The conventional e-bike is established. The e-mountain bike is booming. In Switzerland, one in four bikes sold is a bike with a motor. The movement towards electric bikes is progressing rapidly: five years ago, the e-mountainbike was virtually non-existent, and today it is selling like hot cakes.

A new type of bike is now on the way: The electric road bike and the e-graveler. When talking to customers, the same questions come back as at the start of the electric bike trend. "You don't ride a bike anymore", "You don't need that", you hear. The justifications for motor assistance are also the same. It is a vehicle for the elderly and sick who no longer want to pedal uphill. And ideal for compensating for differences in performance - in groups or for couples who want to ride together.

When arguing that you no longer ride a bike, there's really only one thing to do: gain your own experience. And don't talk about something you've only read about or heard about and have never experienced for yourself. And lo and behold: the customer who has just said that such an electric racing bike is superfluous comes back from the test ride with the typical maximum-width grin of an e-bike. It quickly becomes clear: an electric racing bike is fun - and therefore makes sense. And that's why it's needed. It is ideal for getting out on the bike more spontaneously, more and for longer than with the non-motorized counterpart. It opens up new, previously unridden, unknown routes and routes. E-road and e-gravel are simply new sports. You can be open or closed to them. However, anyone forming an opinion on this would do well to first test what it is actually about.

(The author of this blog has been riding a bike store in Binningen since 2003 and gains experience in talking to customers and selling bikes on a daily basis)