System Synchronization: Ananda and Shimano Di2 Partnership

As e-bikes continue to evolve, the relationship between the drive system and the drivetrain components is becoming increasingly vital. To further advance this experience, Ananda is integrating its eDrive platform with Shimano’s Di2 electronic shifting technology, enabling both systems to communicate directly through CAN bus technology.

System Connectivity Meets Ride Performance

Building on Ananda’s experience in connected e-bike system development, this new project focuses on creating a digital bridge between the motor and drivetrain. By linking the Ananda drive system and the Shimano Di2 derailleur via CAN bus, the two systems can synchronize and share data in real time.

A Natural Extension of Ananda’s Open Ecosystem Strategy

This collaboration reflects Ananda’s broader vision of creating an open, flexible, and highly adaptable eDrive ecosystem.

By supporting advanced drivetrain technologies from leading industry partners like Shimano, Ananda provides bicycle brands (OEMs) with greater freedom when designing complete e-bike systems. This approach allows brands to combine motor, battery, display, and premium drivetrain technologies into a unified package while maintaining maximum flexibility in product development.

Our Product Manager at Ananda, explains: “By enabling both systems to exchange data, the integration creates a foundation for more intuitive riding experiences, reduced rider workload, and improved rider insights. In doing so, Ananda is embracing the future of connectivity by enabling not only individual e-bike systems to communicate, but the entire network of an e-bike“

Launching with the New M7000 Platform

The first phase of this integration will launch on Ananda’s new M7000 mid-motor platform together with the Shimano CUES product family. Designed for modern e-bike applications, the M7000 combines powerful performance and refined ride characteristics with advanced connectivity features.

Future phases are expected to extend this compatibility to additional Ananda drive systems and future Shimano product lines. Stay tuned for upcoming OEM bike launches featuring the new Ananda M7000 and Shimano Di2 integration

Whether you are developing a new e-bike, searching for the right drive system partner, or exploring new ideas for the future, Ananda is here to support you. With more than 15 years of experience in developing e-drive systems, we understand the challenges brands and OEMs face in today’s highly competitive market.

From integration and performance to cost efficiency and reliability, whatever challenges you are facing, our team is ready to help find the right solution. We look forward to welcoming you from Wednesday, June 24 to Sunday, June 27 at Eurobike in Frankfurt.

Ananda remains true to its roots with the introduction of the R820, a brand-new hub motor specifically designed for adventurous eGravel riders. While mid-drive motors have recently gained popularity, Ananda proves that the hub motor is still relevant. The R820 eGravel motor is developed based on Ananda’s years of expertise and reputation as a pioneer in hub motors.

With 40 Nm of torque, a smart thru-axle system, and a magnetic connector, the R820 offers gravel riders a powerful, reliable, and trouble free riding experience. It’s perfect for eRiders looking to explore.

Who is it developed for?

Simple: For the gravel rider seeking a balance between support and agility without compromising on control. And who loves switching between dirth paths, gravel, and paved roads.

With the R820 system, Ananda is targeting eGravel riders who love a sporty riding experience. Since the hub motor is directly connected to the rear wheel, it provides direct power transfer, creating a real riding sensation. Combined with an impressive 40 Nm of torque in a compact design weighing just 2.0 kg, the R820 deliver a precisely sporty feeling.

“Listening to our ambassadors, we wanted to make improvements in offering a trouble free riding experience“. Grady Dang, Regional manager Western-Europe explains: “Every sporty cyclist knows the pain of a flat tire. Thanks to the thru-axle and the magnetic connector that connects the electric motor and the rest of the system, the wheel is easy to reassemble”. This makes changing your tire easy With this, Ananda hopes to encourage a wide range of riders to go on adventure.

What are the benefits for the rider?

The lightweight motor is highly noticeable. Which improves the riding feeling but also makes easy to load your bike into the back of your car for a trip to the forest or to take it on holiday.

Another advantage is that the R820, thanks to its compact design, is almost indistinguishable from a non-assisted gravel bike, making it an excellent choice for riders seeking a “camouflage” bike. and makes integration almost unoticeable.

But most important, with its compactness and high torque, the motor retains its power on climbs. This is thanks to a deep understanding of products, coupled with the dedication of our engineers, which leads to the result of a motor system that continues to perform well.

Reflecting on a sucsesfull China Cycle

For us at Ananda, China Cycle is always one of the highlights of the year. As a Shanghai-based company, the exhibition represents much more than just a trade show. It is an opportunity to welcome customers, OEMs, bicycle brands and partners from around the world, while showcasing who we are, where we come from and what we stand for.

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to visit our booth this year. From exploring new opportunities to strengthening existing relationships, the exhibition demonstrated the importance of collaboration and long-term vision within the dynamic field of the e-bike industry. Choosing a drive system partner has never been more strategic.

Strategic cooporation for long term relationship

For us close relationships start with listening. The modern e-bike market requires far more than a generic motor solution. Different bike categories and riding styles demand different system characteristics, both in hardware and software integration. With our our extensive production capabilities and broad portfolio — ranging from hub motors to high-performance mid-drive systems — at China Cycle we showed brands our ability to support with our comprehensive and flexible e-bike system.

M7000 series taking a central stage

This philosophy was clearly reflected throughout our booth during the exhibition, where Ananda showcased our complete product portfolio alongside several new innovations and future-oriented technologies. One of the key highlights was the latest generation of integrated e-bike drive systems, with the new M7000 platform taking center stage.

Ourmodular mid-drive platform attracted strong interest from international bicycle brands thanks to its scalable architecture, compact integration and flexibility across multiple bike categories, from urban and trekking bikes to high-performance eMTB applications.

With the M7000 series, we demonstrated that high performance and system flexibility can go hand in hand. While the platform delivers torque figures up to 120Nm, the development philosophy behind the system goes beyond peak specifications alone. Across the industry, there is growing recognition that real-world rider experience, operational efficiency, integration flexibility and long-term scalability are becoming just as important as maximum power output. The M7000 platform was developed around exactly this market evolution.

R900 3-speed gear hub motor system

Alongside the M7000 platform, visitors were also introduced to several of Ananda’s latest technologies and system solutions, including the R900 integrated electronic 3-speed gear hub motor system, advanced display integrations and our newest developments in diagnostics and connectivity.

Feel the future

Another highlight at our booth was the presentation of the global-first AI-driven touch technology, OneTouch Smart Surface, jointly developed with TG0. Instead of relying on traditional physical buttons, this technology integrates the control of the bike’s interface directly into the intelligent sensing surface. By combining AI technology with advanced materials science, the surface is able to recognize touch commands through an almost invisible interface, creating a cleaner integration, improved riding safety and a completely new interaction experience between rider and bicycle.

Looking back, China Cycle provided valuable insights, strong international exposure and many promising conversations for future collaborations. Ananda would once again like to thank all partners, customers and visitors who stopped by the booth during the event.

Ananda kicks off European Dealer Training Tour in Warschau, Poland

Earlier, we announced a series of dealer trainings across Europe, and we are pleased to confirm that the first stop has now been successfully completed in Warsaw, Poland. The training took place during the Bike Expo at the National Stadium and was reveived with full enthousiasm.

The training was led by Piotr Smolarz, Sales Manager Poland at Ananda, and supported by Rafał Adam Kuźniar of Pro Sports Group, our official service partner in Poland. The session focused on practical, real-world service scenarios in an interactive, hands-on format.

As more Polish brands, like Romet, Ecobike, and Barton, integrate Ananda mid-drive and hub motor systems into their portfolios, strengthening technical knowledge and aftersales support at dealer level is essential. Instead of mass training, a small-scale format was chosen with a limited number of participants for an interactive sessions. Moreover, the training was free and thus accessible to every bike shop, small or large.

Hands-on and practical training

Ananda showed participants workshop cases such as diagnosing system errors and resolving communication issues between components. A key focus was the use of the Ananda Link service tool for reading and interpreting error codes, running diagnostics, and restoring system functionality step by step.

This approach enables dealers to identify issues faster and resolve service cases more efficiently—reducing diagnosis time and minimizing unnecessary component replacements.

“A key goal of this training is to make service as straightforward and efficient as possible,” says Piotr Smolarz. “Dealers should be able to quickly understand what’s happening in the system and take the right action without losing too much time.”

Succesfull start of the tour

With strong attendance and positive feedback, the first training session in Poland marks a successful start to the European Dealer Training Tour. It underlines our commitment to not only supplying e-bike systems, but also supporting dealers with the knowledge and tools required for daily operations.

At the end of the training, participating dealers received an official certificate confirming successful completion of the Ananda Dealer Training. This certification underlines their technical qualification and can also serve as an added value for their workshop and customer offering.

With this first training successfully completed in Poland, we see a clear confirmation of our approach: strengthening the e-bike ecosystem goes beyond delivering systems alone.

As Ananda, we are actively moving towards a model where we support our partners with structured training, hands-on technical knowledge, and practical service tools.

As the European Dealer Training Tour continues, our focus remains on creating consistent training standards across markets. This helps raise the overall level of service quality, improves workshop efficiency, and strengthens the daily cooperation between Ananda and our dealer network.

In the current stage of the e-bike industry, this type of long-term technical support is becoming just as important as product development and market introduction

Additional training sessions across Europe will follow in the coming months. More information will be shared soon via our official channels.

BIKE EXPO 2026: The premium Bicycle event in Eastern-Europe, Poland

The eighth edition of PEKAO BIKE EXPO – National Bicycle Test will take place from April 11-13, 2026. Saturday and Sunday will be dedicated to end customers, while Monday will be a closed day for the bicycle industry and media. At the PGE National Stadium, visitors will able able to have a closer look to the latest ebike systems and technology of Ananda showcasing various mid-drive and hub motor models for, eMTB, eTrekking and eCity.

What to Expect at Bike Expo ?

Selecting an e-bike system today is about far more than making a purely technological choice. At Bike-expo, Ananda will not only showcase its newest systems, but also underline that, for Ananda, developing an e-bike system goes far beyond focusing solely on high performance. It is about creating scalable systems that provide control over development and deliver true flexibility for brands. On the latst day of the event Ananda is organizing a dealer training, part of the European dealer training tour.

B2B Festival 2026: Connecting with retailers and share experiences

From February 8 to 9, Ananda will join the B2B Festival in ’s-Hertogenbosch for the third year in a row. With the growing number of bicycle brands and an expanding dealer network across the Netherlands, the B2B Festival is the ideal place for Ananda to connect with dealers, who are working with our systems daily or simply to reach to new Dealer audience.

What to Expect at the B2B Festival ?

Earlier this year at Velofollies, Ananda officially launched the new M7000 Series One platform three motors, all built on the same advanced technological foundation. At the B2B Festival, this next-generation platform will again take the center stage

Equally important is the presence of our service team, ready to answer all questions related to service processes, availability, and Ananda Link, our diagnostic and service platform. This ensures dealers not only learn about our technology, but also how we support them long after the sale.

last month all European Ananda Service Stations gathered at our headquarters in Arnhem, The Netherlands for an intensive two-day certification program.

Technicians from Italy, Poland, Hungary and the Netherlands worked side by side on Ananda systems — aligning procedures, sharing field experience and working through real workshop cases.

It was a hands-on technical training, focused on daily service situations in bike shops. After these sessions, all participating Service Stations are now fully certified according to the same Ananda service standard.

With more Service Stations popping up across Europe, ensuring consistent service quality has become more important than ever. For bike shops, this means predictable, fast and consistent technical support — wherever they are in Europe.

How Ananda service stations support dealers

An Ananda Service Station is a locally based, officially trained and certified technical partner that supports bike shops working with Ananda drive systems.

Service Stations are technical workshops that deal daily with Ananda motors, controllers, displays and sensors. Their role is clear: support dealers quickly and keep riders on the road.

Bike shops can rely on Service Stations for:

1. Immediate access to technical experts via phone or e-mail

2. Structured and transparent handling of returns and warranty cases

3. hands on support in System diagnostic and analysis

4. Stock managment & fast logistics

5. Component inspection or replacement

Ananda Link in daily workshop practice

A key part of the service training in Arnhem was Ananda Link, Ananda’s web-based service platform designed to support e-bike brands, OEMs and bike shops with system diagnostics and software updates.

During the sessions, our technicians worked hands-on with Ananda Link by connecting bikes via USB to review motor settings, assistance levels, display configuration and more, followed by running full system diagnostics.

These diagnostics include checks on parameters such as battery voltage, motor temperature, sensor values and communication signals, ensuring a consistent approach across all Service Stations.

When needed, diagnostic data can be shared directly within the platform with the Ananda service team. This ensures that all relevant information is stored in one central location, making it easier to follow up and track service cases over time.

Training matters as the network grows

As Ananda continues to open new Service Stations, training and certification are essential to keep service quality consistent.

That is why all new Service Stations follow the same onboarding and certification process before becoming operational. Additional Service Stations are currently being prepared in markets including Germany and Denmark, and will be integrated into the same service and training structure.

By certifying all European Service Stations together in the Netherlands, Ananda ensures that bike shops receive the same level of technical support across all markets — today and as the network continues to grow.

Reid Bikes and Ananda have been working together since 2019, united by a shared vision of making high-quality cycling and e-mobility accessible to riders around the world. To understand how this partnership began and how it continues to shape Reid’s product strategy, we spoke with Leon Stimpson, Product Manager at Reid Bikes. In this interview, Leon shares insights into Reid’s origins, their global mission, and why Ananda’s systems have become an essential part of their lineup.

Can you tell us something about Reid and the history of the company? What is the company’s vision?

Reid Bikes started in 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. Our founder, James Reid, aimed to offer Australia’s best-value bikes by selling directly from the factory to the consumer. By late 2013, we had stores in major Australian cities and a strong online presence.

In 2014, we established Reid Bikes Ltd in the UK to manage international distribution while maintaining design and manufacturing oversight. We now operate in over 30 countries, designing bikes and e-bikes for global distribution, and we also manage private label manufacturing contracts.

Our vision and mission is to make cycling and e-mobility accessible to all. We achieve this by being globally recognised for well-designed bikes at competitive prices, establishing ourselves as leaders in the leisure, recreation, and personal transport sectors. We also demonstrate a strong environmental pledge through our “Buy One, Plant One” campaign, where we plant a tree for every bike sold.

When did the partnership with Ananda start, and what made you decide to enter into this collaboration? How did that decision come about?

Reid’s partnership with Ananda began in 2019. At the time, we were looking for a competitively priced yet powerful mid-motor from a company that could provide reliable support, even with our use of third-party batteries, controllers, and displays.

This partnership has since evolved, allowing us to share feedback and build on strengths to the point where we now confidently offer Ananda systems to our Private Label Programme (PLP) clients as well.

What are your needs as a bike brand, and how does Ananda support you as a system supplier?

As a brand focused on affordability without compromising quality, we need systems that are competitively priced, powerful, and feature-rich. Anr customers. Ananda also offers global support and flexible production options, which is crucial for our ability to assemble and sell bikes in a range of countries to suit our clients’ global needs.

Which motors do you use, and why did you choose this solution?

We use a range of Ananda motors based on the eBike’s price point, requirements, and the country of sale. Our commonly used mid-drive motors include the M60 for recreational and leisure eBikes and the M100 for our more power-hungry models and eCargo bikes.

For our Model Year 2026 line, we have also introduced Ananda hub motors, along with more Ananda displays and controllers. This expansion allows us to offer the same reliability, support, and quality to our more price-sensitive models without making compromises in other areas.

Retailers are an important sales channel for Reid — can you share some of the feedback you’ve received from retailers so far?

Our retailers consistently value reliability and simplicity. Many of our customers are new to cycling, are not technically minded, and rely heavily on the retailer’s advice. Our retailers gain the confidence to sell our products knowing that our bikes are high quality, easily serviced, and backed up with excellent after-sales support.

Where do you see Reid in 3 to 5 years, and how does Ananda contribute to achieving that vision?

We have had a successful year onboarding new distributors and clients, and we are focused on helping them grow the brand in their respective markets in the coming years. Ananda’s support will be vital as we continue to innovate in what is often an overlooked segment of the industry. Our commitment remains the same: to always design and develop the best possible products at competitive price points. Thanks to Ananda for helping us achieve this