Every summer, Ampler Bikes is on tour to put the wheels on the asphalt in your near. The super-light e-bikes are to be test ridden and tried out in as many places as possible. At the Ampler Road Shows, anyone can drop by and see which of the bikes suits them best.
Here you find the whole tour plan to not miss any show in your near. We sat down with Benni from the event team to get a taste of the tour and give you an insight into what happens on site.
Almost every weekend, Ampler Bikes is on tour so that the e-bikes can be test ridden in a wide variety of cities. Is there one story of touring life in particular that sticks in your mind?
Yes. It’s a running joke that no matter where we show up with the bikes, the first thing people always ask is: Where’s the battery? We’ve made mugs out of it in the meantime. We’re flattered by the question because it shows that the public doesn’t see at first glance that it’s an e-bike – and that’s how it should be.
Where is the battery? The battery is installed in the down tube and you can’t see it.
Is there any feedback that you have often heard shortly after the cyclists have returned from a test ride?
When we’re at the trade fairs or at our own roadshows, it’s always great to see how happy and excited people are when they come back – and they don’t expect it at all. We don’t force anyone to test ride, but sometimes you have to have experienced it yourself to realise how much fun these bikes are.
Then when they come back, it’s great to see how really 99% of the people have a big grin on their face.
Can you give the audience an idea of what the test rides are like on site? How much time should one take? How far out are the bikes allowed to go? Can you ride in pairs or as a group?
There are two different concepts – we can be found at trade fairs and we have our own roadshows. In general, we want to allow the public to try out the bikes for as long as possible.
At fairs, it is generally quite crowded. The bikes are constantly being passed from one hand to the next. At the roadshows, people can take more time for the bikes.
Since e-bikes are otherwise mostly sold online, it is important for us to give people the opportunity to try out the bikes themselves once on site. We have bikes with different frames to fit different needs. Do you prefer a practical singlespeed that has an optimal gear ratio or do you prefer an 11-speed city cruiser model that gives you even more fine-tuning options? Questions arise like: How do I sit on it and which frame size suits me?
We want to make sure that the bikes fit their potential new owners perfectly and give them a taste. To do this, we are on the road in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The procedure is quite simple. We show the bike briefly. And then they can just ride it. We let the audience decide how they want to test the bikes. And as I said – almost everyone comes back with a big grin. (laughs)
What has changed this year, besides significantly more cities? How have the Ampler Road Shows evolved this season? What is different? What is new?
Corona has kept us very busy, of course. Many shows were cancelled this year. The security concept has evolved. Our team has been vaccinated.
What we already tried out in 2020 – our own light version of a fair – we are doing again and want to make it bigger. Apart from that, we are just happy that we have set up a real roadshow, which is now making guest appearances in many new cities.
Then there are now three countries that we have included in the programme.
With Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, we have expanded our radius well.
What does the future of the Ampler Road Shows look like?
When the situation around the events has returned to normal, we will be seen more often at trade fairs. The future will look like this: We always want to give people the opportunity to try out the e-bikes and will expand our network of cities.
We want to create an e-bike that fits perfectly into people’s everyday lives. It is part of the service to go to the cities and be where the people are. The radius is getting bigger, the cities are getting more.