Electric Bike Action Podcast

This may be the last episode of the Electric Bike Action podcast. The magazine was closed down, along with Road Bike Action and UTV Action magazines, at the end of February. That action ended the jobs of nearly a dozen people. Hi-Torque is left with four titles, Motocross Action, Dirt Bike, Dirt Wheels and Mountain Bike Action. Supposedly the websites for EBA and the others will be kept going, but time will tell if they have the resources and industry knowledge to maintain those. In the mean time, if you know of anyone looking for people with great writing and photography skills (as well as a couple of great designers), feel free to reach out to me, as I’m happy to connect people. It’s been a good run in an outstanding industry full of great people. Thank you all.

Polini is an Italian company from Bergamo in northern Italy, they produce tune-up parts for motorcycles and scooters. They also now produce e-bike motors the Polini way... In this interview, Alex speaks to Davide Burini all about the company and how their motors are unique. Their philosophy is to build motors that can be repaired for life.

This week, we are speaking to Noa Banayan who works for people for bikes. Noa is a very important person. She's a representative for the bike industry in Washington, she helps negotiate policy and issues that affect us riders, especially with the new development of E bikes. She’s the Director of Federal Affairs at PeopleForBikes.

My guest for this episode is one of my favorites. One of the smartest minds in the battery space, as well as holding several Guinness World Records for e-bike rides. Ravi Kempaiah is a battery scientist, working with Dr. Jeff Dahn, one of the main people behind Tesla’s battery technology. Ravi and I talk about the present technology in Lithium-ion batteries, and upcoming technologies like solid state, sodium-ion, and what’s coming with battery tech and when. This is an exciting episode, and I can’t believe I actually ask Ravi something he doesn’t know off the top of his head. There’s a lot of great information here. Without further ado, here is my interview with my friend, Ravi.

My guest today is Daniel Tonkopi, CEO and founder of Delfast bikes, the high-powered, extremely long-range electric bikes. The company is focused on making bikes that provide sustainable, fun, long-range riding. You’ll learn how the company started, where they are now, and where they are going. We even touch on how they’re used in law enforcement, military applications, and even a discussion of the war in Ukraine.

Our guest today is Ramon Thomas, the co-founder and CEO of Urwahn Engineering GmbH from Magdeburg, Germany. With a passion for technology, quality, and seamless design, he and co-founder Sebastian Meinecke brought the first 3D-printed e-bike to market, which, in addition to a purist design, also takes into account the requirements of everyday use. Urwahn manufactures bikes almost completely in Germany and focuses on sustainable mobility. Their website is www.Urwahn Ikes.com.

My guest in this episode is Sherman Allen. He’s a good friend, a motorcycle riding buddy, and a prolific actor. He’s been in shows like Better Call Saul, Longmire, Manhattan, and movies like Spare Parts (that film makes me cry, and not because of Sherm’s acting!) and Sicario Day of the Soldado. He got into e-bikes partly from my suggestion, and partly because his brother Bill Allen, also an actor, also who I’ve had on the show, is a huge fan of e-bikes. We talk about e-bikes, electric motorcycles and some fun stories about both. #electricbikes #shermanallen

This episode is a great one. Alex interviews Livio Suppo, who has not only managed several successful moto GP teams, but he started Thok e-bikes, who makes electric mountain bikes under their own name, but also produces Ducati’s e-bikes, including full suspension mountain bikes and now some other bikes for the Ducatisti. Livio goes into why he creates a community for his brand, and he even lets the cat out of the bag on a brand new motor that’s coming out. There’s a lot of talk of the future of e-bikes and electric motoE

In this podcast Tony Donaldson and Alex Boyce have a chat with about their recent visits to some top industry trade-shows and comment on what they have seen. The most obvious thing they noticed was the quantity of two wheeled electric transport solutions. There was everything one could imagine, from delivery vehicles, electric pedal bikes and high end race bikes, to battery swapping solutions, powerful electric motocross bikes and the legacy brands like Yamaha starting their entry into the e-bike market. Tony and Alex react to what they saw and ponder how long before everyone might own an electric bike of some sort and also discuss their use in reality.

We have a fun crossover episode today. My guest is Jo Borras from the Electrify News podcast. You have to check out that podcast to hear the latest news in the electric vehicle space. They are part of the Electrify Expo, a series of events held throughout the country that not only showcases electric cars, bicycles and all kinds of other vehicles, but you can test ride almost everything there. They had three events the first year, five events this year, and they’ll expand to 7 events in 2023. I’ve had a lot of fun at their events in California and Austin Texas, and I highly recommend them to everyone, get out there and experience all kinds of electric vehicles. In this episode, we talk EVs, electric bikes, what’s coming in the near future, and more.

Vernon Felton is a bit of a legend in the bike world. His history is illustrious working for years as a journalist at many of the major bike media outlets. I first met Vernon when he was working for Peterson publishing, I think back in the 1990s. Vernon eventually found himself working for the biggest brand names in the bicycle industry. Now as US director of bike Product Development at Canyon Bicycles. He has a unique role at one of the big and influential bicycle companies. He helps decide as part of a team. What goes on to a new product, advises on what consumers want, and also tells the engineers how the bikes ride and what needs to be done to improve them. In this episode, Alex talks with him about how Kenyan and other companies approached not just the bikes, but bikes in general, what e-bikes mean to Canyon as a brand, and what will happen with e-bikes over the next few years. Without further ado, here's Alex and Vernon rodeo.

Our guest today is Jerome Clementz. He’s been on two wheels virtually since birth, racing enduro before it was called enduro. He’s had huge wins in the Enduro World Series and downhill racing. He’s retired from racing now, and now works with Bosch to help them develop software for their e-bike systems, as well as working as the European mountain biking coordinator for Cycling Sports Group, the umbrella for Cannondale, GT, Schwinn and other brands.

My guest today is Aaron Frank, who is the Brand Director at Serial 1 Cycle company, the electric bicycle company borne of Harley-Davidson. They’re an interesting company, they act as a startup, but have access to all of Harley-Davidson’s engineers and assets. I’ve had the pleasure of riding several of their bikes over the past couple of years, including their new hardtail mountain bike launched this year. They’ve given some electric bikes to the local police department, something near and dear to my heart, so I wanted to talk to Aaron about it, and about what’s coming next from Serial 1.

We talk to Specialized's Jan Talavasek, Senior Director  Of Turbo Innovation about ebikes, why Specialized made what they did and changed the whole market, plus what's coming next... Read the news! https://electricbikeaction.com/eba-podcast-specializeds-jan-talavasek-senior-director-of-turbo-innovation This is an audio podcast with a video stream attached for those who prefer the Youtube podcast experience. Find us on Spotify or Apple Itunes. https://open.spotify.com/show/4yKLJLtNepGumjgezhwCKm?si=6067cfc511cf4d0d #specialized #Ride #emtb #Turbo #Levo

Alex interviews Bosch E-bike CEO Claus Fleischer, they talk about Claus’ passion for cycling, how Bosch got started in e-bikes, and the all new Bosch Performance Line CX Race Limited Edition motor. You can also check out the video on our YouTube channel.

This time, the interview is conducted by our new Editor-at-large, Alex Boyce. He’s talking with James McKnight, former Dirt magazine editor and now producer of mountain bike yearbooks that feature photography from the best mountain bike photographers in the world. His name is James McKnight. You can check those out at misspentsummers.com. They talk about burning questions like whether e-bike racing will ever catch on. It’s a fun chat between friends about e-bikes. Without further ado, here’s Alex and James.

Exciting news with this episode! My guest is someone I’ve had on before, long-time contrributor Alex Boyce. The difference is that he’s now joining the staff of EBA full-time. Our learned, experienced European correspondent is going to be bringing his knowledge and skill to Electric Bike Action, adding to our content across all channels. We dig deep into where we’re going with all of this, so let’s get to it!

My guest on this episode is Larry Pizzi. Larry is the person I turn to when I have any questions about the e-bike industry. I don’t know of anyone more knowledgeable about it. Larry’s not only been involved since the early 2000s with Currie Technologies, one of the oldest e-bike companies in America, but he’s a director on the board of People For Bikes, chair of their e-bike subcommittee, and Vice President of the World Bicycle Industry Association. His involvement with bicycles is immense, and he has been instrumental in helping get the 3-class electric bicycle legislation passed in 39 U.S. states, so far. That’s over ¾ of the states so far. We get into the weeds about the e-bike bill, battery recycling programs, and how you can get more action out of your political leaders. It’s a big interview, so without further ado, here’s Larry!

My guest today is my friend Bill Allen. Bill is an actor who is most famous for his starring role as Cru Jones in the 1986 film Rad. I’ve long been a fan of that film, and first met Bill at the 25th anniversary showing of the film. He’s also an electric bicycle enthusiast who now owns a couple of cool e-bikes. We talk about electric bikes, Rad fans, how many are naming their kids after his character, his book, where he’s traveling, and his passion for music and cars. Bill's website is my Rad career.com, he has a Facebook fan page and his Instagram is @billslimallen.

My guest today is Hans Rey. Hans is a legendary trials rider, and guys like Danny McAskill and Kenny Belaey stand on his shoulders in that realm. Hans is a big fan of e-bikes, he rides his e-bike as much as he rides his traditional mountain bike, often on amazing adventures in beautiful places. We’ve run a few of these adventures in the magazine, and you can see them on our website. He’s currently working on his next adventure, set in Mexico City. I’ve known Hans for a few decades, going back to my BMX days, and one thing is for sure. Riding with Hans is an experience you’ll never forget. His skills are insane, he’s always practicing, and he’s like a little kid with his enthusiasm and level of fun on every single ride. Check the show notes for links to his YouTube channel and other fun stuff! YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/user/Hansnowayrey Slay The Bay: https://electricbikeaction.com/slaying-the-bay/ Trans Angeles: https://electricbikeaction.com/trans-angeles/ Other links to Hans: www.hansrey.com www.Wheels4Life.org http://instagram.com/hansnowayrey https://twitter.com/HansNoWayRey https://www.facebook.com/hansrey