Ampler have opened up this year’s challenge to the public and are seeking someone to undertake the 500-1000 km “test ride of a lifetime”.  Complete the trip successfully and you get to walk away with the e-bike for free. To apply, entrants need to select a route up to 1000 km long, select an Ampler bike for the challenge and complete a short overview about yourself and why you’d like to take up the challenge before the deadline of 26th May 2019.  Applicants can enter the challenge here. The 2019 challenge follows last year’s successful debut, when a Dutchman took 6 days to ride 800Km from Amst ..read more

Duncan Booth was a keen mountaineer before being diagnosed with MS 7 years ago at the age of 39. Duncan was the inspiration behind his wife’s 10 in 10 mountain challenge, which his wife Yvonne created to raise funds for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, to help find a cure for the condition. The couple’s determination to create a better future for MS sufferers resulted in an annual challenge, tackling ten mountains in ten hours, which both they and hundreds of fellow, sponsored supporters, first took on in 2011. In 2017 Duncan challenged himself further: cycling 1,200km to Gothenburg for his cou ..read more

Folding e-bike brand Gocycle say they are the first company to introduce a scheme which will see their employees able to claim 40p for every mile e-biked to their Chessington headquarters. The company’s Surrey office employs 15 people. Gocycle founder, Richard Thorpe, wants to inspire other businesses follow suit to help tackle pollution. Gocycle say their employees cycling 3 times per week will replace just under 40,000 miles driven annually. Thorpe commented: “Our cities are at breaking point with traffic congestion resulting in pollution levels that are causing health problems and premature ..read more

FreeGo Electric Bikes Ltd ceased trading earlier this week and will be going into liquidation shortly, according to the appointed administrators, RSM Restructuring Advisory LLP. Incorporated in 2010, FreeGo Electric Bikes became a familiar brand name and offered reasonably-priced models such as the Wren, through a broad network of UK stockists. A thread on the Pedelecs forum discusses whether FreeGo may be the first casualty of Anti Dumping after the EBMA filed a complaint on Chinese imports in 2017 ..read more

Importers of electric bikes have come together to call for an end to the EU’s current dumping investigation into electric bikes imported from China. The EBMA (European Bicycle Manufacturers Association) initially lodged an anti-dumping complaint in September, alleging that Chinese e-bike imports were being sold in the EU at excessively low prices with the help of unfair subsidies, resulting in the launch of an investigation by the European Commission last month. As a result, restrictive trade measures could be imposed on imported Chinese electric bikes if the investigation can establish that C ..read more

Researchers at a Norwegian university have undertaken a study to better understand the intensity of exercise a cyclist gets from pedalling an e-bike (set to maximum motor assistance) compared to an ordinary cycle. “Everybody knows that cycling is a great physical activity but we wondered what exercise a person gets on an e-bike, as these have become so popular. Could they be too easy? This is what we wanted to find out,” says Elling Bere, a professor at the Faculty of Public Health, Sport and Nutrition at the University of Agder. Eight participants – six men and two women between the ages of 2 ..read more

Momentum Electric have just relaunched their VIT-S Kickstarter campaign. Ying-Tsao Tan, a product designer with an engineering background, founded Momentum Electric in 2012, bringing the Upstart and Model T to market soon after. Tan set out to develop the latest model in the range, the VIT-S, with the ambitious target of making it “the most powerful legal electric bike” four years ago. A crowdfunding campaign for the VIT-S was first launched at the end of 2016 to raise what Tan calls an “ambitious target amount” due to the high order numbers being demanded by the factory working with Momentum ..read more

Year 9 secondary school students in Sussex have been tasked with converting an ordinary cycle into an electric one as part of a STEM Challenge. The students, from Warden Park Secondary Academy, Othall Community College and St Paul’s Catholic College will be provided with an ordinary bicycle, a conversion kit and a brief to build an electric bicycle. Cyclotricity were approached to provide the electric conversion kits for the project, which is receiving both local media attention and support from the town mayor. The three teams will also receive support from various local businesses and organi ..read more

Following the preview of the new Swytch kit at the NEC’s Cycle Show, the team behind the technology are today officially launching the product, having reached their crowdfunding target on Indiegogo. The kit from Swytch Technologies comprises a power pack, containing the battery, control electronics, user display and front bike light, plus USB output for charging any other devices while you’re on the move. The 250w motor is housed in a specially-built front wheel – which comes as part of the kit – and automatically connects to the power pack once that is clipped on to the handlebars. While the ..read more

Last week Yamaha unveiled 4 pedelec prototype models at Interbike – the largest bicycle trade event in North America – with availability to US dealers scheduled for early next year. Yamaha’s models, capable of assistance up to 20mph for the American market, are the drop-bar Urban Rush road bike, hardtail YDX-TORC, alongside the Cross Core fitness hybrid and Cross Connect, a recreation and utility pedelec. The Yamaha Motor Company started producing electric bikes and drive units in 1993 and has since produced more than 4 million drive units. “Yamaha has been a pioneer, inventor, and innovator i ..read more