Tag: eBikes

Posted on

Show #687 – March 31, 2026

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guest: Hans “No Way” Rey – eBikes 

This episode of the show is Part I of a series about eBikes and the ongoing issues surrounding their definition, usage, regulation, and legislation – all topics of controversy and conversation.

So many people, companies, policymakers, and organizations stand to find themselves negatively impacted as the definition and regulation of the category becomes mired in misunderstanding and frankly, fear.

eBikes, as first defined, were bicycles with a pedal assist motor without a throttle that would help flatten out the hills and offer a boost for a weary rider attaining speeds of up to 20mph. 

Over the years, other so-called eBikes have been introduced to the market and now we have machines that can reach speeds topping 50mph with no pedaling capabilities.  

These have been termed eMotos by some, but out in the “real world” the distinction between the two is being blurred and undesirable consequences are beginning to become apparent.

Today’s conversation is with mountain bike luminary Hans “No Way” Rey.  Hans is an Ambassador for Bosch, probably the largest manufacturer of quality eBike “motors” on the market.  Hans is also one of our bicycle world’s icons – stretching back several decades as a wild and exciting mountain bike trials rider.

Over his career, Hans has won a large number of bike trials riding championships including German, Swiss, and USA National Champion – to name a few. 

Much less known though is his long-time interest in eBikes – as far back as 1997 when he converted one of his regular bikes with a bionic rehab motor. 

Today, Hans is deeply concerned about the ever-escalating power of motors that are becoming so prevalent as to make some communities outright ban the entire category of electric bicycles. He notes that just putting a crank on the bike and calling it an eBike is not working – that these over-powered machines are NOT bicycles at all.

On March 1st, Bicycle Retailer and Industry News published Hans’ open letter to the industry voicing his concerns about eBikes and the need to define the category, also asking the industry to heed the need for action as the more power eMoto bikes begin to gain popularity and what the consequences of non-action could be.

We talk about the definitions of eBikes, what the industry needs to be thinking, and where the responsibility for making these determinations lies.

Over the next few weeks, I will be following up my conversation with Hans with several other important bicycle industry stakeholders, all of whom are hoping to bring together a clear and effective pathway to keeping eBikes from being regulated into oblivion.

Transcript_March 31

 

 

Posted on

Show #650 – May 5, 2024

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Christian Sander; John Surico

Hello and welcome to TOC.  I’m your host Diane Jenks.  Thanks for tuning in today.

My first guest is Christian Sander, the producer and writer of Hard Miles, a full-length feature film starring Matthew Modine as Greg Townsend, a social worker who takes a group of incarcerated teenage boys on a 762-mile bike trip to the Grand Canyon.  It’s based on a true story – there really IS a Greg Townsend and he really has taken thousands of kids on this trip.  In fact, Greg was on set every day during the shooting of the movie!

Brian and I went to a local theater last weekend to watch the new movie Hard Miles and we LOVED it!  Unlike so many cycling movies that focus on competition, Hard Miles is about how the bicycle can be a vehicle of transformation, especially to kids serving time in a juvenile detention center.

Christian Sander has known about Greg Townsend, the central character in the movie, for quite some time and saw this story as a movie long before he was able to bring it to the screen.

Greg is played by award winning actor Matthew Modine along with 4 great young men who learn all about how difficult it is to ride a bike 8 hours a day! Cynthia McWilliams, who was the star of Real Husbands of Hollywood, plays the “keep-em-in-line” psychologist Haddie who grudgingly drives the SAG wagon.

The film lives up to everything Christian said and I’d highly recommend it.  If you can’t find a big screen in your area, it will be available streaming later on this summer.  

NY is about to pass a bill regulating eBikes and there has been chatter on some of the bike forums about it.  After hearing the statistics about eBikes in NYC, I think regulation is probably necessary.  There is also a new congestion fee going into effect at the end of June and the money raised will be used for some really important transportation issues.

With almost 700,000 daily cycling trips in NYC, John Surico estimates that at least half of these trips are on an eBike.

And with that kind of ridership, there are a LOT of issues that are beginning to affect transportation in the City.  So next step?  Regulation.  There is a bill about to be brought up for passage in the State legislature.

In addition to what that legislation might look like and who will be affected by it, John and I talk about congestion pricing that will charge cars being driven in Manhattan and how that money will be used to update public transportation among other things.

You can keep abreast of what John is doing by subscribing to his newsletter Streetbeat on Substack.  Even if you don’t live in NY,  John’s insights are most enlightening on a variety of topics.

May 5 Transcript

 

 

Posted on

Show #644 – February 10,, 2024

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Dave Simmons; Mark & Cal Norstad

It truly feels as if spring is close… and with that, there are thoughts of great riding ahead.

Before we get started. I wanted to mention an upcoming show about a new documentary. As many of you know, one of the greatest riders to ever live and compete on a bicycle was Marhsall Walter Taylor, better known as Major Taylor.

Titled, Major Taylor, Champion of the Race, it will be coming to you from Indiana Public Media’s WTIU on February 26th at 8pm. If you have the PBS app you can find it there or go to WTIU.org after the program airs.

We’ll be talking with past US Champion John Howard, one of the luminaries of the documentary, in an upcoming episode of the show before it airs.

My first guest today is Dave Simmons, the executive director of Ride Illinois. In our conversation we talk about bicycle related crashes and fatalities in the state along with some data, or lack of it about eBikes.

I wanted to catch up with Dave because of the Ride Illinois “Bill Tracker” that the organization has made available on their website. It offers you the ability to not only track statewide bills, but also federal legislation as it pertains to bicycling infrastructure and such things as eBike rebates.

As you will hear, neither Dave nor I has a lot of data about eBike crashes and, since it came up in this conversation as well as the one I recently had with John Surico in New York, I have contacted the NTSB to see what kinds of data they are or are not collecting.

Unfortunately, their response was less than satisfying. In her response, Brittany Rawlinson said: “Unfortunately, the NTSB doesn’t collect or house data on e-bike crashes and fatalities.

For our 2022 report, the NTSB used a mix of methods and pulled from several existing data sources to assess the usability of these databases and compile the numbers we used in our report. In our review, we found that this data is non-standardized and often not recorded. Due to this fact, the NTSB issued several recommendations to agencies responsible for tracking fatalities and injuries (pgs. 33-34 in our report). “

Here is the link to that report.

Also, the 2024 Illinois Grand Bike Tour runs from June 9th through the 14th.
You can find out more about ALL of the things happening in Illinois including the tour, the bill tracker, and how the legislation might be going to make bicycles “intended” users of the roadways at rideillinois.org

Then, we speak with Mark and Cal Norstad from Paragon Machine Works. Paragon supplies the custom frame builder with high quality precision bicycle components dropouts and headtubes to bottom brackets as well as parts, tools, and accessories.

Mark, who started the company in 1983, will be passing the torch to son Cal in June and I wanted to catch up with them before the transition.

Who knew that a bronze replica cannon would lead to a lifetime of machine work? And, that is exactly what happened when Paragon Machine’s Mark Norstad first realized that you could actually MAKE such a thing in a machine shop.

Taking all the machine shop classes that were offered in high school and on into college, Mark started Paragon Machine Works in his parents’ basement in 1983.

Fast forward several decades and Mark is about to pass the torch to his son Cal as Mark looks at retirement this summer. Here is our conversation.

If you would like to know more about Paragon Machine Works, you can follow them on social media or log on to their website.

Transcript_February 10

Posted on

Show #641 – November 28, 2023

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: John Robinson; Peter & Tracy Flucke

This year, with so much turmoil in the world, I wanted to feature a story that is both heartwarming and inspirational. Homelessness is a real thing – and a very disconcerting one. 

So, when a hard-working homeless man, who saved his money to buy an eBike to commute to his job and was swindled out of the money he paid to share an apartment so he wouldn’t be homeless, wakes up to find his eBike stolen, you just have to ask yourself –  what is wrong with people?

But John Robinson, owner of Johnny Velo Bikes in Columbus, Ohio and the shop that sold the eBike in the first place, didn’t ask that question, but instead stepped right up to help.  And there is a happy ending to this story.

Joshua is a man who works hard and is very proud of the work he does.  Joshua cleans a government building for a living and, saving his money, pays cash for the things he needs.  

He also depends on his bicycle to get him to work – about 25 miles a day. 

What happened when his eBike was stolen and he called the shop to get the serial number as well as ask for help to file a police report is nothing less than a heartwarming storybook holiday tale.

I’ll let John Robinson, owner of Johnny Velo Bikes in Columbus, tell the story… and have your tissues ready!  

What a great story and what an outpouring of love and support for Joshua.  My thanks to John for sharing it with me.  There is a link to the video on our website, outspokencyclist.com and you can find out more about the shop at johnnyvelobikes.com

Then, I welcome Peter and Tracy Flucke back to the show to talk about their new book, Bicycling Route 66.

Last time we spoke, they had had to abandoned a cross-country ride, but this time, they traveled the 2600+ miles on their new Co-Motion tandem and documented the journey in a fun and informative he said-she said style. 

From Wisconsin to California, Tracy and Peter Flucke are once again pedaling their tandem, this time traveling iconic Route 66.

Leaving Green Bay, Wisconsin on June 1, 2016, they traveled Route 66 for 49 days to Santa Monica, California– 2600 miles in total – with a running dialog full of humor, insights, and history.

You can buy a signed copy of the book on their website or… of course you can get it at your independent book store or online.  There is also a kindle version.

Podcast_November 28_Transcript

Posted on

Show #597 – March 29, 2022

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Ed Benjamin; Dr Tab Combs

I’ve spent the last two weeks pondering about inflation, gas prices, transportation, and of course how cycling fits into all of it.

When we spoke with Don DiCostanzo from Pedego a few weeks ago, you might remember our mentioning Ed Benjamin – one of the earliest adopters of the eBike.

He’s been on the show in the past, but I thought his input would be a great way to bring essential understanding of the whys of the eBike business to light.

Ed is not only well versed in the statistics of the eBike business, he’s become the go-to guy for fundamental training and essential information for technicians.

His breadth and depth of the subject as well as his observations about where the eBike fits in the bigger picture are compelling.

In the second half of the show, we bring back Dr. Tab Combs.  Tab is a scholar of planning and transportation at the University of NC in Chapel Hill.

In contrast to what Ed Benjamin has to say about all the progress we’ve made for cycling, Dr. Tab Combs reminds us that there is a long way to go to not only upgrading our infrastructure, but re-imagining transportation from a planning and execution perspective.  The exciting news is that it is happening.

40,000 people will die on the roads this year – many if not most of them vulnerable road users.  It’s a number that should make us angry enough to demand change – but we know that just laments and demands don’t usually work.

When the pandemic hit, we had this euphoric sense of owning the roads.  We were almost lulled in the possibility of being safe on streets that aren’t congested with automobile traffic and almost were able to forget the vitriol it brings with pissed off drivers.

But now, we are in crisis mode with the pandemic still looming, higher inflation, and rising gas prices.  We’re even looking at short term solutions for long term problems – things such as tax holidays and cash payments to car owners.

What needs to change and how can we use the available resources to influence that change? Where is the money to make these changes OR do we have our priorities out of whack?

Here is the information on the April 22nd-23rd workshop, “Flipping the Switch On Traffic Violence. :

Posted on

Show #583 – December 4, 2021

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Tom Flood; Marc Sani

When your work and your reality start to clash, what do you do?

In the case of marketing expert Tom Flood, he followed reality and has found himself a wanted man – wanted for lectures and ideas and advocacy.

In his previous life, Tom worked in marketing for an ad agency creating content for some car manufacturers.  He was also commuting to and from work by bike.

Then, he started taking his son to school and, from the perspective of his bike saddle, he began to see the absurdity of our car-centric culture and what it has done to discourage any other types of transportation – especially biking and walking.

In our conversation, I jump up on my soapbox for a moment to voice both frustration and resignation about the lack of a cohesive way of getting biking and walking across to the people who need to hear it – not those of us who already do.

Tom is one of the first people – who not only gets it, but is doing something about it.  You can check out some of his cool ideas, including his videos, at www.creativebyrovelo.com

Dana Point, California warns eBike riders to slow down as you come into the community, which begs the question – how many are riding eBikes and why are they going so fast?

eBikes really are taking the world by storm and, People for Bikes conducted a short summit bringing in a wide variety of folks to talk about how eBikes are impacting the bike industry and some of the pitfalls that seem to be arising for which there are no concrete remedies.

Marc Sani, penned an article in the November 22nd issue that broke down the PFB summit and I wanted to pick his brain for the show this week.

Marc and I break down what was discussed at the Summit, answer a few questions, ask a few more questions, and still haven’t come to concrete conclusions about many of them.

Posted on

Show #485 – January 4, 2020

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Dean Yobbi; Kristi Mohn; Brian Jenks (yes… THAT Brian!)

This week, we have three guests for you including an extended conversation with me and my husband Brian about… well all kinds of cycling related stuff.

First up is Dean Yobbi – managing editor of BR&IN . Back on December 19th, Dean published an article titled Park Service disbands e-bike advisory group over secret lobbying concerns” – Secret Lobbying and bike industry didn’t compute for me and so, I wanted to know more.

Then, we head on our to Emporia, Kansas – home of the incredibly popular Dirty Kanza gravel races. Kristi Mohn, who was born and raised in Emporia and returned to work and raise her kids there, is the director of the DK Women’s Bike Camp. The 4-day experience is for any woman who wants to learn, improve, and participate in the wildly popular type of riding now termed GRAVEL.

And, finally, , my husband Brian and I chat about many-things-bike .. from Jan Heine’s component predictions for the coming year to why laterals are no longer being used on tandems. It’s a “discussion as usually occurs in our house” type of chat.

Posted on

Show #473 – October 5, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Ed Benjamin; Tucker Schwinn

Before we get to this week’s show, I wanted to let you know that we will be recording at French Fender Day in Lyme, Connecticut with Peter Weigel and crew next Saturday. We will be attempting to stream some of it live on Facebook – if I can figure it out – and then bring you the interviews in the upcoming weeks.

Watch our social media – Facebook and Twitter – as well as our blog outspokencyclist.com for live feed times if you are interested in seeing it firsthand.

So, let’s get to this week’s show.

Finding ways to ride longer – not only into the season, but into the seasons of your life, might fall under the first topic up for discussion today.

Many years ago, Ed Benjamin hopped on the eBike bandwagon and has never looked back. At the time, there weren’t many people in his corner.

But look at him today… Ed is the Senior Managing Director of eCycleElectric Consultants, a consulting group focused on electric bicycle, scooter, motorcycle, and components for these since 1996 as well as the Chairman of Light Electric Vehicle Association, a trade group for the industry.

Today, Ed joins me to talk about the nuts and bolts of the eBike business – how big it is, who is buying and riding the bikes, and where the future of these vehicles is going.

Then, Tucker Schwinn, yes you know the name, joins me to talk about a sport you may not know even existed, let alone thrives.

As far back as 1942, Bicycle Polo was a thing. Whether today’s bike polo scene is a revival or a brand new chapter in the sport, Tucker, who has been competing since 2004, tells us all about it – how it works, who is participating, and how you can join in on the fun if you want.

Posted on

Show #469 – September 7, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

It’s Our 9th Anniversary Today!

Guests: Chris Carmichael; Gary Mikitin; Tim O’Mara

It is a very special day for me – the 9th anniversary of the Outspoken Cyclist show. Today’s episode is #469 and I am so proud and grateful to have been able to do this work for so long.

In the past week or so, as I’ve shared this anniversary with some folks, I am told that I am a “veteran” of the medium – podcasting – and, in retrospect, I guess that is true.

What is so interesting to me though? It’s how every week there are so many new stories and new people to fill the hour of time. Sometimes, it even feels like work! Yet, for the most part, there isn’t anything I think I would enjoy more than to continue to bring this show to you each week.

So, thank you – for listening, for your comments, and especially for your loyalty and encouragement.

So, let’s talk about show #469 – this week’s episode.

As promised, Chris Carmichael, who is the founder and head coach at CTS – Carmichael Training Systems, is with me to talk about regaining your confidence after a crash. While much of the conversation pertains to riding with others in a group, there are some noteworthy tips for all of us about skills and handling – whether riding alone or racing in a peloton.

Then, we have our man-on-the-ground Gary Mikitin with us to talk about an announcement made just Thursday by the Department of the Interior about eBikes in the National Parks. You will recognize Gary’s voice as that of the person who opens and closes the show each week.

[Photo of Asst. Secy., of the Interior Rob Wallace by Gary Mikitin]

The Dept of the Interior chose our CVNP as the venue to make the announcement and Gary was there.

Finally, we head south to Atlanta to speak with Tim O’Mara. Tim and his wife Becky bought a fixer-upper on the west side of Atlanta a few years back. But, as fate would have it, a young neighborhood girl knocked on their door soon after they moved in asking for some help. And, the story takes off from there.

Today, Tim and Becky run Bearings Bike Shop – a non-profit organization that gives kids the life skills they will need to be successful – at whatever they choose.

Posted on

Show #447 – April 6, 2019

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Guests: Joe Lindsey; Larry Pizzi, Happy Freedman

Three guests – three topics.

First, it’s a controversy! Everyone loves a good he said – she said; only in this case it’s WaveCel vs. MIPS helmet technology.

On March, 19th Matt Phillips published the following headline in Bicycling Magazine “Bontrager Says Its New Helmets Can Prevent Concussions 99 out of 100 times.”

And, it didn’t take long for those who developed the MIPS technology to refute Bontrager’s claims, citing an inability to replicate the testing.

Reading the article reminds me so much of just how the bike industry makes its claims – one company reports its sales in dollars while another reports in units. And, the same is true in this article. Case in point?
The article states: The company says that a helmet with Wavecel will prevent a concussion 99 out of 100 times. A standard foam helmet, for comparison, can only prevent a concussion 42 percent of the time. See what I mean?

So… rather than trying to sort it out myself, I turned to freelance journalist Joe Lindsey. Joe breaks down the controversy and puts some thoughtful ideas into what you might do if your head DOES hit the ground in his April 2nd article for Outside Online titled: Trek’s WaveCel Helmet Technology Is Causing Controversy”

Joe ALWAYS does his homework and that is true in this case. He’s my first guest.

Then, we head out to L.A. to speak with Larry Pizzi, the president of Accell North America. The last time we spoke with him back in 2013, he was with iZIP, an electric bike brand; and today, while iZip is STILL a brand in the stable, Larry oversees several other eBike brands.

Today, we talk about how eBikes are faring in the world of cycling – their growth, who is riding them, and how regulations around the use of eBikes is being developed and implemented.

Finally, it’s a discussion with one of the #1 bike fitters in the country, if not on the planet. Soft spoken and serious, Happy Freedman has decades of experience coupled with the use of the Leon Root, MD Motion Analysis Lab a state-of-the-art testing facility at the Hospital for Special Surgery in NY City.

Yet, with all the fancy-schmancy equipment at his disposal, Happy has a straightforward and relatively simple way of making the adjustments needed – and they aren’t what you