavy rainfalls no more than 50 instead of the 500 cyclists expected took part in this year’s cycle tour organized by the Ludwigsburg cycle association RSC-Komet. The sporty cycle trip was characterized by the team of Zedler-Institut in several respects: On the one hand by their strong presence, i.e. in forming one fifth of all participants, on the other hand by their performance which was honoured with the cup for the “strongest group”. This trophy was handed over to the Zedler team for the seventh time in a row already. Inclusive of the 30 persons who had participated two weeks before in the cycle tour organized by the Sachsenheim Lichtenstern Gymnasium all in all 40 cyclists wearing Zedler jerseys in the two cycle tours cycled altogether 2,742 kilometres.

The Zedler team members, friends and business partners drew their motivation for their cycling once again from the donation campaign which is connected with these tours. For each kilometre cycled, the Zedler-Institut donated 30 cent for the bicycle support project World Bicycle Relief and rounded up the sum to a flat amount of 1,100 €. Due to a special campaign the donation was doubled by the relief organisation.

With the donations received World Bicycle Relief mobilizes people in different African countries by giving them bicycles. The relief organisation finances durable bicycles which are assembled on site and delivered to pupils, health workers and micro-entrepreneurs.