Publisher of Velovision and newly-launched Electric Bike Magazine explains why now is the ideal time to embrace electrics
Electric bikes had a shaky start when they appeared on the UK mass market the
best part of a decade ago. Often imported and sold without any real backup, with
cheap cycle components and with heavy lead-acid batteries, they were never going
to impress the cycle trade. Indeed, any dealer who ended up with an ‘electric
bike shaped object’ to repair may now view the prospect of a new generation
hitting the market with a heavy heart.
But although many of the early
bikes were frankly horrible, customers kept on buying them. Why?
Because,
electric bikes satisfy very real needs – for people who already ride and for
people who don’t ride at all.
When cycling is primarily a form of transport,
the rider just wants to get from A to B quickly, easily and reliably. An
electric bike lets you get to work less sweaty. Journey time and effort is
basically unaffected by headwinds. You can keep up better with traffic on the
hills, and the motor helps you accelerate safely ahead of following cars at
traffic lights. It’s also fun. Those are real benefits.
For leisure
cyclists, electric bikes are also very attractive. Why strain when you’re mainly
on a cycle ride or holiday to enjoy the scenery, the company of others, and the
fresh air? Many elderly cyclists also find electric bikes extend their cycling
enjoyment by years once they start struggling to keep up with the group
unassisted. More real benefits.
As for people who don’t yet cycle, the
electric bike offers an easy way in. It’s a concept people grasp instantly:
cycling without the effort. It’s a great leveller: even the least physically fit
or confident can get on a bike knowing that the power assist will let them keep
up. Fear of humiliation, of being left behind, is removed. It’s a great boost to
know that even if you meet a hill, it won’t be an agony of straining to get up
it. And because electric cycles tend to make it easier to ride without
gear-changing, that’s another technical worry out of the way. Again, all real
benefits to an insecure newcomer to cycling.
Why invest
now?
That’s a lovely rosy picture: hordes of happy customers buzzing
along on electric bikes. But, we all know that many early builds just couldn’t
deliver such a vision.
So what’s changed? Plenty.
First, the
technology, and batteries are key. Almost all electric bikes now use lithium-ion
battery packs, which store three to five times as much energy per unit weight as
the old lead-acid models (and for next year’s batteries, it will be even more).
Instead of battery packs weighing 10 to 15 kilograms for a typical 20 to 30-mile
range, we’re now talking two or three kilogrammes. The motor and controller add
perhaps two kilograms as well, so with a decent frame, bike weights can easily
be sub-20 kg.
The improvements haven’t stopped at the battery. Driven by
the European market, serious companies have now thrown significant sums at
research and development, and the result is efficient motors with sophisticated
control systems and reliable performance. For the major suppliers, this is
backed up by spares, training and all of the approvals needed for peace of mind
when selling in the EU.
High-profile names like Shimano, Bosch and
Panasonic in the market are another sign that the time has come to take electric
bikes seriously.
That, however, is all just words. What convinced me
was going to a specialist dealer (Onbike in Kidderminster) and trying a
selection for myself. As a still moderately fit and strong rider who’s ridden
unassisted for several decades I was deeply unconvinced until I found myself
whisked up a hill as if it wasn’t there, by a motor I could hardly hear.
Since then I’ve been riding electric bikes galore for review in the
magazine, and they keep on impressing me. There’s a brute of a model with dual
batteries for 60-odd mile range, another with a motor so silent that I sincerely
can’t hear when it’s on – but I can feel it push!
Yes, there’s room for
improvement even among the best, and still some bikes best avoided at the bottom
end. But try a really good electric bike. The experience might just convince you
that the time is right to go electric.
