Sponsored by ELECTRIC BIKES
Electric MTBs are ‘the jewel in the crown’ of Raleigh’s e-bikes
‘People have to go up to that extra level to be successful with electric bikes in the UK,’ says brand boss By Jonathon Harker
PERFORMANCE E-MOUNTAIN bikes have continued to baulk expectations in the UK by seeing strong sales for another key e-bike brand this month. In BikeBiz, June, we revealed how demand for e-MTBS from KTM had ‘amazed’ distributor Fli. Now Raleigh UK MD Mark Gouldthorp has revealed Haibike’s electric performance MTB range is enjoying similar success. The Raleigh boss told BikeBiz: “The e-
MTBs have been the jewel in the Haibike crown. You’d think it was a very niche market but there’s an opportunity there that we could really surprise ourselves with. You’d think it was counter intuitive.” Haibike, also part of the Accell Group stable with Raleigh, has around 20 stockists in the UK. Gouldthorp said he wants to double that for 2014 and ultimately go to around 60. “We’re starting to see success there. The quality of our bike and the price is great, better than anyone else out there. We’ve built that base on the German
that market and I think, for people who want to be successful with electric bikes in the UK, they have to go up to that extra level – that’s why we’ve got a lot of dealer support. We’ve got demo fleets and event support to help dealers promote bikes. “Value-wise, e-bikes have been so
“You’d think it was a very niche market, but there’s an opportunity to surprise ourselves.” Mark Gouldthorp, Raleigh
important to Germany and Holland.” Gouldthorp admitted that the UK e- bike market’s previous troubles had dented dealer perception of the sector: “You have to have the right product and tech service. So many have been stung with having neither of those in the past. “We’re finding we are generous with
product. For the ‘14 range we’ve got product sourced in the Accell group which is world beating. If the product is right the public will pay £1.5k and more, so long as they’re educated about it.” Gouldthorp stressed that although the German and Dutch e-bike markets are now world leading, they had to be built in the first place by the bike industry. “This is something we learnt from Accell,” he told BikeBiz. “They created
our product, in terms of getting bikes in their store with long-term loans and building confidence with training sessions. The secret to e-bikes with the public and dealers alike is getting bums on seats. We’ve invested in demo product – all the reps have three minimum loan bikes constantly peddled out there. Two times out of three we’ll get a dealer.” Raleigh: 01773 532600
CYCLING MADE EASIER WITH E-BIKES
The going wasn’t easy...
COULSDON, SURREY retailer Cycling Made Easy undertook a first last month by entering a mixed team of MTB and e-bike riders on the British Heart Foundation off-road London to Paris three day challenge. The four-man Cycling Made Easy-Haibike team rode two 29er MTBs and two 29er e-MTBs, with support from Haibike brand champion David Notman. The teambeat their fund raising target with more than £2,500 raised for the worthy cause.
www.cyclingmadeeasy.co.uk
OPINION: E-bikes are for lazy people. So what?
HAVING OVER the last 50 odd years gradually become a “lazy person” I can thoroughly recommend electric biking. Without the use of an electric bike, I would still be using my huge, gas guzzling, four wheel drive car for even the shortest journeys, to get the papers, visit the post office or even drive a mile up the road to my local pub. On the January 1st, I made a
resolution to use my e-bike every day, rain or shine. Happily this was one of the easiest new-year’s resolutions I have ever made, and undoubtedly the only one I have ever kept. Now, six months on, and an awful lot fitter, I am a cyclist, maybe not a cyclist that many readers of BikeBiz would recognise, but a cyclist nonetheless. A cyclist who not only uses
44 BIKEBIZ AUGUST
an e-bike for all shorter journeys but a cyclist who is constantly in the local bike shop spending a fortune on the same paraphernalia as any other cyclist. If an electric bike has turned this
particular “lazy person” into a cyclist, surely everyone within the cycling industry must welcome the advent of e- bikes? The obvious benefit to all who makes their living selling bicycles, accessories and servicing such machines is to get people who would never have considered cycling, through their doors. Those cyclists who don’t like to see a “lazy person” overtaking them on that steep incline, consider this; would you prefer to meet, or be passed by an electric bike or a lazy person in their car on one of our wonderful country lanes?
Why though should we let “lazy
people” take all the credit for making e- bikes so popular? They have been a boon to those cyclists who have come to an age where “real” cycling has become uncomfortable or impossible; an e-bike increases life in the saddle by years. Commuters zipping through the traffic to arrive cool and fresh, mums cycling to school with the children or popping to the shops, even police forces needing to see and be seen, covering medium distances quickly and efficiently and of course all those who have improved their fitness by getting out onto the trails and hills. All these groups of not so lazy people should certainly be recognised too. David Miall, BEBA & Wisper Bikes
BIKEBIZ.COM
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