From the very beginning, we built mountain bikes to take us further. To explore new trails. To discover new experiences. To push the boundaries of cycling, into unknown pedaling territory. Just as knobby tires, suspension and disc brakes took all of us deeper into the unknown, pedal assist e-MTBs have brought more of us along for the ride.
The following adventure is an excerpt from Further, Shimano’s finest collection of e-MTB tales from around the globe. These stories are told to inspire us to push our own boundaries of action, adventure and advocacy, just a little bit further with these powerful new rides
Photos by Keisters Tsuji
Behind every bike revolution is a dedicated team of designers, engineers, product managers, testers and riders. When Shimano committed to revolutionizing the e-MTB experience, they relied on the process and practice of engineering excellence built over the last 100 years.
Nobuyuki Kakinoki, a 16-year employee of Shimano and part of the product planning department at the bicycle components division, offers a glimpse into the inspiration and development of the EP8 system and how he hopes the technology will bring people closer to their gear, closer to the trails they love and closer to each other through new shared experiences
Let’s start at the beginning. What inspired Shimano to become involved with e-bikes in general? Shimano’s philosophy of providing components to create an enjoyable riding experience is the same regardless of bike categories, not only standard bikes but e-bikes as well. E-bikes open up opportunities for people to improve health and happiness while enjoying nature and the world around us, which is central to Shimano’s mission.
So from there, what inspired Shimano to re-imagine the e-MTB experience and develop EP8? We have always kept “The right power at the right time” as the core reason and our guiding principle for developing EP8. What we want to offer riders is the authentic experience and joy of riding a bicycle. While an e-MTB may have an electric assist drive unit, we still want to keep the ride feel and experience as close to a natural feel as possible.
On challenging trails, the rider’s input must be in harmony with the assist characteristics to enjoy bike control with the same confidence as a standard MTB. This natural ride feel is the most important consideration.
How did you engineer the “natural ride feel” into an electric-assist motor? We focused on the controllability of assist power in EP8 development through extensive real-world testing to create advanced algorithms. But we also focused on making the drive unit compact, lightweight, and quiet to be more like a traditional bicycle.
From a rider control perspective, the assist mode switch can be operated intuitively, and the cycle computer, which has only the essential functions, is easy to understand and operate. We have always kept an intuitive user experience in mind when developing the EP8 e-bike system as a whole.
Where did the team test EP8 during the development process? At the first stage of development, we started testing at the MTB park in Kyoto. This mountain bike park is the place we always use for our initial testing. After that, we started testing in Germany, USA and France with our global field-testing team.
What is the terrain like where you R&D tested EP8? In Japan, the MTB park has very steep climbs, descents and also a paved road for controlled evaluation.
This course helped us to fine tune the assist control, mechanical strength and durability of the EP8 system. Then, our skunk works test riders extensively rode the system on their local trails in the mountains of the USA and France, where they could evaluate the system on a diverse range of trails and terrain.
Who comprised the test team that helped fine tune the EP8 system? From the early stage of development, we decided to work very closely with our team of test riders in the USA and Europe.
They have an extraordinary amount of mountain bike experience, excellent riding skills and also provide thoughtful feedback and suggestions for development. They performed testing to evaluate the assist characteristics in various trail and riding situations. Product managers from the regional offices also joined the test camps and helped us a lot. The finished product is the result of great teamwork across the globe.
What were some things that you focused on in the testing? The focal point depended on the stage of development. At the first stage of development, we focused on the basic assist character that enables much more controllability in real mountain trails. Since this was our main goal developing EP8, we focused on this core part of our philosophy. We are making a bicycle, not a motorcycle.
As the motor provides assistance up a steep climb, it should be easily controlled by pedaling input like a normal mountain bike. After we established basic assist characteristics, we moved to improve assist behavior in every riding situation. We always think about what the assist characteristics should be in certain real world riding situations. Whenever we got lost in the minute product details, we went back to our concept and core goal to keep improving and moving forward.
What do you hope people can achieve with e-MTB and EP8? To explore new and more enjoyable ways of riding! For example, with an EP8-equipped e-MTB you can now climb up steep, technical trails that you had to push up before. The climbs can be as much fun as the descents! I believe you will discover a new way of riding and new challenges on everyday rides. And with an e-MTB, you can enjoy trail riding to the fullest with limited time. Compared to a traditional mountain bike, you can cover more terrain in less time.
As a mountain biker yourself, what excites you most about the new EP8? I can confidently get the right power I need, when I need it, so I can conquer technical climbs easily! Even if I ride with Boost mode, I can easily control the motor torque through pedaling, and I can clean a super steep climb with confidence.
What else are you excited about exploring on e-MTBs? I am excited about all the steep and rocky climbs that used to be unrideable on my traditional mountain bike! This is a whole new way of riding style for me. Now, I find climbing more enjoyable than downhill! Overcoming each obstacle that appears in front of me and climbing tough trails arelike solving a puzzle. Discovering new ways to ride old trails is so liberating.
What is your favorite thing about riding a bike in general? I like riding very early in the morning. Every weekend, I ride my mountain bike–pedaling during the sunrise is my favorite moment. I feel freedom and pure joy!
What is your favorite meal to eat after a long day on the bike? At first, a Hazy IPA, of course! After beer, sea bream sashimi is my favorite.
What inspires you during product testing? The process itself, of gradually approaching what we are aiming for. I feel fun and joy in the process of conducting test rides and discussions in order to create assist characteristics and experience that we had initially imagined.
What experience do you ultimately hope people have with EP8, or for that matter, any other gear the Shimano team develops? Let’s try new things. Skills, age, and sex do not matter to enjoy the exhilaration of riding a bicycle. Shimano is a company that makes bicycles and fishing components, in other words, equipment to have fun. That is why we, the development team of Shimano, are working to make the product enjoyable when everyone uses it. That is the most important thing. We strongly believe that each user will be able to make new discoveries with our product.
