8. April 2020

Safety first! The EU Machinery Directive

Various standards and legal requirements influence the development of Electrically Power Assisted Cycles - EPAC for short. The ROTWILD e-mountain bikes belong to this category. In their design, the bike engineers must therefore observe comprehensive legal framework conditions. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC is one of these. The European Parliament brought it into being. It is intended to ensure a uniform level of protection for accident prevention in machinery. Drive systems - such as the motor in an e-bike - also fall under the standard. Even if they are only "almost a machine" according to Article 2g as partly completed machinery. ROTWILD is thus obligated as an e-bike manufacturer to incorporate these provisions into the development of the bikes. Otherwise, sales in the EU would not be possible.

The impact of the Machinery Directive for the trade chain

In addition to the safety aspect, the EU is pursuing the goal of ensuring the free movement of goods uniformly throughout the EU and reducing trade barriers through precisely defined standards. In Germany, the requirements of the EU Directive are implemented by the Product Safety Act and the Machinery Ordinance. The effects of the standard are not limited to ROTWILD as a manufacturer alone, but also include trade with the end customer. In practice, this means that the parties involved at the individual trade levels, as well as the end customer, are not allowed to exchange or attach any components to an e-bike that the bike manufacturer has not approved. This includes, for example, the headlights of the lighting system, child seats or child trailers. In addition, the Machinery Directive clearly defines that all tuning measures on the motor control system are not permitted.

Conclusions from the Machinery Directive for ROTWILD

On the one hand, the requirements of the Machinery Directive increase the amount of documentation required in the development of an e-bike. For example, compared to similar processes for a conventional bicycle. Accordingly, ROTWILD must provide evidence of approval from a testing laboratory for all add-on parts. In addition, the engineering department must take into account all points of the specified standards in the design process. For e-mountain bikes, the specifications of the pedelec standard EN 15194 apply, which in turn refers to ISO 4210, the MTB standard. These define the test requirements necessary for product approval. For example, when it comes to testing frames or components for their operational safety. ROTWILD works closely with the independent EFBE Prüftechnik GmbH on these test procedures. The testing laboratory is one of the leading laboratories for mechanical testing of bicycles and components. Here, manufacturers and testers go beyond the minimum requirements of EN15194 and ISO4210. In the load tests of frames and components, the loads are significantly higher than legally required.

A guideline for the ROTWILD rider

In use on the trail, the rider experiences the forces to which the bike is subjected in a real environment. In the test setup in the test lab, users have to simulate these forces. Outdoors, a lot is based on subjective perception. In order to give the rider a simple indication of the range of use for which the respective bike is intended, there is also the international ASTM classification. Here, five different areas of use are distinguished, from touring bikes (category 1) to downhill bikes (category 5). The intended use is defined on the basis of the terrain and jump height, for example. This gives every biker a simple orientation for which loads the manufacturer guarantees the safety of the respective bike. At the same time, the ASTM classification can only provide a general orientation. Many manufacturers therefore describe possible remaining risks in the operating instructions of the bike.