A 79-year-old cyclist was hurt on Monday after his high-end road bike, which he had outfitted with an electric motor, ignited in the middle of a ride.



Gary Ryan was riding his Pinarello Dogma F8, which he had retrofitted with a lithium battery for e-bike capabilities, on a popular climb near Adelaide, Australia, when the battery caught fire, a local news station reported. Ryan was burned through his cycling shorts before jumping off the bike and throwing it to the ground. Several CO2 canisters in his saddlebag then exploded, with flames reaching as high as 10 feet in the air, witnesses told reporters.

“He just managed to get off the bike before it actually burst into flames,” said Keith Harris, Ryan’s friend and riding partner.

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An electric bike has exploded into flames at Montacute, burning its elderly rider and sparking a dangerous scrub fire. @EdwardGodfrey9 #9News pic.twitter.com/IsuZ2C5ctX — 9News Adelaide (@9NewsAdel) January 14, 2019

Ryan had been attempting to ascend Corkscrew Road, a famous climb that appears in the Tour Down Under and attracts plenty of amateur riders each January. (The 2019 edition of the race begins on Tuesday.) Because of the local dry season, Ryan and his riding partners were concerned about a potential bushfire—indeed, the flames spread to some 30 meters of scrub along the roadside—but the CO2 cartridges made it difficult to put the fire out.



“We couldn’t get close to it because of the explosions,” said Dave Chandler, another cyclist on the ride. “If one of the cylinders goes off, it’s like a bloody bullet.”

But minutes later, firefighters attending to another scrub fire nearby arrived on the scene and put out the blaze.

Ryan was taken to the hospital with minor burns. He told reporters he had called the man who electrified his bike to ask why the battery had malfunctioned. “He said I must have got a short [circuit] in it, because he said that doesn’t happen,” Ryan said. (Here’s how e-bike motors are supposed to work)

While Pinarello does manufacture electric road bikes, in this case it was a separate party that had added the battery to the Dogma F8 after purchase. “This highlights the risk of poor-quality aftermarket kits that may be available to fit to any bicycle,” a company representative told Forbes.

This is far from the first time an aftermarket e-bike motor has caused a serious blaze. Last fall, a house in Maryland burned down after a man inside had tried to make a DIY e-bike. In June 2017, a bike fitted with an electric conversion kit exploded in London and sent the rider running off.

Lithium batteries are highly flammable, and while e-bike explosions are rare, they can happen when the equipment isn’t well cared for. Last summer, an e-bike factory in the Netherlands caught fire, forcing hundreds of nearby residents to evacuate their homes. Experts advise owners and dealers to get fireproof storage options and to never leave their e-bikes charging unattended, such as at night.

Andrew Dawson Gear & News Editor Drew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand.

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