Once the NEC's National Cycling Show was located - amidst its byzantine complex of halls housing everything from the BBC Gardening Show to a Japanese Anime festival (complete with costume-bedecked followers) - it proved that, despite the currently overstocked e-bike market, there are plenty of interesting new developments out there.
One big theme was how the premium brands were striving to stay ahead of the game and fight off competition from those brands looking to introduce similar designs but at a lower price. It was also great to see home-grown firm MiRider, not only as one of the headline sponsors, but also with their own dedicated test track which was enormously popular. If, like show business, the e-bike business is all about getting bums on seats they were clearly way out in front if the evidence from the NEC was to be believed.
Value brands looking to challenge premium brands
We recently tested East Yorkshire brand Shark's top-of-their-current-range, Mako town and commuter e-bike and really liked its practicality and value. The company is clearly heading upmarket with their aim to launch a full-sus, carbon-framed and carbon-wheeled machine.
Shark only had a pre-production bike at the show, but on paper it certainly sounds a very capable off-road machine.
The Bafang M510 mid-drive claims to produce 95Nm of torque and continues to support you up to 120rpm cadence. They are hoping to keep the weight down to just over 20kg and the price to around £4,000, both of which sound very competitive for this spec of e-bike.
At the jam-packed Sumo Bikes stand there was a true smorgasbord of e-bikes all aimed a offering value for money. The Potenza is a mid-drive e-gravel bike that uses a Vinka 60Nm mid-drive and a 504Wh battery.
In complete contrast, Bimas are a Netherlands-based electric cargo bike manufacturer - distributed in the UK by Sumo - and their Bafang mid-drive powered eCargo 3.3 Premium looks solid value for money at £4,499.
It was also good to see all of Tenways' e-bikes on display, starting with the super-sleek and digitally connected CGO 009 model.
It's clearly a VanMoof imitator but may succeed where the original concept failed. Watch out for a forthcoming test at ebiketips. We've already tested the light and simple to use CGO600 Pro and hope the CGO009 will take single speed tech to the next level.
Also on display were the more powerful and heavier mid-drive models from Tenways, the easy-to-use step-thru Ago-T and the more high performance diamond-framed Ago-X, both again powered by powerful Bafang mid-drive motors.
Premium brands still innovating
Lighter - but still powerful - is the direction of travel for premium brands and Riese & Müller are the most premium of premium brands.
Their bijou Carrie e-cargo bike looks to blend impressive Bosch-powered carrying capacity (two passengers under seven) with a practical, small and cargo-beginner-friendly footprint. In short, it looks to set a new standard for pint-sized electric cargo bikes.
The 'premiumist' e-MTB on display was probably Yamaha's YDX Moro 07 - an unusual twin tube design with Yamaha's latest mid-drive, the PW-X3, complemented by a design that is, unusually, entirely of their own manufacture and available through their own dealer network. We'll have a review of this one for you too.
Marin have chosen the relatively conventional Bosch Smart System for their Alpine Trail model with adjustable geometry, switching from their previous choice of Shimano mid-drive. Prices are from around £5,500 to £6,385, depending on spec.
Over at the Specialized stand it was the Turbo Levo SL Kids mid-drive e-MTB that caught our eye, powered by the all-new, lightweight Specialized SL 1.2 drive. Although it was £3,500 on launch, it is now available for £1,750 - though note the target market of 6-to-11-year-olds will have to be quite advanced riders to handle the 50Nm torque, especially at the lower end of the age range. Also note kids are legally required to be a minimum of 14-years-old before they can ride an e-bike on public roads in the UK.
Over at the Advanced and Ca Go stand they were showing off their full range of e-bikes including the innovative triple-load area Ca Go CS150 with a roomy-looking front rack. Both brands are clearly looking to operate in the same territory as the likes of Riese and Muller.
Three-wheeler innovation and Mirider test track
Possibly the most sat-on but least-purchased e-bike at the show was ICE Trike's Full Fat, available unpowered or with a Shimano mid-drive setup.
Whilst the 'Try Before you Buy Test Track' was often empty, seemingly suffering from logisitical difficulties, MiRider told me towards the end of the day they had given test rides to many hundreds of eager potential buyers on their own exclusive track - often those with little or no previous experience of e-bikes. Clearly they were doing a great job of introducing riders to the fun of e-biking.
Also on display there was the new and very capable looking MiRider 24 range - watch out for our review of the single speed version shortly - featuring bigger, large volume tyres on a compact frame. There was also the GB3 version which features three gears incorporated into the bottom bracket area, a system we loved on the 16in-wheeled MiRider One GB3 when we tested it in late 2022.
The show had new organisers compared to previous years, so it will interesting to see if the same format remains next year. It looked to be an interesting day out for the many visitors who readily filled the speaking presentations and thronged around demonstrations and if the organisers can build on that it should continue to be a successful event.
