The people in Huttwil, the headquarters of Flyer and a nucleus of e-bike development, took their time. The first Flyers produced in small series were sold 25 years ago. Flyer is now owned by the German company ZEG and sells 60,000 e-bikes a year - still assembled in Switzerland - 75 percent of which are sold in the EU (own figures).

And now the e-bike pioneer is venturing across the Atlantic. Head of Marketing Marco Alessandri explains: "North America is an exciting, growing sales market with large urban centers. We see potential in this market to help shape future forms of mobility with our e-bikes."

North America took a little longer to embrace e-bikes, which is probably also due to the fact that the bicycle plays a much smaller role as an everyday vehicle than in the bike-friendly countries of Central and Northern Europe. However, sales curves are now also pointing steeply upwards in the USA. Forecasts for the USA and Canada promise that this will continue in the 2020s, even if it will be nowhere near the European level.

Alessandri explains that they also want to position themselves as a premium brand in North America. This will initially be achieved with bikes from the Upstreet 1, Upstreet 2 (urban), Uproc 6 (enduro) and Tandem model series. The bikes for the North American market will also be assembled in Huttwil.

Huttwil, we have a problem

And that brings us to the problem Flyer is facing in the USA. There is already a manufacturer that sells e-bikes under the Flyer name. Behind it is a company over a hundred years old called Radio Flyer. Its best-known product is a ladder truck that generations of American children have played with and still rattle around with.

Marco Alessandri emphasizes that the Flyer brand name for the e-bikes from Huttwil is also registered in the USA. "Protecting our Flyer brand is very important to us. We are constantly active in Europe and internationally to prevent the unlawful use of our brand. If trademark rights are infringed, we take action." It is not possible to elicit from him what specific steps have been taken. The fact is that Radio Flyer continues to offer pedelecs with "Flyer" on the down tube, at least in the online store.

Flyer can celebrate its first appearance in the USA without any name competition. At the Sea Otter Classic Festlval, Radio Flyer is not among the exhibitors, unlike the e-bike pioneer from Oberaargau. Incidentally, Flyer has already overcome greater difficulties than the competition from a tricycle and cart manufacturer.