The 3rd Age invades the Montreal Bike Show, where almost all the models on display are electric

In Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels a lot, his desk in his backpack, looking for fascinating things and people. He talks to everyone and is interested in all aspects of this town's history.

At the Montreal Bike Show, which runs through Sunday at the Palais des Congres, I thought I was seeing tall, thin cyclists wrapped in Lycra. Instead, I met hundreds of grandparents, often in pairs, who came to buy electric bikes capable of giving “wings” to even cyclists disabled with arthritis.

Am I at a bike show or a FADOQ meeting? It's a golden age here!

The atmosphere is pleasant. Gray or white heads make up at least three-quarters of visitors. Some use walkers to get around. There is also a lot of sugarcane.

Electric bikes also have the virtue of providing comfort to users who have difficulty walking.

Photo by Louis-Philippe Messier

What percentage of the bikes here are electric? I haven't counted, but by eye I'd say 95%… maybe more!

“Just before the pandemic broke we reached an equilibrium with as many electric bikes as electric bikes, where it was almost exclusively electric,” said Montreal Bike Show founder John Dubey.

“The beauty of the electric bike is that it democratizes learning by opening it up even to people who are not old enough for athletic prowess,” enthuses Mr Dubey.

Even those with difficulty walking, once in the saddle, find the freedom to walk longer in the air.

“We have two 82-year-old cyclists in our electric bike touring club and they follow us without any problem,” 66-year-old Louis Beauregard from Candiac told me.

M^me Beauregard met her lover Alain Silvestre, 63, at the club in question.

“I started a Facebook group a year ago, we have over 2,000 members and we do two outings a week,” said Mr. Silvestre, the owner of two electric bikes, came to see his third model.

Alain Silvestre and Louis Beauregard visited a bike show as a couple and met at the Electric Bike Club on the South Shore.

Photo by Louis-Philippe Messier

Combined purchases

There are couples everywhere.

“It's a unique situation with electric bikes: people often buy them in pairs, twice the same model, to go at the same speed and get the same experience,” Velec president Michel LeBlanc explained to me. The bike company was established in 2005.

Its bikes were once a curiosity at the Montreal Bike Show, where the Velek company was surrounded by rivals!

Michel LeBlanc, founder of Velec and pioneer of electric bicycles in Quebec.

Photo by Louis-Philippe Messier

In front of the showroom entrance, the latest blue R48i model from Velek, designed in Saint-Bruno, designed in Granby and programmed in Griffintown, Montreal, is sometimes described as the “Tesla” of Quebec cycling.

It's a “smart” bike with a controller that better coordinates the movement of the crankset with the motor, increasing its autonomy and battery life.

“We can install system updates. It can be unlocked for a friend remotely. We can also track it on GPS if it is stolen will kill To prevent a thief from using it,” Mr. LeBlanc listed.

So you can “kill” your bike remotely? I was disappointed to find that it didn't self-destruct in a cloud of smoke.

“The crankset is locked and becomes useless. The battery is attached to the bike so that if the bike is stolen while the battery is charging, it is useless.

With customers fearing theft and breakage the most, Mr LeBlanc envisions offering a program called Peace of Mind, which replaces a stolen bike with a new one for three years and calls CAA when it breaks.

Aging is often associated with technophobia. Well, in the biking field, apparently, it's the opposite!

For my part, I tried the famous R48i from Velec on the test track at the show and I really liked it. It reminded me of other electric bikes, but in a hushed, ultra-comfortable Cadillac version. I'm not the target audience for this product…but give me a few more years and maybe it will!

I tried the Smart R48 from the Quebec company Velec and it was very comfortable to drive.

Photo by Louis-Philippe Messier