Electric bikes steal the show at Interbike
By Todd Prince, Las Vegas Review-Journal
The son of a champion motorcycle racer, Zeno Panarari grew up in a region of Italy so well known for its gasoline-fueled bikes that it’s sometimes called Motor Valley.
Thus, when the mechanical engineer took to building a bicycle, it turned out more like his father’s motorcycle than a Schwinn pedal bicycle.
Panarari’s model was just one of the many eye-grabbing electric bikes on display at Interbike, the cycling industry’s largest North American show, with roughly 25,000 attendees and hundreds of exhibitors. The three-day show ended Friday.
While the U.S. cycling industry is in stagnation as younger people pursue new forms of sport and recreation, the electric bike industry is speeding ahead, according to industry professionals.