Winora Group of Germany is preparing to launch a line of mountian bikes in the U.S. that are powered by 250-watt Bosch motors in collaboration with fellow Accell Group company Currie Technologies.
Winora Group, which is based in Schweinfurt in Bavaria, had been preparing for two years to export to the United States when its parent company – Accell Group of the Netherlands – acquired California-based e-bike designer and marketer Currie Technologies in 2011. The two new sister companies have since been exploring a way to launch Winora brands in the U.S. The sister companies pulled the trigger at Interbike last month, where Winora Group presented Haibike's XDURO line of electric-assisted sport bikes.
“The Haibike ePower range were a highlight at Interbike 2012 in Las Vegas, NV,” said Larry Pizzi, president and managing director of Currie Technologies. “The XDURO mountain bike range drew the attraction of the American dealer audience and we believe this category could be the trigger for wide-scale dealer embrace of the E-Bike category. We will resume our planning after the bike show and look forward to the preparation of the full-scale launch for model year 2014.”
Accel Group believes the moment is right to drive this initiative forward as many US cities are looking for alternative and sustainable mobility concepts to alleviate traffic congestion and investing in bicycle-friendly infrastructure.
“Currie Technologies is one of the oldest and most established US developers and distributors of quality, high-performance hybrid and electric powered bicycles in the United States,” said Susanne Puello, managing director of Winora Group. “Their market experience, their know-how for E-mobility and their tight and high quality dealer distribution network made them our preferred candidate for our eBike launch in the USA.”
The Haibike XDURO series starts its third product generation in 2013 and includes 16 different models ranging from a cross bike to a women’s mountain bike to a hard core off-road full suspension bike with 155 mm of travel.
