Hans Rey needs little introduction in mountain bike terms. Though, just in case you were hiding under the rocks he wheelied over for the past 30-odd years, we’ll try to sum up Hans and his own particular place in the history of our great and evolving sport. More recently, he’s taken to the internet in a widely shared open letter calling for clearer categorisation of electric bikes in a bid to better define e-mountain bikes and keep future rulings on trail access firmly in favour of cyclists.
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From trials and performing roadshows and starring in TV shows around the world, to a world trials title on the 20-inch wheels, Hans has intrinsically been part of our sport almost since day one.
In recent years, Hans has become a passionate e-MTB rider too, and last week he penned an open letter to the bike industry (and media) voicing his concerns, thoughts, and opinions on the imminent importance of needing to lay down some definitive category and power lines for e-MTBs, before the power of choice is taken away from riders.
We spoke in more depth about the subject with Hans. Here’s what he had to say…
off.road.cc: Your open letter to has gained a lot of media attention. What reactions have you seen from the bike industry side?
Hans Rey: The reaction was much bigger and better than I expected. I think most mountain bikers agree with the majority of what I said. For me, it was important to expand this conversation to the masses and a bigger audience, rather than always to the same 1000 (I made this number up) people who care and discuss these issues. It concerns all of us, and I hope it’s not too late to prevent regulations [being introduced] that none of us will be happy with in the long run.
ORCC: The whole bike industry seems to be in a bit of an e-bike arms race right now, and many end users will want more power and speed if it’s being touted to them. Can the industry resist the potential rewards of fuelling this?
HR: That is the big question, and that is what worries me. More, more, and more only works until it doesn’t work any longer. If we keep making the pedal-assist e-bikes (Class 1) more and more powerful, we will eventually outclass them, and they will be ‘officially’ or ‘legally’ become motorcycles, while for the time being, they are considered and treated like bicycles. But we can’t take that for granted; laws are already changing against our best interests, and the biggest fear is that we could lose trail access – as well as bike lane access – for Class 1 eMTBs.
The other classes of electric two-wheelers also need to define their needs and definitions, but that is less of my concern and not what I addressed in my letter.
ORCC: The bike industry as a whole is a lot bigger than it was 20 years ago, and it’s a lot more corporate and commercial all-round now. Have you seen the industry’s passion and concern for the actual sport’s future change over the years to something more business and profit-led, and is that reflecting here?
HR: Yes, but that’s part of the natural evolution. Our sport has become gigantic in the past 20 years, and with that, not every company has the same spirit, values and intentions that we were accustomed to 20 years ago.
The other problem is that there is a lot of confusion and mix-up with other, more powerful electric bikes. The word ‘e-bike’ is too general and has different meanings, depending on who you talk to. The motorcycle culture, as well as the bicycle culture have embraced that word. It rolls easily off the tongue, but it has different meanings. That makes it dangerous for us cyclists, and it leads to confusion and misunderstandings – hence my call for better definitions.
ORCC: It seems inevitable that given the category confusion and the ramifications already happening, public opinion and the legal stance on ‘e-bikes’, both on and off trails, is changing, and not in a good way. As you said, interventions and regulations from outside are already in the works. Is this retrievable from within now?
HR: That’s exactly what makes this issue so urgent. It should have been done a long time ago, but not many people saw the writing on the wall or cared about it. We do need to self-regulate, only until (or else) the law regulates us.
Our self-regulation could guide the legislation to make the right and educated decisions, and not just bundle us in a group with all other electric vehicles. Insurance companies have long been lobbying with those same politicians to regulate us (which is) in their interests; that is a danger that most of us aren’t even aware of.
Some people accused me of taking this stance only because I also work with Bosch, which happens to have a similar stance on these issues. Bosch is one of the few, and the most active, companies that have helped shape e-MTB and other e-bike-related issues with a foresight of trying to prevent what’s happening, but they can’t do it alone.
One of the main reasons I chose to work with Bosch as an ambassador was the fact that I agree with Bosch in the first place and what it stands for. Just for the record, after my letter came out, somebody reminded me of an interview I gave in a German magazine nine years ago, when I addressed most of the issues at hand then. That was at a time when I was a Shimano ambassador, and most people were just trying to figure out whether or not to hate or embrace e-MTBs.
ORCC: User responsibility is a huge factor in the trail impact, the image and incident factor with e-MTBs – but that seems to be something impossible to change. What can be done, about this?
HR: We all need to do our part in educating each other and newcomers. We need to establish etiquette, and we cannot keep changing the goal post regarding power limits. Also, we can’t sit on the sidelines and ‘hope’, or let others do the work.
By ‘we’ I mean not only the industry, with all the manufacturers and suppliers (including their R&D as well as marketing departments), but also bike shops, media, advocacy organisations, clubs, federations – and most of all, all of us riders.
ORCC: Do you see the e-MTB situation dividing our sport more, with or without more regulation?
HR: Yes and no. In America, it seems to be a little more divided currently than in other places. This is partly because they have more and a wider variety of these ’too’ powerful bike models, and partly because these powerful bikes are less regulated than, for example, in the EU.
ORCC: Moving onto shared trail access and use – given the differences, is shared trail centre/dedicated trail usage with e-MTBs real-world sustainable, or will it only lead to more issues if not defined more with specific trails/sections/diversions, etc for e-bike vs analogue users?
HR: I believe that Class 1 pedal assist e-bikes (max. peak power of 750w, max 100Nm or even 85Nm, max assist up to 25km/h in Europe and 32km/h in America) could easily co-exist and get along with, as you called them, ‘analogue’ or traditional mountain bikes. That was one of the major points in my letter; that’s why we have to draw a clear line between what Class 1 e-MTB is versus all other electric-powered vehicles.
There is even some room to negotiate my numbers above, they are just my suggestions. However, as many would like to see a slightly higher speed assist limit in the EU/UK, it will be hard to move the goalpost on this point, since that exact speed limit was the major factor why eMTB (Class 1) were classed as bicycles in the first place.
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