Relo offers an electric assist kit that fits an almost every bicycle, thanks to flexible connection between the motor/battery modules and transmission.

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands - 2015 electric bike sales in the Netherlands surged with a big 24%. The other main market in Europe for e-bikes - Germany - also showed big double growth last year and which is continuing to grow further with e-MTBs, as Accell Group (e-bike market leader) reported last week in its trading update.

VIENNA, Austria - The total number of e-bikes and e-MTB sold on the Austrian market hiked last year by 54.4% to 77,220 units. "Nearly one-fifth of all bicycles sold in Austria is an e-bike," notes Alexander Raffeiner of the Austrian sporting goods industry association VSSÖ.

SILKEBORG, Denmark - The man behind it has been involved in e-bikes right from the start of this new category and is also known as an inventor of some e-bike features still used today. Lars Munksoe who started Protanium in 2006 has now sold all of his shares in that company to Accell Group and started a new e-bike company. It's called Positive Energies ApS.

MUNICH, Germany - Early February the Winora Group (part of listed Accell Group) celebrated the opening of a Haibike Design Centre. Remarkably it isn't based at the Winora Group headquarters in Sennfeld near Schweinfurt but in the Bavarian capital Munich.

ELLWANGEN, Germany - Varta Microbattery announced that their e-bike batteries like the CellPace and the VARad are no longer on the market. Why Varta withdraws from the e-bike market was not disclosed.

LONDON, UK - The vast bulk of cycles sold in the UK are imported and UK government figures from Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) show that for the last 8 years cycle imports have been quite stable, hovering between 3 and 3.5 million units per annum.

TOKYO, Japan - At a recent symposium on batteries in Japan Chinese smartphone manufacturer Huawei showed a superfast battery charging technology that works with super-conducting Graphene. Wonder-material Graphene also offers unprecedented characteristics for tyres, as Vittoria showed in its new line-ups of road, MTB and e-MTB tyres last month.

BAD SODEN, Germany - Like with regular bicycles also the safety standards for e-bikes are being globalized. However, as the ones for bicycles are already in force the global standards for electric bikes still have a long way to go before they are there. The question is also which e-bike categories are to be covered by the new ISO standards?

WASHINGTON, USA - The USA has been a market that frustrates many in the electric bike world. While Europe has adopted e-bikes with great vigour and speed, the USA has lagged by about 10 years. But that seems to be both in the past. The USA market is growing significantly although it is not as big as anyone would like for it to be.

MILAN, Italy - After a difficult 2013, the downturn of the Italian market stopped in 2014. An improving Italian economy as well as a nice spring proved to be the right mix to rekindle the interest of consumers for bicycles and bike products. Bike deliveries to distribution channels increased by 6.4%. E-bike sales were stagnant due to a rapidly changing demand.

As the e-bike market expands and the green mobility movement accelerates, the international Timyo Group based in the Dutch town of Roosendaal is reinventing itself to step up its game. With innovative changes and high-tech developments unveiled at the Eurobike show, the company is setting new trends in the industry - and showcasing its future.

ZEIST, the Netherlands - Mandatory helmet use on e-bikes is a much discussed topic in the industry as it would have a major impact on e-bike sales. But, is that really the case? Bike Europe commissioned a survey in the Netherlands where most e-bikes are used for commuting and recreational purposes.

For many years, designing bicycles has mostly been about function. However, in times when the bicycle is increasingly used for daily trips and also increasingly replacing the car as a status symbol, this has changed. How high the demands on bicycle design have become, is shown in a look behind the scenes at the Dutch company VROEGH Design, an agency that is responsible for the design and engineering of several very successful bicycle brands. A look that reveals astonishing parallels to the automotive industry.

AMERSFOORT, the Netherlands - The largest bicycle dealer cooperative in the Netherlands, Dynamo Retail Group has reported strong sales figures this year. While bicycle sales dropped by double digits last year, Dynamo Retail Group saw a hike of 12.1% between January and July this year.

BERGAMO, Italy - Vittoria reports the construction of the world's first all-discipline cycling experience, innovation center and knowledge hub for bicycle tyre development. Called Vittoria Park, the testing facility and proving ground will open in September.

HARDERWIJK, the Netherlands - The formerly Scottish company announced the opening of its first e-service branch for the maintenance of electric vehicles in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Here, but also in other locations, e-bikes will now also be repaired according to the quick service model.

RIEL, the Netherlands - Torque sensor developer, IDbike has ambitious plans to produce significantly more volume and become an OEM supplier of complete drive systems for e-bikes. To facilitate this the company is now looking for external investors to the value of €2 million.

LUDHIANA, India - The Indian bicycle industry is seeing a heavy shift to local sourcing of parts and components as a result of the pandemic-induced supply chain problems. Investment in alloy frame production is also top of Sadem Industries' agenda as it plans to boost its production capacity to meet the surging demand

UTRECHT, the Netherlands - A major setback for the leading bicycle consumer show in the Netherlands, the Bike Motion. The 2021 edition which would take place on 29-30 October this year has been rescheduled to October 2022.