The Future of E-bike
The goal of that section is to give an overview of all the news that might change E-bikes and the industry in the next 5 to 10 years.
For all of those news, we’ll give a likeliness for it to die before it even happens or eventually become a thing.
July 12th 2022
What?
Automatic, E-Bike friendly Gearing.
Thoughts?
2 big news this week on that topic: Bafang and their new auto gearing, and Shimano trying really hard to integrate together motorization and gearing (better late than never).
After years of very little innovation, and things that did not work very smoothly (we’re looking at you, Alfine Di2 on E-bike), it seems that they’ve found a good way to make that happen.
And the cool thing is that it works with external gearing, so the range of bikes that will benefit from this innovation is pretty wide.
Will it become a thing?
Even if good solutions exist, like Enviolo Automatiq, Shimano is still the market leader for gearing. So that’s not only a very good news, but definitely the future of E-bikes.
The Bafang solution sounds a lot like what SRAM and S&A already tried in the past, and creates new constraints (mostly regarding the max torque, as you need to pause pedalling a little to change the gear more smoothly), so maybe not that big of a news.
read more here and here
June 25th 2022
What?
Decathlon making a 4000€ bike.
Thoughts?
It’s no news that Decathlon has been trying for a few years now to break with its image of cheap bikes (ok, good price for value, but when price is 150€, value is sh*t).
This bike, though, is the most expensive E-Bike in their catalogue, and had people wondering if it was worth it.
Rationally, yes, it is. You’ll have trouble finding better gear on a bike at this price point. But if you’re considering spending that much money, then there are a lot of other options that might be a better fit for you.
Will it become a thing?
Decathlon making more mid-range E-bikes? Yes, of course.
And maybe, hopefully, mostly made in Europe again.
read more here
June 10th 2022
What?
Once “High-End” features becoming mainstream
Thoughts?
Some companies have been leading the way in terms of E-Bike innovations. They are VanMoof, Cowboy, Coboc, Iweech in Europe, and… well, no one, really, in the US.
Anti-theft systems, automatic gears, integrated lighting system, App connectivity, ride data, air quality analysis,… all those brands pack their bikes with features that are meant to make the user’s life easier. And it sometimes comes with a lot of constraint (VanMoof promises to retrieve your stolen bike in 2 weeks or they will replace it).
But more and more companies are now taking those features and add them to their bikes, sometimes with a simple copy and paste (we’re looking at you, Bird).
Decathlon, with its Magic Bike concept, is basically building a “FrankenBike”, built from what seems to make other brands successful.
Will it become a thing?
Yes, but not in 2022 or 2023. Those features mean a lot of investment, and cannot be done poorly. Angell learnt it the hard way, making a connected bike with all the star features, but full of bugs and malfunctions, making everyone agree that the bike should not have been launched like that.
June 4th 2022
What?
A wheel that reproduces the effect of an E-bike without a motor.
Thoughts?
There are certainly a lot of progress possible in the field of “soft assistance” for bikes that would not require any external power-source. A few years ago, someone tried to fund a wheel that would gather braking energy with springs, in order to use it when you release the brakes. A “turbo start” assistance, that would only help you for the first turns of pedals after a stop at a red light for example.
Problem is : it’s a lot of “ifs” for very low benefits, compared to full electric E-bikes.
Most of those systems are still relatively expensive at their “Beta” phase (around 400 euros for a wheel), and it seems unlikely that they’ll reach enough volume to actually start mass-produce.
Plus maintenance will be a pain.
Will it become a thing?
No, very unlikely.
read more here