Let’s remember one important thing: electric bikes are legally limited to 25 kilometers per hour. On paper, it is impossible to go faster with an electrified bicycle. But by forgetting the legal texts for two seconds, Van Rysel (the cycling subsidiary of Decathlon) has just built the ultimate electric bike.
At the Vélofollies show, she has just presented FTP². Behind a crazy bet, a prototype. This bike, which will never end up on our roads, is capable of reaching a speed of 150 kilometers per hour (under certain conditions). Enough to be in violation on the highway. With the FTP², Van Rysel theoretically wants to double the Functional Threshold Power (maximum speed that a cyclist can maintain for an hour).
An 850 watt motor
To achieve such speed, Van Rysel developed an extraordinary engine. The firm uses the Mahle M40. Specially developed for this project, it delivers a power of 850 watts for 105 Nm of torque. For comparison, a traditional electric bike offers 250 watts.
In typical driving conditions, the bike should reach 70 to 80 kilometers per hour. On a slight downward slope, it would be capable of exceeding 150 km/h. The engineers behind this prototype nevertheless recognize that it is “human endurance” which will be the first obstacle to this prototype.
A technical laboratory for the future
Seeing such an electric bike on stage, we can legitimately wonder the usefulness of this concept. He will never see our roads and will never travel more than a few kilometers in his life. So why did Decathlon spend time and money to design this project?
To prepare for the future. By pushing all its knowledge to the maximum, the northern firm hopes to find innovative technologies, which will be used by the general public in the coming years. With FTP², the most interesting point may not even be the bike.
For this exceptional product, Van Rysel has developed special shoes. Cyclists have been using special shoes for pedaling for decades. They are equipped with a wedge under the sole, a system which has many advantages.
But with FTP², Van Rysel reinvents this solution. The brand offers a 2 in 1 pedal shoe. The hub is directly integrated into the carbon plate of the sole. The intermediate parts have disappeared, the shoe alone allows you to pedal. A major technical development, which today only presents a practical problem.
Once aimed at the crankset, the shoe must be unscrewed. You therefore need the help of a third party (and a good thirty seconds) to get on and off the bike safely. Not the most practical solution. Van Rysel explains that he is working on this subject in particular to find a solution.
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