Electrifying experiences: E-biking

The bicycle is not just any means of transport, nor is it just a piece of sports equipment. Everyone who has swung on the saddle and pedaled has experienced this for themselves. Cycling in the great outdoors has an effect on both body and mind. In the alpine Tyrolean landscape there are great conditions: Impressive alpine landscapes, traffic-calmed roads and paths with varying degrees of difficulty and gradients.

The connection between becoming and doing can rarely be experienced more directly. Only the bicycle has fulfilled an age-old dream of mankind. To be faster than you could be. The switch from the office chair to the saddle is also so rewarding and fulfilling because it means a return to man's natural state, which is called movement. There is a beautiful quote "Only where you have been on foot have you really been". This can justifiably be extended to the bicycle. Cycling means not only being completely with oneself, but also escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life and reducing life to the bare essentials.

While the development of the bicycle has been rather evolutionary, the advent of the e-bike can be seen as a small revolution. The e-bike is not the ultimate, it is rather the plus ultra - the machine that enables us to effortlessly leave behind the limits of what was previously possible for the average person. Nevertheless, the e-bike does not represent a break with - and certainly not a contradiction of - the virtues that have always defined the bicycle and that make the overall experience of cycling so broadly appealing. Rather, the e-bike can be interpreted as the democratization of sporty cycling. It enables groups, families or partners with different physical conditions to complete even more demanding tours together. There are plenty of these in the Olympiaregion Seefeld, which is set to become the number one e-bike region in Tyrol in the coming years.

However, as with every new development, there are still skeptics. The rejection of the e-bike, which in the past was remarkably mainly from the camp of sporty bikers, can now be said to have a certain affectation. Very soon, no one will frown when they see an e-biker. "I think the e-mountain bike is the biggest opportunity and revolution that mountain biking has ever had. It will completely renew itself from the bottom up and grow a lot. Out of the niche, gain social relevance and thus bring about positive changes," Christoph Malin, for example, one of the original members of the Tyrolean mountain bike scene, is convinced. With the increasing spread of e-bikes, the use of private cars for leisure time is also decreasing. This is an ecological collateral benefit that people are happy to accept.

Nowadays, e-bikes are also very attractive for professional cyclists because they can be used to control training extremely efficiently. Depending on your mood and training plan, you can either completely exhaust yourself on a tour or relax and regenerate. An additional aspect is that the e-bike can bring new joys to many an ascent that is sometimes experienced rather suffering. This is ideal for recreational athletes who want to ride their bike to a hut or conquer a mountain after work. No one still seriously doubts that the e-bike has come to stay!

In terms of bicycle history, the e-bike is still a very young development that is progressing with corresponding momentum. This is particularly evident in the increasing performance of the batteries and electric motors year after year. The motors are also optimally adapted to the frame and its geometry, powerful and at the same time finely dosed. This makes the e-bikes good-natured overall and easy to control. A sporty biker can manage a respectable 1,200 to 1,500 meters of altitude per hour on one battery charge. "In terms of handling, the new models with their so-called plus tires, low centers of gravity, balanced chassis and powerful motors are real fun machines that take the fright out of tough uphill ramps, but also make trail adventures possible, all in all simply a lot of fun," Malin enthuses. This means that the fun factor is almost equally high when riding uphill and downhill, which makes the overall mountain biking experience even more balanced.

The sales figures of the well-known manufacturers impressively show that the electrified bicycle is no longer just a hype, but rather a megatrend. By 2024, e-bikes are expected to have a global market share of around 40 percent, more than any other bicycle category. The social fascination and enduring theme of electromobility has played a powerful role in the fact that e-bikes are now the measure of all things. Interestingly, the bicycle industry is one of the forces driving innovation in the electromobility sector, making new technologies available to the masses even faster - and much more environmentally friendly. The increasingly powerful batteries are nowadays partially integrated into the frame and are no longer an ugly foreign body as they were just a few years ago.

In terms of design, it is in no way inferior to the conventional mountain bike, and even looks more futuristic due to the additional components. The motor, which is located in the area of the bottom bracket, is a fundamental component of every e-bike. Its driving dynamics and performance depend to a large extent on it. Each has its own characteristics with their advantages and disadvantages. How nippy the bike is when going uphill and how agile it is on descents depends not only on the drive, but also on the frame geometry, the gear ratio and the dimension and profile of the tires. Therefore test, who binds itself to an Elektrorossbinds. Of course, the rider himself also plays a not entirely unimportant role. Even in the power development of the motor, which is influenced by the cadence. How far you can get on one battery charge can't be said so sweepingly, because that depends on several factors. The system range varies depending on the incline and the selected support. Ideally, the e-bike is no longer a foreign body after just a few kilometers, but an extension of your own body.

Anyone who has ever experienced how the boundaries between the rider, the bike and the terrain gradually begin to blur knows what is meant by this. These are the ingredients that flow is made of. You grow beyond yourself while cycling, everything gets into flow. That's why it's important not only when buying, but also when renting an EBike, that it fits the requirements exactly and is optimally adapted to the rider. That way, riding fun and enjoyment are preprogrammed.

The Region Seefeld is on the verge of becoming a top-class e-bike destination. A constantly growing trail concept has been developed that meets all requirements from beginners to advanced bikers and still offers the unmistakable scenic beauty that is revealed on the plateau with its side valleys. The previous signage has been replaced with standard-compliant e-bike signs, and all routes are equipped with the new SOS message system of the province of Tyrol. A large-scale cooperation with the German manufacturer CUBE should do its part to bring the region even further forward in electrified cycling. In any case, everything is ready in the region Seefeld for electrifying sports and nature experiences on the e-bike.

It's just a matter of getting on, pedaling and enjoying.