“This app will change bike training forever, it’s that good”
Electric bikes… if you’re into that
Predictions are that electric bikes are set to be the next big thing for commuters. Those people who are concerned with getting to work on time and getting from A to B, and less about leg power and fitness.
Warren Djanogly, the founder of Smug Cycles, whose ebikes go on sale in the UK next month, says that powered bikes have advanced beyond recognition in recent years. A keen cyclist himself, Djanogly hit 50 and decided he didn’t want to “cycle like a loony in Lycra any more”. Neither did he want the expense of a scooter or motorcycle. “A lot of manufacturers took a cheap frame and just stuck on a motor,” he says. “Some of the bikes were practical, but none of them were at all good-looking.”
While you can buy a basic ebike for less than £600, the new generation of chic two-wheelers will set you back considerably more. Prices for a VanMoof — a Dutch design with an anti-theft tracking system and integrated lights — start at £1,825, while Smug Cycles begin at £1,925. Gocycle, another British company, raises the price bar. Its range of lightweight, foldable bikes were designed by Richard Thorpe, a former Formula One racing car engineer, and cost £3,299 or more.
The folding bike manufacturer Brompton has also employed F1 engineering nous — it is planning to launch its fold-up “pedelec” bike next year in partnership with the Williams team. “The guy on his £2,500 carbon-frame road bike will wonder why you’re cruising past him in a suit,” Brompton’s chief executive, Will Butler-Adams, said recently.
Serious cyclists are understandably sniffy about ebikes. Thermal cameras were introduced at elite cycling events this summer, including the Tour de France and the Rio Olympics, to help to stamp out “mechanical doping” whereby riders hide motors in their bike frames. The Tour winner, Bradley Wiggins, has compared the covert use of motors with blood doping.
Even for many amateur cyclists, a battery-powered ride demeans the purpose of the activity. It’s like taking a Segway when you could walk or using fins to aid a swim. Hatti Lee, a founder of another UK ebike manufacturer, Woosh, says: “Sadly, some ‘proper’ cyclists think that they are a form of cheating, and I have heard reports of some ebikers being at the receiving end of mild verbal abuse, but perception is changing.” The reality is that ebikes don’t offer an effortless ride, just an easier one.
I was among those who scoffed at battery-assisted pedal power until I first tried an ebike with a group of friends in the Swiss Alps a couple of years ago. For starters it was stylish, looking more worthy of an American road trip than a boring commute. And unlike the cumbersome bikes I had seen around town with their clunky, bolt-on battery packs, the motor was barely visible.
On that occasion I “cycled” — it was more a matter of rotating the pedals with much less power than would normally have been used — up fairly significant hills with no thigh-burn, no sweat. While one friend in the group who had opted not to go electric was noticeably struggling, the rest of us flew past with a satisfying hum.
There are rules — you must be at least 14 years old to ride one on a public road and the bikes shouldn’t weigh more than 40kg. Other than that, they require only the same safety equipment as a regular bike and can be used anywhere you would normally cycle.
Some retailers are selling ebikes so powerful that they are capable of exceeding this 15½mph limit. So-called speed ebikes with 350-watt motors can zip along at up to 28mph and are, unsurprisingly, proving popular with commuters who want a nippier ride.
Are they really a poor excuse for exercise? Surprisingly, studies are showing that they can actually help you to shed pounds. In a trial, researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder recruited a group of office-based couch potatoes and issued them with ebikes so that they could ride to work. They wanted to find out whether the daily pedalling had an effect on fitness, even though it was power-assisted.
Each volunteer underwent laboratory tests of body composition, aerobic fitness, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure before being given an ebike, a heart rate monitor and a GPS device and sent on their way. They were asked to commute on the battery cycles at least three times a week for a month, spending a minimum of 40 minutes in the saddle, but at any speed they felt was comfortable.
When they returned to the lab four weeks later, most of the subjects had ridden up to 50 per cent more than their required daily tally and at a greater intensity than expected. It meant that even with the help of battery power they had accumulated a level of daily activity comparable with a moderate workout, such as a jog, a power walk or a gentle swim. What’s more, tests revealed they had less body fat and better aerobic fitness than when they started, and had controlled wayward blood sugar levels. Reporting in the European Journal of Applied Physiology, the researchers noted how most of the participants had described their ebiking as “fun” and several had bought battery bikes for themselves.
“We shouldn’t see them as an alternative to regular cycling in terms of activity,” Djanogly says. “They don’t replace it, but they offer something else. They offer the freedom that you get with a bike but with more return for less physical effort. And they are more practical than mopeds because you can take them on the train.”
Less physical effort? Sounds like laziness to me. Can’t say i’m persuaded, but I can see the benefits… kind of.