It's plainly unlikely that we'll ever see Olympic competition aboard e-bikes - unless we see a return to the strange old days of Olympic medals for things like architecture - but that doesn't mean we won't see e-bikes at the Games.
If you were paying attention to the goings-on in the velodrome over in Rio this summer, you almost certainly would have seen an e-bike taking part at the pinnacle of competition; though it wasn't strictly competing.
To spot the e-bike you would have had to have been paying attention to the keirin event in the cycling where the bizarre scene of an upright middle aged man riding a motorised vehicle ahead of six to eight athletes played out before you.
The odd man out is riding aboard a vehicle called a derny, which a motorised bike used for bringing the riders up to the competitive speed of 31mph before getting out of the way so the athletes can sprint to the line.
For the first time ever in Olympic keirin competition, the derny for the keirin was an electric powered bike, rather than a bike using a petrol motor.
The particular bike that was used was the UCI approved EDerny, supplied by German e-bike company Elmoto. The EDerny, which Elmoto calls a Revolution on Track, is previewed in the video below and detailed in full on the Elmoto website.
While this is the first time many of you would have seen an e-bike lead out a keirin event, this isn't the first time the EDerny has been used. The 2014 track cycling world cup in London was the location the EDerny saw its first bit of competitive cycling.
At that time Elmoto was very vocal of the benefits its e-bike derny brought to the competition, listing the absence of exhaust fumes as a benefit to both the athletes and the track itself, reduced danger of collision with dangerous bike parts like the chain and the hot motor, and a more precise control of speed.
The bike isn't the pedal assist type of e-bike we're used to talking about here on ebiketips, thought we don't expect many of you to be looking to invest in one as a mode of transport.
The EDerny is specifically designed to provide the incredibly precise and controlled acceleration necessary for the keirin event. The bike is essentially a slimmed down version of Elmoto's HR-2 which is the company''s 47kg, 50km/h capable, twist-and-go e-bike.
Where the HR-2 is designed for inner-city road use, the EDerny has been designed to manage velodrome-particular problems like the slippery surface, and the potential of cyclists riding into the back of the bike.
To solve these problems Elmoto used 24" aluminium rims with Schwalbe's Crazy Bob 24"x2.4 tyres to keep things grippy and an elongated fender on the rear to keep any overzealous cyclists away from the dangerous bits of the bike.
The bike itself has been slimmed down a bit from its HR-2 brother, but keeps the same 7005 aluminium frame.
The bikes brushless hub motor puts out 1.7Kw with a 2Kw max, and uses an Li-ion 48V battery to power the whole ensemble. A Marzocchi double bridge fork, with 170mm of suspension keeps things smooth on the front, while Twin-Shock dampers with track tuning keep the rear in check. Braking, meanwhile, is provided by Tektro's hydraulic disc brakes.
The bike is officially classified as a moped (L1E), but as we discovered last week with the development of e-bike specific helmets, law changes in the European Union are leaving many e-bike riders questioning their identity.
You can read more about those legislation changes below:
>Helmet laws change to accommodate e-bikes in the Netherlands
