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| The Kalkhoff Integrale 8 shown above is powered by a 250-watt Impulse Evo motor that uses a carbon belt made by Gates Carbon Drive in place of a metal chain. |
German bike brand Kalkhoff will launch three high-performance electric bikes in North America this fall powered by the German-designed and built Impulse mid-drive e-bike system and Gates Carbon Drive belts.
While e-bike companies are striving to establish a toehold in North America, providing carbon drive belts to OEMs serving Europe's booming e-bike market has become the fastest growing part of Denver, CO-based Gates Carbon Drive's business.
The three e-bike models Kalkhoff will introduce in North America are powered by an Impulse EVO drive system intergrated into their frame and and designed and built from the ground up in Germany in tandem with Gates Carbon Drive and other component suppliers.
E-bikes have generated most of the sales growth in Europe's bike industry over the last seven years but have been slow to catch on in the United States due to a range of issues, including a culture that does not recognize bicycling as a legitimate or safe mode of transportation, a lack of protected bike lanes and resistance among bike dealers deemed critical to their long-term success.
Last year the Bicycle Product Suppliers Association formed an E-Bike Committee to raise nearly $300,000 to lobby for model e-bike legislation in New York and California in a sign that bike manufacturers are preparing to bring e-bikes to the United States. Shimano Corp.'s decision to launch of an electric drive system this year has also helped assuage e-bike skepticism in the United States.
