Claus Fleischer, as head of Bosch's e-bike division, do you also ride your bike privately?
I've been riding mountain bikes since 1990 and have completed several Alpine crossings and 24-hour races. I own racing bikes, mountain bikes and e-mountain bikes.

And what's your favorite bike to ride?
I find it really difficult to decide at the weekend. Honestly, the e-mountain bike is just cooler and more fun. I only rode an e-mountain bike last winter. Because I can ride things on it that I can't do on a normal bike. Especially in adverse weather conditions - the uphills on an e-mountainbike are so much fun.

How do you assess the commercial opportunities for e-mountainbikes?
The e-mountain bike is a new growth segment in the e-bike category and also a growth segment in the mountain bike sector. It complements both market segments. It is still difficult to quantify in current figures. Our observations and discussions with industry colleagues show that e-mountain bikes are the fastest growing segment in the entire e-bike sector. Growth is significantly stronger than in the touring, trekking or urban segment. We are seeing a real boom in e-mountain bikes. This movement will also be sustainable. It's not hype, the demand for these bikes is here to stay.

Do you have any indication of how the e-mountainbike trend is affecting sales? Two years ago, we had a delivery share of 60 percent rack batteries and 40 percent frame batteries. Today, this ratio has already changed and we now supply 60 percent down tube batteries and 40 percent rack batteries. The classic electric step-through bike - the e-city and touring bike - is still a large segment. But we are now seeing that e-bikes are becoming much sportier. We are trying to get more precise figures from the manufacturers for Eurobike. We sell the drives and the batteries, but I can't find out whether the manufacturer is building a hardtail, full suspension or trekking bike. We want to submit more precise figures on the e-mountainbike trend by the time of the Ride Mountain Bike Congress in Chur.

If the e-mountain bike is booming, does this development also harbor dangers?
There are sceptics who try to criticize mountain bikes, and they will also criticize e-mountain bikes. We are concerned with trail etiquette and etiquette rules. The trail rules - such as those of the IMBA or DIMB - must also apply to e-mountain bikers. In short: respect and tolerance are required on the trails. A second important aspect is riding technique training. After all, e-mountain bikes are taking more people to higher altitudes, and they need to get back down safely. We rely on riding technique trainers like Stefan Schlie and maintain a network with riding technique schools. In our new video Uphill-Flow 2, we will show how important respect, tolerance and riding technique training are for riding the trails safely and having fun on an e-mountainbike.

What will the e-mountainbike look like in the future? Will motors get smaller, will batteries get smaller?
Battery technology - be it for laptops, power tools or car batteries - develops on average between 5 and 10 percent per year. These figures are an estimate and mean that the energy density is increasing. A longer range can be achieved with the same battery size. Or make the battery smaller for the same range. However, it is not worth taking these percentages with you every year in product development. So you wait two to three years until enough progress has been made and then you bring out the next generation. That's what we've now done with the 500 watt-hour battery. It gives us 25 percent more range with only four percent more weight. The previous battery weighed 2.5 kilograms, the new one weighs 100 grams more and is just as big, is compatible for installation and downward compatibility and can be operated with the same charger.

Will a battery ever be really small and fit in the saddlebag? Battery size is not only dependent on technical progress. It also plays a role in how much power you draw to feed the drive unit and how efficient the drive unit is at actually converting the power into torque and not heat. The question is how much electric power the rider expects. Today, our Performance CX Line motor offers 300 percent pedal assistance. If you reduce this level to 200 percent, that's a third less. Then you could also make the battery a third smaller.

How much power is sensible for an e-mountainbike?
At the moment, the performance competition is still going on, there's real horsepower posing going on - and that has to reach a natural limit at some point. Because we are convinced that drivers do not need more power than 250 watts. We are limited by the legal speed limit. After all, you need good torque to accelerate. You want to ride a bike, not a motocross bike.

What will mountain bikes look like in 20 years'
? This is my prediction: In 20 years, there will be three types of mountain bikes. The classic mountain bikes without electric drive, as we have them today - purely mechanical. Then there will be e-mountainbikes with plenty of pedal assistance and great top performance like we have today with our top motor. And a category in between with less power and a correspondingly small battery. In this middle ground, the weight and size of the battery and drive are reduced. But that only works if the cyclist says that a little less power is enough for me.

Will the appearance of motorized bikes change by then?
If you think about a generational leap: could you move the shifting on the rear wheel to the front, as with the Pinion gearbox, and marry it to the electric motor? Many people in the industry are looking at this, we are also observing it. But then you take the technology of a two-kilogram rear wheel hub and marry it with a 3.5-kilogram e-drive. This results in a 5.5-kilogram block that has to be accommodated in the frame, making the whole thing highly complex. I can't say today when and whether this will be ready for the market.

Have bike dealers got the e-bike trend under control?
Five years ago, bike dealers almost slept through the development, but they quickly caught up. If I compare Europe with the USA: the trend is currently being missed there and dealers are at least five years behind. The small bike dealers have to be careful not to be overtaken left and right by the big players. If I'm worried, it might be about the small, family-run specialist stores. I'm not worried about the big ones with a full range, they can handle it. But when it comes to capital requirements, training, workshop equipment, selection - that's where many small retailers struggle. We see a reluctance to invest in computers and diagnostic equipment. Or, if there is no successor in sight, a dealer in his late fifties may think about whether he should still do it with electronics.

Will the e-bike remain in the specialist bike trade or do you see a tendency for other providers, such as the automotive industry, to enter the sale of e-bikes?
The market growth and customer demand are there, so the question arises: will other sales channels jump on board? With over 17 years of experience working in the automotive sector, I know the industry well and how it ticks. Up to now, the car industry has only used the bike for marketing purposes to raise customer awareness of the car brand via the bike. Garages find it extremely difficult to service bikes because they don't understand the bike, because they don't have any tools or spare parts. That is a huge barrier to entry. That's why I don't think the car industry will take on the bike.

Where else do you see striking differences between the automotive and bicycle markets?
There is a clear difference in speed and agility. If you compare electromobility, it's impressive how quickly the bicycle industry has taken up the electric bike, turned the technology into good products and generated enthusiasm among cyclists.
There was skepticism, but the bicycle industry picked up on the e-trend very quickly. In the automotive industry, it takes a comparatively long time - a factor of three to four. This is also due to the cost-benefit and risk ratio. The problem with electromobility is that the batteries are simply too big, too heavy and too expensive. That's why electric cars are not attractive at the moment. With bicycles, the battery in electromobility is small and affordable, and the riding pleasure is much greater.
The car industry has much longer development times, much longer product cycles, which is why it is simply slower, more sluggish, more expensive and not as agile. To be honest, the automotive industry is process-heavy and bureaucratic. I know people say that the bike industry would benefit from more of an automotive touch and more professionalism. But if the bike industry were more automotive, it would also be slower and more expensive.

So Bosch had to synchronize between two industries during the market launch of the e-drive?
One of Bosch E-Bike-Systems' strengths is that we bring automotive expertise in terms of processes, standards and quality, while at the same time being able to concentrate fully on the bicycle industry. We have established a company within the company, which is an independent business unit within the Bosch Group. We can fully engage with this model year cycle and are fully attuned to the bike industry's value chains - and that is now paying off.

How is the e-bike division integrated into the Bosch Group in terms of infrastructure?
We have our own production lines at the plant in Miskolc in Hungary, two hours north-east of Budapest. As an automotive supplier, Bosch builds motors for starters, power steering systems and windshield wipers there. Today, we are too small in the e-bike sector to operate our own plant.

What proportion of Bosch's total turnover does the e-bike systems division contribute?
The entire Bosch Group generates 50 billion euros in sales per year. Our policy is that the individual divisions are not allowed to communicate their sales figures. But I can say this much: we are a rounding error in the 50 billion.