What a difference a year makes. In 2015, the Union Cycliste Internationale (competitive cycling鈥檚 governing body) caught flak when its officials inspected 25 bikes for hidden motors during the Tour de France.
Super-secret electric bikes? The very notion was laughable. Well, nobody is听chuckling at the UCI now, not after its inspectors caught Belgian racer Femke Van den Driessche with a motor tucked inside the seat听tube of her bike during the World Cyclocross Championships last January. Suddenly, several years鈥� worth of rumors didn鈥檛 seem quite so silly.
The UCI has stepped up its game. The organization was on track to make听as many as 4,000 unannounced bike checks at this year鈥檚 edition of the Tour de France, using a combination of thermal imaging cameras, its own magnetic field scanner, and a mobile X-ray machine on loan from the French government.
So what exactly is the UCI听looking for? What kind of motors are we actually talking about? Here鈥檚 the breakdown.
One Well-Known Retrofit Kit
The Vivax Assist is the best-known concealed motor and the model found in Van de Driessche鈥檚 bike during the infamous bust. While the 3.9-pound motor and battery assembly is rated at 200 watts, it actually supplies 110 watts of power to the cranks for as long as 90 minutes. If that doesn鈥檛 sound terribly impressive, rest assured听it鈥檚 more than enough of a boost to drop competitors.
The tube-shaped motor features a beveled gear that meshes with another beveled gear mounted on a standard听Shimano bottom-bracket spindle. A battery stowed inside a water bottle powers the motor.
The Vivax Assist has been available as an upgrade kit since 2008. In the United States, you can expect to pay about $4,000 for the kit alone. Is Vivax the only outfit supplying such motors? It鈥檚听the only company doing so openly. How many individuals are building and supplying cyclists with motors in a more discreet fashion? No one knows.
A Few Ready-to-Roll Bikes
Only a few companies sell听complete bikes outfitted with concealed motors. Vivax, not surprisingly, sells its own house-brand Forza CF carbon road frame听outfitted with its motor and crank assembly for 4,999 euros (about $5,540). Goat Bikes is a small operation from the United Kingdom that also sells Vivax-equipped bikes,听including an aluminum road bike called the Race that retails for 4,499 euros听($4,985).
The newest entry to the market is Monaco-based Typhoon Bicycles. The budding brand recently launched carbon-fiber models containing Typhoon鈥檚 patented e-Assist battery and motor system. Typhoon claims its motor offers three distinct power modes (50 to听70 watts, 130 to听160 watts, and up to 250 watts)听at the push of a button. The price for its entry-level听carbon-fiber road bike? A cool 8,000 euros听($8,865).
Magnetic Wheels:听The New Frontier
A few journalists contend there鈥檚 yet another variant of mechanized cheating on the rise that requires no motor at all鈥攅lectromagnetic wheels. Claudio Ghisalberti, writing for the Italian newspaper听Gazzetta dello Sport, claims to have met with a confidential source who creates electromagnetic rear wheels that provide an extra 60听watts of power and sell for a staggering 200,000 euros ($221,570).
Similarly, reporters Thierry Vildary and Marco Bonarrigo met with Istvan Varjas, an engineer and former racer who has been building concealed bike motors for more than a decade. Varjas claims to have also developed an electromagnetic wheel.听According to the engineer, neodymium magnets concealed within the sidewall of a deep-section carbon rim generate an induction force when they rotate past battery-charged electromagnets housed within the bike鈥檚 chainstays and/or seatstays. Varjas claims the system can be activated via a Bluetooth device. 听The Varjas interview aired in April on the French television program听Stade 2.