World
Bafang Booms While Continental Closes
Continental Bicycle Systems recently announced that it is pulling out of the e-bike market. Continental has been making motors and drive system electronics. The company first announced this decision to its staff of about 100 employees. Production is to be phased-out in the first quarter of 2020. Antje Lewe, Spokeswoman ContiTech and Head of External…
First ‘Production Ready’ 3D Printed Carbon Bicycle Frame Launched
There have been various announcements and samples of 3D printed bicycle frames for five years now. But until now, no-one has claimed to have a 3D printed frame that is production ready. The frame at the centre of this new claim was developed by Italian technology company Atala which is 50% owned by the Accell…
New Survey Reveals Market Rankings for Ebike Drives
Bosch is the number one brand of ebike drive systems based upon a survey of all bikes exhibited at this year’s Eurobike Show, which was held from 4th – 7th September this year. German based specialist ebike media company ExtraEnergy, surveyed every single bike on display at this year’s show. In total there were 3,952…
Shimano Files for Anti-Lock Brakes Patent
Shimano has filed a patent for an ABS braking system for bikes. This move suggests that they may release its own version of the trending technology sometime in the future. In the patent text, it appears the ABS system is designed with e-Bikes in mind (‘a vehicle that at least partially uses human force as…
Annual Kona Bike Count Reveals Triathlon’s Leading Brands
Each year, when all the competitors’ bikes are racked in the transition compound at the Ironman World Championships, a group of bike industry members then study every bike in detail and record the brand, not only of the frame but of many other components. It’s not a perfect market survey, but it gives a good…
How Fast Will Ebike Sales Grow?
Manuel Marsilio General Manager of the Confederation of the European Bicycle Industry (CONEBI) has predicted that the European ebike market will triple in the next five years. Last year 2.5 million ebikes were sold in Europe. Mr Marsilio is predicting annual sales of 7.5 million units by 2025. Latest sales figures show that 920,000 ebikes…
UCI Announces World Championships for Indoor Cycling
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recently announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Zwift, the global online training and racing platform for athletes, for the governance and development of cycling esports as a new cycling discipline. The inaugural UCI Cycling Esports World Championships in 2020, as well as qualification events for…
Giant’s Ebike Manufacturing Growing at 56% Year on Year
New Technology Will Mean Greater Range, Smaller Batteries for Ebikes
Bosch is investing approximately one billion Euros (A$1.63 billion) in new silicon carbide semiconductor technology that is due to enter production in the first half of 2020. In simple terms, the new semiconductors allow power to flow more efficiently from the ebike battery to the motor. Bosch says that semiconductors made of silicon carbide set…
Wahoo Fitness Acquires Speedplay Pedals
On 24th September Wahoo Fitness announced that it had acquired Speedplay, the niche high end pedal manufacturer known for its unique colourful ‘lollypop’ shaped Zero pedals. In a joint press release Wahoo Fitness founder Chip Hawkins said, “Wahoo and Speedplay share a common approach of leveraging technology to develop products that enhance the performance of…