Nicolas Vouilloz Interview: 10 Time World Champ Talks E-Bikes
Nicolas Vouilloz is a man of many talents having clinched 10 Downhill World Championships, a title in Intercontinental Rally Challenge and now competing at the top in the Enduro World Series as well as trying his hand at E-Bike racing. Nico races for the Lapierre Gravity Republic and is highly influential in the direction and development of not only Lapierre’s mountain bike range, but their ‘Overvolt’ E-Bikes. Whilst in the South of France we paid a visit to Nico to discuss everything from E-Bike racing to the technology’s direction in the coming years.
E-MTB: Can you confirm your plans for the upcoming season, will you continue to race the EWS alongside selected E-Bike races?
Nico: Yeah I will continue to do a complete season of EWS and try to improve my result on a 5th place in the overall, and I will play with E-Bikes during French Nationals. We have 3 events in enduro 1 and I will try to win the title in this series. I think it’s the 3rd year now, I competed last year in one event and it was good, there are not many to race but it seems like there is more interest and all the E-Bike brands are doing a team, Haibike, Giant, Moustache and of course Lapierre, so of course it will be good to be there at the beginning of the series.
E-MTB: How involved are you in the development of Lapierre’s E-Bike range?
Nico: Quite a lot, you will soon see a new bike, a new frame. The first idea was Gilles told me to do my dream bike for E-Bike, what it will be, how it will be, what the centre of gravity will be, just what you would do for a better bike. We thought of course about the weight distribution, the stiffness of the frame, about the weight of the frame, so I think the new bike will be sick! The one we have now, I have been involved in the geometry and the kinematics of the suspension. We have tried to do something more progressive for the E-Bike as it’s quite heavy and you bottom out easily, not to do too long a bike as the rear is quite long so if you do a tall bike it’s not so nice to ride, not too low a BB as in E-Bike you need to continue pedalling when you can, so if you have a BB too low it’s not good as you have to stop. These few things you can see straight away in the first day testing, so yeah I’m involved with that side of things.
E-MTB: Do you think that from an engineering perspective, E-bikes should try to mirror conventional mountain bikes, or would they be better with geometry and components designed for the increased power?
Nico: I think they need some specific stuff, you will see with the new SRAM group-set which is coming soon. The power delivery is really different from our own (leg) power and for gearing it’s quite specific, also for brakes it’s very specific. For now we are riding with big discs, but I’m quite sure the brakes will go in the same direction as the stiffness of suspension and the boost arrival which is for sure the right direction for E-Bikes front and rear. It’s for standard mountain bikes or 29” wheels but for E-Bike with 27.5” it’s great. Big tyres can be good for E-Bike also, as soon as we get some strong plus tyres, for now it’s not the case but I’m quite sure it will happen. I’m not sure if it’s the best for standard bikes but for E-Bike it could be good.
E-MTB: And expanding on your point about the Plus tyres, it would seem that Plus would be perfect for E-bike use, providing more traction for the heavier bikes?
Nico: I think it should come, in fact I think we will go in this direction, not for the complete range because it’s quite specific but I definitely think it brings some things as soon as we have stronger tyres. The size is good for E-Bike weight and how you ride this kind of bike, you need some strong casing, like the enduro casing and you are not looking at the weight, you definitely need something strong. It could be good when we have both strength and volume of these tyres. I’ve tested the tyres we have on the market and I just have a few rides to see how it feels, to see the benefit, see the weakness so that’s why I say we need some stronger tyres. But it was an interesting improvement, just I’m not convinced on the average bike without engine. It’s just really specific and you need dry conditions, not too many sharp rocks… It can be good but definitely not everywhere.
E-MTB: Where would you like to see E-Bike technology going?
Nico: I really hope that the battery capacity will improve, so from what I heard the technology of the battery is close to it’s maximum, so we only have 500 KW on this weight now so it seems like we are close to the maximum. I hope we will go into a new generation so we can have a bigger capacity, or the same capacity but the weight is going down a lot. So hopefully we will have smaller engine, smaller batteries, to become closer to the standard weight and weight balance, both are important. The weight of the bike and where the weight is put on the bike, now with the battery like it is we put a lot of weight on the front which is not the best, we have to improve this.
E-MTB: How do you see E-Bike Racing?
Nico: It’s hard to know. From my experience I have done both one cross country race from 1 hour which is fine but at the end you are flat out like a XC run because everyone has the engine and then races at the enduro 1 series. For me the best format will be more an all mountain style, more pedalling stages but not flat, because to have the benefit you need to climb a bit but with long stages, so a bit like an enduro but with more pedalling. It could be really good, it just depends on the country and area you are in. So more all mountain orientated than XC or enduro. I’m quite sure it’s the of course the brands that are pushing the bike so they want to promote it, so they ask their mountainbike riders if they can ride E-Bike. At Lapierre we made a specific team with E-Bike racers so we really want to be a leader on this kind of communication. There is some specific brands that are doing only E-Bikes so will have teams, their sales are growing and the competition is coming so it’s quite normal that the brands push to try and find a rider from enduro for example and ask them to do some races, even if they are racing downhill, it could be cool for the image. I think companies and brands are looking to put some young riders on E-Bike just to show it’s not boring and terrible to ride, you can have fun with some facility on the uphill is the message. It’s not only for old people, it is, but not only. You can have fun with this kind of bike, at Lapierre we want to show this and I’m quite sure it’s the same for everybody.
E-MTB: Do you see the E-Bike as the future of mountain biking?
Nico: I’m afraid of that. Why? Because as soon as the engine or battery will be half the weight you can’t imagine in 10 or 15 years that it will not come, if you have a mountain bike which is almost the same weight. Mountain biking, for me is not an easy sport if you are not riding everyday. If it helps to make the sport more open to a lower range of rider or people who can’t practice often I like that. But I am afraid because maybe in 15 years everything will be smaller and more integrated and maybe the E-Technology will take the place in percentage. For sure we will always have both.
E-MTB: E-Bikes can be subject to criticism, what do you say to those that believe they don’t belong on the trails?
Nico: I understand, but for me as soon as you try an E-Bike, I don’t say you fall in love but you can see the benefit, you can understand why people like them. Like I said already, people that are not riding all the time or are not super fit can start to have fun. Okay the bikes are heavy but you can have fun and ride trails, be in nature. If it brings more people onto the trails, for me it’s good as we are far from too many on the trails. People will always stay on the mountain bike, and people will prefer this as it’s easier so I think the two just have to cohabitate and I hope people will be smart enough to understand that for industry and people who can’t afford E-Bikes like to be in the mountains and have fun, so I hope that we have a place for both. My first nice E-Bike experience was after my second knee operation two years ago, I took a Lapierre E-Bike and I was on the trail 1.5-2 months after my operation. So no power in my legs but you just have to spin, it’s quite strong so you don’t have to do crazy things and I really enjoyed it because I was not strong but with the added assistance it was really fun. As soon as I got back on my normal bike I was not disappointed, but a little down because I was so far from the power I needed to have fun on this bike. It was then I realised how hard it was to have fun if you aren’t in shape on the standard bike. I’ve always been quite open to E-Bikes, I think you need to try to be open, or not, but you need to try the concept otherwise you are not open. You say ah no the bike is heavy, 22kg, it will be shit in the trails. And then when you try it, all my friends who try it straight away want to have one in the garage because when you pedal you don’t feel the weight, and sure in the downhill you feel the weight but it’s much more stable than the standard bike and it gives you confidence.
E-MTB: What is it that attracted you to E-Bikes?
Nico: First was to develop them for Lapierre, before doing a bike and geometry you need to be interested and try it. So it was for my job. I liked it straight away because I remember Gilles Lapierre liked this kind of bike, he was thinking he was alone in this case. But as soon as I tried it I seen what it can bring to people and even myself, like I say if I have one hour or during the season if I have to spin my legs I no longer take my road bike. I take my E-Bike, climb to turn the legs and do a trail. I’m on the trail and not on the road with the cars. So from my job and also from my injury I can see it can help. Also if you are racing and you have a small track around you can climb four or five times, it’s not so boring to climb. It’s things you cannot do with your normal bike.
E-MTB: From your days rallying, you are used to power, is there any connection between your interest in E-Bikes and your days of competing in car rallying?
Nico: No, I think you can be more open with E-Bikes if you like motorbikes for example. If you like downhill and in your head you are not into pedalling. When you are on the downhill, you like the adrenaline, you like the effort too, but less. When you like mechanical sports, such as cars and motorbikes I think you have the connection with E-Bikes because it’s a bit of both, it’s not just an engine, you still have to pedal and your heart still go up, you are still doing sport. So it’s a mix of that.
E-MTB: What are your favourite and least favourite aspect of the E-Bike?
Nico: My favourite aspect is that you can do more than with your normal bike. If you have 2 batteries for example you can do much more, you can do a lot more descending. Because you climb two times faster and you spend more time in the downhill, so that’s what I like. Also I like how you can play with the climbs, you have the assistance and you can do a bit of trail and you can try to climb, sometimes you have to break in a turn so you can play on an uphill trail, not only the downhill.
You have to find trails that you won’t have to push the bike up, you have to be careful about the battery, so you are less free than with a normal bike. If you have to ride without battery and it’s an uphill it’s crazy. It’s better when that doesn’t happen, so you have less freedom when you go, you have to think carefully to save your battery at the beginning, to have more at the end so you can be sure to do the loops. This is something you don’t think about when you go with your standard bike. Also the weight distribution, you have quite a lot of weight on the front, with a long rear wheel base and the battery where it is means sometimes it is less predictable, you can have grip and then suddenly it slides quite quickly.
E-MTB: Where do you see the biggest developments and innovations to be in the coming years?
Nico: I think definitely the durability, how long you can ride for with one battery, so you don’t have to carry a spare battery. I think even if it’s lighter and everything most people are looking and waiting for something when you can ride double the amount of time, so it will give the feeling to be free again like a standard bike. You will go and you can do three hours in turbo mode and not only one hour. How many runs can we do, how long can we ride for…I think a lot of people are waiting for that, it is always the first question.
You can keep up to date with Nico’s racing by liking his Facebook Page.
For more information on the bike Nico is riding head to the Lapierre Website.
Words & Photos: Ross Bell
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