Eurobike 2024 Dispatch

Our Eurobike trip started in the small German town of Wetter, perched on a mountainside overlooking the Ruhr river. We were invited to visit by colleagues at Abus Locks and turned the opportunity into a storytelling project: a short documentary about family business.

We arrived late in the evening on a train from Copenhagen and took a cab to a small Italian restaurant in the middle of the mountain village—the only place still open at 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening. There, as plates of Italian food with a small-town-Germany angle rolled out from the kitchen and wine flowed, a small gathering of bicycle industry folk gathered. They were perched up high on the Ruhr, ready to descend into Frankfurt in the days ahead for the big show. Each person (except for us) had some connection or another to the town. Breaking bread with a data analyst from SRAM, the outrageously entertaining founder of Truvativ and Lezyne, and the head of Abus, among others, reminded me that while the bicycle industry has grown so much, it is still human-scale and personal. We went to bed that night in a quirky old hotel with winding hallways and breathtaking views, smiling.

Tight schedules demanded an early start. Our aged hotel proprietor fed us the continental way, and we were out the door to see Abus’ headquarters and meet the great-great grandson of the founder, Daniel, for a tour. This was a get-to-know-you as well as a history of Abus crash course, preparation for an interview that Karen had planned to film later in the week. In a town that once was home to more than 25 lock manufacturers, Abus is now one of two and the largest employer. Why did Abus survive and thrive while others are no longer? Chalk it up to remaining true to principles while maintaining a mindset of innovation, explained Daniel, who is always flexible and able to change. From one family business to another, it is a lesson we will remember. 

We bid farewell to Daniel and made our way to Abus’ main lock production facility in the small town of Rehe to meet with Mark, our friend and videographer, and to tour the factory. Abus produces the majority of their top-quality locks, their keyed-alike locks, and their e-bike battery locks in Rehe. They also produce the custom tooling to build each part of their locks in a state-of-the-art machine shop. What we observed was something we know from our experience with Abus products: absolute precision and thoughtful, meticulous quality control are at the heart of what puts Abus in a different league.

Mühltal Bound

The next day we were off early to Riese & Müller to sit with Sandra Wolf, co-CEO of Riese & Müller, and speak to her about her thoughts on family business. Sandra has a unique perspective on the topic: while the company started life as a joint partnership between Markus Riese and Heiko Müller over 35 years ago in a garage in the suburbs of Frankfurt, Sandra, Heiko’s wife, joined and soon became co-CEO. But in addition to the familiar nature of R&M, Riese & Müller works closely with hundreds of independent bicycle shops around the world, many of them family businesses. 

For us, having bicycles has become a crucial ingredient of successful travel in any city. The freedom of movement and spontaneity gained with a bicycle is both practical and creative. Riese & Müller was kind enough to arrange ebikes for our Bay Area contingent, now including Joe from our Friiway ebike subscription service. Our fleet included two Cultures, a Carrie, and a Transporter.

Last year we rode the 30 miles from Mühltal, where R&M is located, to Frankfurt in sweltering heat, but this year was an unseasonably wet one and we got rain. The refreshing ride wove through forests, university campuses, and a continually expanding bicycle superhighway. Having done the ride once before allowed for less navigating and more observation: how the network of forest paths connect communities for leisure and transportation, how bike lanes weave from street level to sidewalk and back again but remain easy to navigate, the diversity of wheels and gears in the region, and so many R&M bikes in their natural habitat. Soggy, wet, and hungry, we found our way to a meat-and-potatoes-forward restaurant specializing in the local favorite, apfelwein. We impressed our German table mates with our hearty appetite, and finally, it was time to tuck in for some sleep.

Eurobike

Passing through the doors of the Messe into Eurobike for the first time the next morning felt like coming back to school after summer. So many people to reconnect with, and so much excitement. A treasure hunt is another sensation, with so many new and exciting products and ideas to be found in the cavernous halls. This year, on a macro-level, the show was all about understanding what the next year had in store for us all. COVID had resulted in a boom and then a precipitous fall, made more agonizing by huge supply chain challenges throughout. The popular question for us was “Are we at the bottom now?” and not so much, “Do you like my new product?”

Motor Á Gogo

But while new products weren’t the primary draw this year, there were exciting trends that are becoming more and more apparent. In 2023, we tried the new Pinion MGU (motor gearbox unit) system and were thoroughly impressed. The drive system does the obvious but challenging thing of putting the transmission inside the motor unit, allowing for vastly simplified drivetrains.

This year, Pinion seemed to come of age, being spec’d on an increasing number of bikes. In the context of the market, many Ebike motors are very similar in design, with Bosch and Shimano rising as the best contenders for service and support reasons. However, the Pinion MGU is so unique that it appears to have broken through in a way that few other motor companies have been able to. Riese & Müller, who is seen in the market as the leading premium ebike brand in Europe, is bringing the drive system into their lineup—a sign that Pinion may no longer be niche. But patience, America—the Pinion drive is not quite ready for the USA as Pinion works to get the service network up and running, so we must wait some more time. A test ride on the new Delite5 made it clear that Riese & Müller made the right call: this drive system is incredible.

And there is one more thing to report back on with Pinion: the drive system is only half the story. What’s changed between this year and last is not just more refinement but new auto-shift functionality, which seems to be in a league of its own. The system learns your shifting and riding style and adjusts to suit you. If you find that the shifting is sluggish or strange, you simply make the shift yourself, and the system takes this into account and adjusts the algorithm to be better next time.

From Drones to Ebikes

On the motor technology front, another big announcement at the show was DJI’s entrance into the e-bike market. DJI is a Chinese brand known for its drones and gimbals for video and photography, but its expertise in motor control and batteries was a perfect match for e-bikes. The word at the show was that DJI tried to find a manufacturer to partner with to introduce their new drive system, but found the speed at which a brand would integrate their drives too slow, so they just up and started their own electric mountain bike brand called Amflow.

The wait for the meager quantity of demo bikes was painful—the Amflow team said the other bikes were out in the Alps being test-ridden by press—but we patiently stood in the sun so that we’d be able to report back on the ride feel of the newcomer. The friendly folk at Amflow appeased the crowds with trick Amflow folding sunglasses and cans of Red Bull. When we finally tried the bikes, we were reasonably impressed: the drive was super smooth and incredibly powerful (110 Nm of torque in a super lightweight package). But the experience was quite similar to other drives, and the misadjusted (or hard-shifted) transmission dampened the wow factor.

New Ways of Riding

Much of what we do at trade shows is share coffee with our partners, make connections, and talk about the future. What’s less common these days is making an entirely new connection. Even more unusual is to find a new product line. But this year, we rediscovered the brand Hase and found new inspiration in their truly unique line of e-bikes. Hase has been building adaptive bicycles in Waltrop, Germany, for over 30 years with a keen attention to smart design to help people no matter age or ability find the joy of cycling. Many years back we learned about their tandem, the Pino, a highly innovative design that puts the second rider up front and comfortable, creating a balanced, compact, and, most importantly, fun bike. But back then, the drive system was aftermarket, and it just didn’t seem to fit in with what we were doing at The New Wheel at that time.

Fast forward to day three at Eurobike, and we found ourselves cruising around the test track in complete comfort and control on a cutting-edge new trike from Hase called the Kettwiesel ONE. For years, we have been receiving requests for a trike, and we have always demurred with the same explanation: there just isn’t a trike on the market that is good. Hase has changed the game, and we can’t wait to bring this outstanding trike to the Bay Area. But the Kettwiesel ONE was just the hors d’oeuvre. The Pino tandem is now all grown up in its electric integration and a sweet next step for our family bike customers who want the camaraderie of their children pedaling. The Pino has been refined and accessorized so that it fits so many different life plans, from commuting to kid drop-off to touring and more. Stay tuned…

Something Completely Different

While the center of our universe was bicycles, the center of Frankfurt’s universe the week of Eurobike was another little event happening across Germany at the same time: Euro 2024 soccer. As we took our final spin on a Hase, the show focus pivoted to the Germany versus Spain match. Jumbo screens were setup and a bicycle industry watch party began, with hundreds of show-goers filling every square meter as they say here in Europe to cheer on their team (mostly Germany, it turns out).

After the late night and disappointment of Germany’s defeat (for some), came the morning and day four of the show. Saturday and Sunday are public days where the general public is welcomed. Conversely, much of the decision makers of the brands are no longer at the event, and so it becomes a great day to walk the show with less networking and more discovery. We found a number of really exciting products, from all-in-one campers fit for your Load, personal protection airbag systems, smart helmets, and more. It’s a reminder that the ebikes are just the start; the accessories really unlock the next level of ebike life.

Hōo ta--lah!

The final celebration of our time at Eurobike, and a fitting denouement to a week of going hard, was a special invitation to join the Benno team at a Taiwanese restaurant near the Frankfurt train station. On the second floor, we enjoyed a traditional meal of soups, dim sum, Peking duck, and stir-fry—“almost as good as in Taiwan,” we were assured by our Taiwanese friend and host for the night, Grace. “Hōo ta--lah!” was a new expression we learned that evening. It translates to “Let it be dry!” (aka “bottom’s up!"), a bit of a group drinking activity as glasses of wine and beer are generously poured. Red wine is definitely not preferred if you have anything to do the next day. Lesson learned.

With drinks and friends all around, the last years of craziness and the milieu of uncertainty didn’t feel so daunting. Even as discussion inevitably found its way back to US presidential politics (post-debate and pre-sniper), in the company of friends doing the good work to help change transportation one bicycle at a time, we felt great optimism. Hōo ta--lah indeed.

The final day, we packed our bags, filled our cargo bikes, and weaved our way to the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to catch a train to Copenhagen, where our daughter, Ida, was staying with relatives. With the good fortune of generous hosts, we rolled into the station and were met by our Riese & Müller rep, Andreas, and his wife, Ogla. We took our luggage out of our bikes, handed back the keys, said our farewells, and boarded the slow train to Denmark.