| Why in the world does Greg LeMond want to make an all-carbon fiber ebike? A carbon fiber racing bike, sure, that would make sense. Shave off those seconds by using the lightweight but brittle material. But an electric bike has ... a motor? Which surely the three-time Tour de France biking legend knows? It didn't make sense to Adrienne So, who has been writing about ebikes (and fitness trackers and robot vacuums and headphones) for WIRED since 2017. She decided to find out, and the result is a story about the ambitions of a racing legend who famously called out Lance Armstrong's doping only to suffer through "12 years of hell" before being vindicated in the end. LeMond is a tinkerer and innovator—pioneering the use of U-shaped handlebars, aero helmets, and carbon fiber frames starting back in the '80s. And now, one of the things he wants to tinker with (besides the ebike) is the entire US carbon fiber manufacturing industry. "The thing that struck me the most about this story was how many icebergs there were. LeMond was a big deal, and so many people thought they knew what had happened with him. But everyone had an incomplete story," So notes. She was also surprised at how interested the US government was in carbon fiber. "And no one had ever written about LeMond being a tech nerd before, and he really is and was." Can LeMond make a light, shatterproof ebike? Maybe. Bigger picture: Can ebikes get people out of their cars and help solve the global climate crisis? Also maybe. But what's for sure, So realizes when she finally tests the lightweight machine, is that an ebike doesn't have to be clunky "stinky medicine" we endure to save the planet. They can deliver an experience that is practically transcendent. Sarah Fallon | Deputy Editor, WIRED | 
