The bike industry is in a state of flux - and is not even stopping at icons of the sport. Ambassadors for e-mountain biking already include well-known names such as Gary Fisher and René Wildhaber. And now another icon of the sport, Wade Simmons, is on board to make motorized mountain biking more appealing. The 43-year-old has been closely involved in the development process of the first Rocky Mountain e-mountain bike over the past three years.

Simmons, the legendary freerider from Vancouver, conqueror of the Marzocchi/Moreno Valley Gap and winner of the first Rampage, says of e-mountain biking: "It doesn't replace the mountain bike. It's a new chapter". Simmons describes Europe as "ground zero" for electric mountain bikes and praises e-mountain biking's ability to tackle incredibly steep climbs. When asked about his assessment of the e-mountainbike trend, Simmons is short but to the point: "It's the future"