Electric Dreams

Putting a motor into a road bike may feel wrong, but for many it represents the future of the industry. Cyclist investigates

Two-wheeled abomination or the future of cycling? We investigate the rise of the e-bike

One day, every bike will be electrically powered. We may not like it as classic riders, but if we want to grow the bike industry we have to embrace it,’ says Robert Egger, creative director of Specialized. It’s a sentiment he’s been repeating for years, but it seems that more and more brands are starting to agree with him.

It’s not a new idea, however. The first patent for an e-bike was granted to Ogden Bolton Jr in 1895. A few years later, in 1904, there was already talk that the electronic version of the bike would kill off its manual forebear, but the human-powered bicycle survived and e-bikes never really caught on.

Over the past 15 years, though, e-bikes have seen a global surge in popularity, with more than 150 million being sold. Much of that is thanks to motors getting smaller and more powerful, and batteries offering ever-greater ranges, all at a greatly reduced cost compared to previous decades.

For the most part that’s been limited to hybrid and commuter bikes, but the world of road cycling could be set for a similar electrification.

Plug in, switch on

Several of the big brands have now produced e-road bikes, the latest of which is Pinarello. It follows in the footsteps of Focus, whose Project-y is one of the neatest fusions yet of electric bike and classic road bike.

‘I see this as the future for road,’ says Andrew James, head of product at Focus Bikes. The Project-y’s motor is created by a German brand named Fazua, and works in a similar way to the Vivax-assist [see box on p86], using a powered worm gear on the transmission unit within the down tube to turn a special toothed gear attached to the crank axle.

‘This isn’t as powerful as a Bosch system,’ James says. ‘It’s not going to give you the same boost. It’s very gradual, it picks you up and takes you with it. The beauty of the system is you have to work with it.’

Pinarello’s new e-bike, launched in mid-november, is called the Nytro. It also uses the Fazua system and Pinarello, like Focus, considers the motor a soft aid to extend the riding capability of a broader audience.

‘Our new e-bike platform was inspired by Alpine climbs – the feeling you get when you conquer one,’ says company owner Fausto Pinarello. ‘We wanted to make that feeling achievable for a lot more people, which meant designing something that can give riders a helping hand.’

In this case, limiting the assistance is key to keeping the basic identity of road cycling as based on physical effort. As James says, ‘It’s not effortless riding. It’s only when you go under 25kmh that it kicks in with the soft support to bring you back up to 25kmh. It’s not to

‘We’ve been able to carry over the geometry of the Dogma’

get you somewhere quickly, it’s to help you enjoy that road even when it gets really steep. It’s purely an assistance.’

Weighty questions

The lowering of the weight of e-road bikes is a big part of how they differ from conventional e-bikes, which can weigh close to over 20kg. The Nytro and Project-y both weigh in at 12.5kg, and the Fazua motor can be removed and replaced with a much lighter dummy unit, bringing the overall weight down to around 10kg.

The position of the motor on the down tube also affects handling and ride quality. ‘We’ve been able to carry over the geometry of the Dogma so the Nytro handles like a race bike,’ says Pinarello.

In terms of weight, Cipollini’s MCM 2 undercuts Pinarello and Focus, coming in at a claimed 9.5kg with the motor in place. It produces less power, but Cipollini sees that as an advantage in blending e-bikes with the road platform. ‘We can’t offer the same feeling as the Bosch power unit, but that means the weight of the motor is very low,’ says Diego Caccia,

Cipollini’s marketing manager. ‘In the future I believe we will have a lot of bikes with a power unit like this.’

It certainly makes sense, opening up a world of riding possibilities for consumers who have read about classic climbs but don’t have the fitness to enjoy taking them on.

‘We’re definitely seeing a big e-bike uptick, but I wouldn’t describe it as a boom,’ says cycling historian and journalist Carlton Reid. ‘In a sense, it’s a good thing for all concerned that e-bikes are so expensive, as it means even in countries such as the Netherlands where e-bike sales have softened, the actual cash amount in total sales is still healthy.’

Need for speed

The entry of big players into the market is undoubtedly a good thing. The hard part for both manufacturers and users will be deciding whether e-road bikes

‘We’re seeing a big uptick, but I wouldn’t describe it as a boom’

should be super-charged high-speed quasi-motor bikes or road bikes with minor power assistance at low speed.

While road bike manufacturers are mainly developing models with the EU’S 25kmh limit in mind, there is another platform of e-bike that can travel at up to 48kmh. It’s called the Speed Pedelec and it has boomed in popularity in places such as Switzerland where laws have liberalised its use, although a licence plate and insurance are still mandatory.

While it would be tempting to slip road bikes into such high-speed territory, there’s cause to be more conservative with the goals of what e-road bikes can do.

‘The pedelecs [normal e-bikes] are limited to 25kmh and there’s a lot of discussion about taking the limit up to 32kmh like in most of the USA,’ says Dr Michael Kaiser, head of research and development at Canyon.

Being based in Europe’s biggest e-bike market, it’s a hot topic at German brand Canyon. ‘Even in

terms of flowing with the traffic, 25kmh is a little too low,’ says Kaiser. ‘There are streets in Germany where you are only able to drive at 30kmh, so why not have a speed limit for all?’

Kaiser advises caution around the debate, though. ‘The pedelec is a bicycle and has the same rules, but there are lots of parties – insurance providers, helmet manufacturers, government and lobbies – looking closely at what is going on as it’s such a huge market. There’s a risk that if we increase the speed limit people will claim it’s a motorcycle,’ he says.

For us in the UK, the discussion is more straightforward as UK law doesn’t allow e-bikes above 25kmh in any form, and it doesn’t look to be changing. ‘I don’t see speed or power restrictions being lifted,’ argues Reid.

For Fausto Pinarello, this speed limit neatly meets the requirements of the e-bike market. ‘For where the technology and market is at currently this is right. The system we use works well with the regulations,’ he says.

‘For the emerging niche of e-road

‘The question is how will the sport carve a place for them?’

bikes, the question is how will the sport carve a place for them?’ James at Focus asks. ‘Will e-road bikes be present at granfondos, maybe even specific e-road bike races? If there’s a granfondo that has e-bikes do you have to sign a waiver that if you don’t have an e-bike you can’t complain at the finish? What about these longdistance rides like the Trans Alps?’

Some of those questions will start to be answered in 2018. There will be a dedicated e-bikes category at Pinarello’s La Pina granfondo in the summer, and other events are sure to follow suit as more people buy into the concept of the electric road bike. ‘In the end a bicycle is there to enjoy,’ says Caccia, ‘and so many riders will have more enjoyment on a bike like this.’ ] Peter Stuart is commissioning editor of Cyclist (one day to be renamed E-cyclist)