Electric bikes
Excuses about steep hills won’t wash any more now that bikes with motors are available to suit everybody. So saddle up on one of these five
It’s a common excuse: “I would love to cycle more but I can’t manage the steep slope up to my house.” Hills and headwinds are the cyclist’s enemies; on the flat with no more than a breeze, a bike is ideal for journeys of a few miles and often quicker than a car. But faced with a hill . . . well, you want some help, don’t you?
That help, in the form of electric motors on bikes, has been around for more than a decade. Until a few years ago electric bikes were heavy and underpowered, had limited range and were ugly. However, recent advances in motor and battery technologies have given us some efficient modern machines that, while heavier than conventional bikes, are light enough to manhandle over obstacles. They are nowhere near as powerful as a moped or motorbike, of course, and the law says they should push the bike up to only 15mph, beyond which you must rely on your own steam. But they will help out when the going gets tough.
Riding an electric bike is like riding any bike, but with an invisible hand helping you to cope with the difficult bits. An electric bike can be ridden on the road by anyone aged 14 or older without need of an MoT, tax or insurance.
The running cost - largely accounted for by having to replace the battery after a few hundred charge-and-discharge cycles - is typically less than 10p a mile, including depreciation, and even the most economical car can’t compare. Yes, a bit of mains electricity is needed, but charging an electric bike battery takes as much power as leaving a 100W light bulb lit for a few hours, and that charge should take you 20 miles or more. In terms of energy used, an electric bike’s power consumption is equivalent to at least 800mpg.
Backpedaller
A great source of information about electrically assisted bicycles is the entertaining and technically rigorous magazine A to B (www.atob.org.uk). It deals only with bikes that fold or have electric assistance and it’s entertaining because it’s wry and mildly anarchic in style. The A to B website gives basic information about electric bikes, while the magazine itself provides in-depth reviews.
Avoid the cheap, crude electric bikes that are widely available on the internet, and treat with scepticism the claims of many manufacturers for the travelling range that can be achieved on a full charge. Also remember that even a bike with the best possible power system will be no fun to ride if the bicycle itself is of shoddy design.
And consider what type of bike you want: would you prefer a “roadster” such as the Kalkhoff and Gazelle bikes tested here, which may look a bit old-fashioned but are low maintenance and excellent for everyday journeys? Or should you choose something that looks a bit more modern, such as the Airnimal or Powacycle models under review, which will give a lively ride with or without electric assistance?
Look out for the specified battery capacity, which gives an approximate indication of range. Also check a bike’s weight – you may have to carry it up steps, for example. Find out how much a replacement battery will cost, and see how heavy the charger is: if you have a 15-mile journey to work, you may wish to carry the charger with you so you can recharge the battery in preparation for the ride home.
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