“We are at a crossroads,” Hans “No Way” Rey says in the opening lines of his open letter. He’s talking about eMTBs, and the increasingly powerful motors that power them.
“I’m writing because I care deeply about where bicycles—and electric bicycles—are headed,” Rey’s letter says, going on to cite growing threats to e-bike access in different parts of the world.
But Rey’s mostly talking about eMTB, and the gradual “power creep” of motors offering more, substantially more, power than the 750-watt limit that marks the boundary of Class-1 e-bikes. Usually by citing a “continuous power” of 750 with a much higher maximum power. Sounds simple and complicated, right? That’s kind of the point. Brands are increasingly creating and exploiting a grey zone in regulations to sell consumers ever more powerful eMTBs.
And it’s a problem. One we’re glad someone with the stature in the industry that Rey has is finally speaking publicly about. Especially someone that, like Rey, is not opposed to eMTB. Jus to excessive power.
We enjoy our eMTB’s here at Canadian Cycling Magazine. But we can do that and still recognize that power is getting a bit out of hand.
The risk
The risk, is that “If we don’t define our terms, others will define them for us.”
Again, if we allow, or even encourage a blurring of the Class-1 definition, other groups will get annoyed and define it – or re-define it – for us. As we’re seeing in New Jersey.
“It’s time to draw a line in the sand of when e-bikes become too powerful,” Rey concludes.
The context
Just for context, not too long after Avinox released its first motor, and everyone else tried their hardest to match it, Germany’s Enduro Mountainbike Magazine held an industry discussion titled simply: “Are we dumb? Regulating the future of eMTBs.” Spoiler: The answer was a resounding “yes,” for a few different reasons.
But don’t worry, the motor brands, bike brands and everyone else present came to an agreement that they really should all be more responsible and actually follow the spirit of e-bike regulations, not try their hardest to work around them. They did! Spoiler two: Nothing’s changed.
So why is it Rey’s letter important? Because Rey’s one of the only people speaking publicly against the rampant “grey zoning”* of eMTBs. He’s not only respected in the industry, and with a good sense of mountain…
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