E-Performance: A festival for electrified wheels? The e-bike was celebrated for the first time in Dortmund from April 15th to 17th - with lots of electrical power and even more fun. The E-Bike Festival Dortmund recorded 50.000 visitors - we were there too and looked around.
That was not a shortcut: the first e-bike festival took place in the Ruhr area with the subtitle “Let yourself be infected” – “presented by Shimano”. And when the component giant takes off, many others follow suit: e-bike fans were able to find out more, talk shop and test ride at 104 exhibitors. The special feature: The event took place in the middle of Dortmund city - "Shopping spree plus" was the motto for many of the 50.000 visitors according to the organizer on Friday afternoon or Saturday. Even the supporting program was remarkable: Marc Brodesser presented an e-MTB show, there were guided e-bike tours through Dortmund, kids competed in a race around the Reinoldikirche and e-cargo cyclists competed on a small circuit for the fastest virtual delivery.
E-Bike Festival Dortmund: Cannondale and Currywurst
In between, snack stands and drinks trolleys provided the visitors with the necessary energy supply. The traffic of the future was discussed on stage - among others with NRW Transport Minister Michael Groschek and the Lord Mayor of Dortmund, Ullrich Sierau. But it was also always about e-bikes in sport: mountain bike veteran Guido Tschugg, who is now chasing the trails for the Haibike brand, and Stevens man Nico Schild discussed the future of electric boosting on MTBs. So that the visitors don't miss out on sporting practice, you could experience e-mountain bikes in their natural habitat in the middle of the Alter Markt - on a small course with a jumping hill and all the trimmings. On the trail sponsored by Bosch, the bikers swept through the steep curves in the floodlights in the first 4X race for e-bikers on Saturday.
E-Bike Festival Dortmund: The e-bike rocks the pot
But in the end it was all about introducing the people of the Ruhr area to the e-bike as an everyday and leisure bike, and that worked pretty well, especially on Saturday afternoon. The couple around 40, for example, is enthusiastic: “We often go to Holland to ride our bikes. Because we also like to ride longer distances, we are interested in e-bikes.", she says. "And here the selection is huge!", says the man and heaves the pile of brochures and flyers under his other armpit.
The man in his 50s already has an e-bike with front-wheel drive at home and is considering buying a bike with a mid-engine. He is enthusiastic about the great, broad overview in Dortmund. Comfort is his priority. "I really liked the automatic gears with Shimano motor," he says.
The city offered a route through Dortmund so that you could try out the bikes directly. However, they were only used sparingly. "I haven't ridden an e-bike yet and I don't want to go through all the city traffic right now," says one visitor, who prefers to cycle a few meters back and forth in front of the stand. The city could make improvements next time and, for example, offer a parcours at the neighboring Friedensplatz with a clear route there - an idea that some exhibitors had. These could respond a little more to the clientele: e-mountain biking is at best the second most important thing for festival visitors, who were probably around 50 on average and were looking for a bike for touring or everyday use – some brands simply didn’t have a tailor-made offer included.
Otherwise, the exhibitors also found the first festival for e-bikes an absolute success. And Michael Wild, frontman of sponsor Shimano said: "We didn't know what to expect and were skeptical. But it was great, we are totally satisfied! An absolutely successful start to the season!” Whether the festival will be repeated next year is not a question for either the city of Dortmund or the exhibitors. But with better weather please – it was too cool and too rainy on Saturday afternoon for an outdoor event this year. The fact that there was still satisfaction speaks once more for the festival.
