RETAILERS
So, what can you do to redress the situation? Experts on misinformation suggest that the best cure is to pre-bunk falsehoods at the first opportunity, so frustrating as it is, that’s now part of the sales process. Any good sales trainer will tell your staff to be ready for all common hurdles to profitable sales, such as countering the showroomer and discount hunter with the value of buying from a physical store. Now it’s time to be ready to educate, from the ground up, in a jargon-free manner, why your friendly local bike shop will never sell anything illegal, dangerous or derestricted. Explain the perils of such things, because there’s no doubt that (men in particular) will ask the speed question at some stage. To assist you with this, Bosch, The Bicycle Association and the ACT, among others, have coined the ‘eBike Positive’ education campaign to help inform both your staff and the consumer about what is safe, legal, well-tested, and thus fit for the market within the legal frameworks of the land. Alongside this, the Bicycle Association has now launched a database for manufacturers to certify themselves committed to upholding the legal framework of the electric bike as a bicycle, thus only supplying goods that meet the 15.5mph assist cut-off, with a continuous power of no more than 250W and operating without a throttle unless type- approved. Pointing consumers to this database should steer them only toward long-term, reputable brands that care for the market’s image.
Insurance for your shop or workshop We’re reliably informed by a handful of retailers who have successfully navigated what has become a minefield that insurers do remain who will not take advantage of the situation surrounding the misinformed public dialogue on e-bikes. Long-standing partners to the bike industry and preferred suppliers such as Butterworth Spengler and Bikmo seem to grasp the nuanced details surrounding electric bikes and other e-mobility. Each has come recommended by retailers we have spoken to over the past few months.
Of course, when it comes to renewal season, it is advisable to speak to your provider and understand their costings, plus whether their contracts have adjusted on account of new risk assessments. Going by the available OPSS data, there’s no reason for price hikes if you’re only servicing manufactured EAPCs. Members of the Association of Cycle Traders may be able to tap into specialist insight and partner deals to circumvent difficulty.
Is there anything you can do to make life easier? Generally speaking, it is advisable to have a battery storage cabinet on-site if you are working on electric bikes. Manufacturers like Asecos, which has partnered up with
www.bikebiz.com
GasGas electric mountain bike in-store display.
Madison, supply varying shapes and sizes of cabinets to protect against thermal runaway, all the while enabling charging indoors. VarTools is another supplier operating in this space and specifically pitching fire-resistant product at e-bike retailers.
What not to do We will wager that your insurance covers you for working on bicycles and electric bikes, but not on anything that legally falls outside of that bracket. So, don’t. Don’t even think about it and be sure as heck not to work on a customer’s vehicle if you suspect that it is overpowered beyond 15.5mph, or in any other way tampered with. If you do, then you take on the liability as the manufacturer should you facilitate the ‘upgrade’ and quite simply you’re probably not covered for that, not to mention that data from the Office for Product Safety and Standards has less than 5% of fires attributable to what is ambiguously dubbed a ’manufactured e-bike’. The rest, aka the vast majority, come from conversion kit errors or mismatched charging equipment. As a reputable e-bike retailer selling only road-legal, bike industry manufactured goods, you’ll have no such worries, so shows the data.
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