Haibike unite with Yamaha to bring new eBike system to European market

E-bikeshop are very excited to announce the collaboration that will unite Haibike and Yamaha eBike systems. This was following our visit to Schweinfurt (Germany) this weekend that saw a brand new product range launched by Haibike - the sDURO. Haibike announces a brand new product range that will feature a newly developed Yamaha eBike system that will take the European market by storm.

When, where, who?

Haibike invited us over to take part in a fantastic weekend, with some big news expecting to be announced. We knew Haibike had a big secret that they were eager to tell us, so we joined them at the Mercure hotel in Schweinfurt on Saturday 19th July to see what all the fuss was about.With many new lines and features to talk about there was lots to take in and get excited about. Susanne Puello (Winora Group CEO) introduced us by telling the Haibike story from when it all began and where they are all now, Susanne went on to say -

When we produced our first eMTB, all the other bicycle suppliers laughed at us and said that we were crazy! Now today all of these manufacturers are following in our foot steps trying to grab some of our market share. We will stay ahead of the game!

But the main thing on the agenda was kept top secret right up until the point of being announced.

 

Whats the big news?

Felix Puello (Haibike Brand Manager) invited Minoru Morimoto (Yamaha's Executive Director) onto the stage to tell us about the new Yamaha electric bike system, Mr Morimoto went on to say -

We are very proud to see our newly developed eBike system in Europe on Haibike sDuro's. We have actually already been developing Yamaha eBike systems since 1993. We were one of the first crank drive suppliers and own 53% of the market share in Japan. We produce over 300,000 eBike systems a year and to date have 2.7 million Yamaha electric bikes out on the road worldwide.

Mr Morimoto even jokes when showing us the stats in comparison to other eBike system suppliers (Bosch), the Yamaha system is so advanced and ahead of our competitors, the system offers many benefits including 70Nm of torque which peaks at 80Nm, Mr Morimoto points at the board and says -

60Nm of torque, (smiles), who even is this other supplier?

Mr Morimoto (Yamaha) at Haibike product launch 2015 This is followed by Felix Puello (Haibike Brand Manager) telling us how excited Haibike are to be working with Yamaha in this new venture into the sDURO line up, Mr Puello goes on to say -

The sDURO is for the next 'eGeneration' of electric cyclists, it is aimed at the younger riders - the styling, price and function is all based around this. We are very excited to be presenting the new sDURO range which features the latest Yamaha eBIke technology. We have been working with Yamaha to develop this new system for the past 2 years & now it is finally here! Everything from motor integration to battery design has been re-developed between us and Yamaha to bring a whole new contender to the market.

We will explain more about the new sDURO range in details in another article, expect to see this up shortly. We will also do a complete review and write up of the new Yamaha eBike system as we had the chance to ride one a prototype for approx 3.5hours through the local singletrack in Schweinfurt.

 

What do we think?

In all we think this is a bold move for Haibike, they are certainly dominating the market and with this new system on board the competition bar is set at a high level for other eBike system providers. We think that it will be healthy competition and should help progress the eBike market at an even faster rate. We will do a full write up on the comparison between Yamaha and Bosch to discuss, in detail, the pro's and con's of each system. Say hello to the next 'eGeneration'! Check out the: First ride review on the Yamaha eBike system Check out the: First Look: Yamaha eBike System Overview 2015