What started as a slightly mad engineering challenge at Van Rysel, Decathlon’s performance brand, has turned into one of the most extreme electric bike concepts yet: an aero-obsessed, software-driven prototype that, on paper, can flirt with motorway speeds.
A concept built to ignore the rulebook
The bike is called FTP², and Decathlon isn’t even pretending it’s road legal or ready for your local bike shop. It is a pure concept, unveiled at the VeloFollies show in January 2026, designed as a laboratory on wheels.
FTP stands for Functional Threshold Power, the maximum power a rider can sustain for roughly an hour. FTP² signals the ambition: build a system that can effectively double the output of a strong amateur cyclist.
FTP² is not an e‑bike to commute on; it is an experiment in what happens when you stop designing around regulations and start designing around raw performance.
Project lead Wim Van Hoecke and his team approached the bike as a complete ecosystem. Instead of taking a standard electric motor and bolting it to a frame, they redesigned almost everything: drivetrain, cockpit, rider gear, even shoes. Every part talks to the rest through software and sensors, trying to squeeze as many watts as possible from both human and machine.
The Mahle M40 motor: when 250 W is no longer enough
At the core sits a specially developed Mahle M40 motor. Typical city e‑bikes in Europe are limited to 250 W nominal power and help only up to 25 km/h. This is what keeps them classed as bicycles under most regulations.
The FTP² throws that framework out of the window. The Mahle unit in this prototype can deliver up to 850 W peak power and 105 Nm of torque, all controlled by tailored software codeveloped by Mahle and Van Rysel.
On flat terrain, Decathlon’s engineers talk about speeds between 70 and 80 km/h, with a theoretical ceiling of 150 km/h in fast descents.
That top number is heavily theoretical, since the main limit at such velocity becomes the rider’s courage, fitness and ability to stay tucked in an aero position. But the figures hint at the scale of the experiment.
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Power is fed by a 580 Wh battery neatly integrated into the down tube. The pack features cooling fins to shed heat during long, high‑power efforts. Thermal management is critical here: at hundreds of watts of continuous output, overheating can quickly destroy cells or force the system to shut down.
How this compares to a standard e‑bike
| Feature | Typical city e‑bike | Van Rysel FTP² concept |
|---|---|---|
| Nominal motor power | 250 W | Up to 850 W peak |
| Assistance limit | 25 km/h | No functional limit quoted |
| Torque | 40–60 Nm | 105 Nm |
| Battery capacity | 400–500 Wh | 580 Wh with cooling fins |
A cockpit inspired by Formula 1
High speeds demand control and information. Instead of cluttered bar‑mounted gadgets, the FTP² uses a cockpit that feels closer to motorsport than to commuting.
A Hammerhead head unit is fully integrated into the stem, so the rider can see data without removing their hands from the bars. Speed, battery state, power, and assistance modes are all visible in the rider’s line of sight.
From that cockpit, the rider can also operate the SRAM Red AXS electronic transmission, modulate motor support, and, notably, control the shoes. Yes, really.
One of the headline party tricks is remote‑controlled shoe tightening, triggered from buttons on the handlebar.
The idea is simple: at 70 km/h, you do not want to fumble with dials or straps. You press a button, tiny motors inside the shoes adjust the tension to suit the phase of the effort: warm‑up, attack, or recovery.
Shoes that replace the pedals
Perhaps the wildest part of FTP² is not the motor but the footwear. Van Rysel has removed conventional clipless pedals and cleats from the equation entirely.
Instead, the shoes themselves act as the interface with the crank. Their soles incorporate a direct connection that screws onto the crank arm in place of a pedal. In practice, the rider’s shoe becomes the pedal.
- Approximate system weight: 500 g for the full shoe‑crank interface
- External shape inspired by NACA aero profiles used in aviation
- Motorised lacing with micrometric control from the handlebar
This brings two clear goals: cut every watt of energy lost through flex or play in the pedal system, and reduce aerodynamic drag around the feet. At the speeds FTP² targets, even that area of airflow starts to matter.
There is still a catch. With feet mechanically fixed to the cranks, stepping on and off the bike is awkward, bordering on acrobatic. For now, the prototypes usually require someone to help the rider clip in and out safely. Van Rysel says the practicalities are still being refined.
An aerodynamic “armour” for the whole rider system
Decathlon’s engineers insist that FTP² is not just a frame and motor. It is what they call a “complete performance environment”, where bike, rider and gear are treated as one aerodynamic object.
The project includes a hybrid helmet concept, dubbed X‑Clip, developed with Swiss Side. A standard protective shell forms the base, while an additional aero fairing can be fitted to manage airflow around the rider’s head at very high speeds.
Then comes the suit. Working with French textile engineering studio Jonathan & Fletcher, Van Rysel has created what it calls an “aerodynamic armour” – a race suit that blends impact protection with low drag. The fabrics and panels are positioned to stay stable around 80 km/h yet still allow the rider to move and breathe.
The full system — bike, wheels, suit and helmet — aims to make human power and electric power work together cleanly through the air up to 150 km/h.
The frame and fork are built from in‑house carbon, including integrated lighting signatures for visibility. Despite the huge motor and battery, the complete bike sits at around 15 kg. Deep‑section Swiss Side Hadron 850 wheels and a Fizik Argo Vento Adaptive saddle underline the high‑end spec.
Not for sale, but a glimpse of what comes next
Decathlon is emphatic: FTP² will not appear in your local store this year or next. It is a research platform, destined for closed‑circuit testing under controlled conditions.
Yet the brand is just as clear that its radical ideas will not remain locked behind the lab doors. Engineers already mention likely spin‑offs: better integrated batteries, refined fork shapes, smarter software for managing assistance, and more seamless cockpit electronics for mainstream e‑bikes.
In that sense, the project functions like concept cars in the automotive industry. The wild prototype is too extreme for everyday use, but its DNA often filters quietly into future production models.
Where does the cyclist end and the machine begin?
FTP² arrives at a moment when the boundary between athlete and technology is being debated across sport. From super shoes in running to ultra‑aero time trial bikes, engineers are constantly finding new ways to give humans mechanical assistance without crossing regulatory lines.
With a bike that might double a rider’s effective power and send them close to 150 km/h in the right conditions, questions start to surface: at what point does this stop feeling like cycling and start looking like a lightweight motorbike?
For now, the project sits outside existing rules: it is too powerful for UCI racing and too fast for standard e‑bike laws. That makes it a useful test case for policy makers thinking about future categories of assisted vehicles, from high‑speed cargo bikes to semi‑enclosed commuting machines.
Key concepts: FTP, torque and thermal limits
For riders intrigued by the numbers, a few terms are worth clarifying. Functional Threshold Power is a benchmark used by cyclists to measure sustained performance, usually expressed in watts. Doubling FTP does not just mean going a bit faster; on flat terrain, speed scales roughly with the cube of power once aerodynamic drag dominates, so a big jump in watts can translate to dramatic changes in velocity.
Torque, measured in Newton metres (Nm), describes how hard the motor can turn the cranks. Higher torque helps with brutal accelerations and steep climbs, but it also increases stress on the drivetrain. That is one reason the Mahle‑Van Rysel software is so critical: it has to deliver torque without shredding components or draining the battery instantly.
Then there is heat. At race‑level power outputs, both motors and batteries get hot fast. If their temperature climbs too high, they lose efficiency or shut down to protect themselves. That explains the focus on cooling fins and smart power management. The software decides when to hold back a little assistance so that the bike can keep running hard for longer.
What riding such a machine would actually feel like
Imagine an experienced amateur rider who can normally average 250 W for an hour. On a standard aero road bike, that might mean cruising at 35–40 km/h on flat roads. With FTP²‑level support, that same rider could theoretically sit closer to the speeds of a small motorbike, provided the road is straight and smooth enough.
That brings new kinds of risk. At 80 km/h, a minor wobble becomes a major event. Brake distances increase, crosswinds hit harder, and even small irregularities in the road surface can unsettle the bike. Protective clothing can help, but rider skill and controlled environments matter even more.
The flip side is potential benefit. The know‑how behind such a machine could make regular e‑bikes safer, lighter and more efficient. Better software might offer smoother assistance, extending battery life and reducing maintenance. Aero research on helmets and suits could filter down to long‑distance commuters, who gain a modest but real speed and comfort advantage on windy days.
FTP² is unlikely to replace your daily ride. Yet it sends a clear signal: the gap between bicycles and powered vehicles is being actively probed by big players like Decathlon, and the next wave of electric bikes may look a lot more ambitious than the ones locked outside the office today.
