Corporate citizenship: Our commitment to bicycles, technology and society

Members' Forum "Zukunft Fahrrad" in Berlin, © Aleks Slota / Zukunft Fahrrad

Also beyond the 24/7 pulsating testing machines, our institute works for the bicycle. The first four months of the year were enriched by a full dozen appointments outside of our core business.

We were able to make our contribution to future bicycle-related regulations in three committee meetings that were less visible to the outside world.

In January, representatives of the Zedler-Institut took part

read more >>

in a meeting of the Bicycle Safety Working Group of the „Deutscher Verkehrsrat“ (DVR; German Transport Council). In mid-March, the founder of the institute, Dirk Zedler, travelled to Berlin for a meeting of the „Deutsches Institut für Normung“ (DIN; German Institute for Standardization). The relevant standards committee sets the technical framework for “bicycles for general and sporting use”. This was followed at the beginning of April by an appointment with the “Parlamentskreis Fahrrad” (Parliamentary Bicycle Group ) of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament. The controversial topic there: the approval of cycle paths for speed pedelecs (S-pedelecs, 45 km/h).

Our award-winning sustainable company building shone three times: at the end of February as a presentation topic and prime example of sustainable corporate real estate at the annual conference of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB e.V.; German Sustainable Building Council), and a few days later as a TV location for the SWR Marktcheck described above. In addition, a general meeting of the „Schwimmverein Ludwigsburg“ 1908 e.V. (Ludwigsburg Swimming Club) filled our spacious training room on the upper floor.

Anything else? A lot, because for us as experts in technology and safety, the bicycle is also a vehicle with social relevance. The Women in Cycling Germany network meeting is therefore just as much a part of the institute's broad horizon as a meeting of the BikeBrainpool on digitalization in the bicycle industry – and last but not least, Dirk Zedler's involvement as a juror at the awards for the best bikes and products in 2025 at the Cyclingworld exhibition in Düsseldorf.

Mission in Berlin: With “Zukunft Fahrrad” against cargo bike bashing

Our commitment to the bicycle as a sustainable means of transportation took the institute's founder Dirk Zedler to Berlin at the beginning of the month. As a board member of the industry association “Zukunft Fahrrad” (Future Bicycle), he countered the negative reports about alleged accident risks when transporting children on cargo bikes and child trailers at a press event.

The conclusion of the press event: The low level of accident protection for children on cargo bikes, which was lamented in a study by the “Unfallforschung der Versicherer“ (UdV; accident research of the insurance providers), is not reflected in the accident statistics compiled by the UdV itself. “The cargo bike is completely inconspicuous

read more >>

in terms of accidents,” says Zedler - not without reference to the inadequate cycling infrastructure in many places, which in turn massively calls into question the safe transportation of children.

The fact that 220,000 new cargo bikes were put on the road in Germany in 2024 according to the latest “Zweiradindustrieverband” (ZIV; two wheeler industrial association) statistics is also thanks to technical progress. Broken frames, inadequate brakes or dangerous steering characteristics damage both the individual manufacturer and the reputation of cargo bikes as a whole.

Industry-damaging flops such as last year's “Babboe” recall with subsequent sales ban can be prevented by progressive product development. And the Zedler-Institut is fully committed to this: Our cargo bike test benches and our practical experience – changing test bikes of all design types are in use at the Zedler-Institut – foster the cargo bike as a problem-solving means of transportation. How can we help to get your project rolling?

SWR Martkcheck at Zedler-Institut: Bicycle baskets between bending and breaking

Bicycle baskets in the corrosion chamber

Südwestrundfunk (SWR) visited us with a basket full of baskets – five bicycle baskets for luggage transport. Once again, it was a pleasure for us to provide cyclists with reliable assistance in choosing safe and functional products in the "Marktcheck" program.

With the product group “bicycle baskets”, the editors of the consumer program “Marktcheck” focused on a rather emotionless accessory. But while extensive laboratory tests, including corrosion tests, are required even for the approval of bicycle bells, with our help the program exposed serious defects in the selected luggage baskets.

in which blueberries and pieces of cake, among other things, slipped through the wire mesh of the test baskets, was followed by the much more objective part on the test benches of the Zedler Institute. After two times 100,000 load changes with a payload of ten kilos, brackets had bent open and welding points had come loose – a guarantee for a bad mood among customers and a high safety risk on top of that: If a defective basket comes off in front of a following cyclist, a fall is likely.

Conclusion of the program: The manufacturers had presumably not developed their products to the end. Three out of five bike baskets failed the “Marktcheck test”. The poor results are likely to be more expensive for the suppliers than a thorough product development – which we are happy to help you with our expertise and test laboratory. Even if it's “only” about bike baskets.