If you love the idea, the convenience, and (a little bit of) the health benefits of cycling, but don’t fancy being a sweaty mess every time you get to work, why not consider an electric bike?
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On your bike, they’ll say. You say, yeah actually you know what, I could do with cycling now and then – it’s good for the heart, it’s quicker, saves the planet. Yeah! You’re right, I’ll get a bike. But then, you get your bike, bum on the saddle, and suddenly it’s 8:47 on a rainy Tuesday morning and you’ve got that bloody hill coming up that your office decided it should live on, like an idiot. Your glasses are steaming, hands are freezing, and you're unsure which wet is rainwater and which wet is sweat. You walk into the office and all those fresh-faced London Underground-using people are wondering why you do it to yourself, and so are you.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. Okay, the rain is a little less controllable, but you don’t have to struggle up those hills anymore. Now we have the electric bike. The reason your deliveroo seems to be much quicker than before. It’s a bike, two wheels, pedals and that, but with a motor that means you can be spinning those legs and then… you can just stop but the wheels keep turning! It’s amazing. It’s like going on a run, and suddenly an escalator pops into the hill. It’s genius. Anyway, if you’re looking to e-change your life a little, here’s a list of the best electric bikes for cycling around the city.
If you’re just out there looking for a little nippy bike you can fold on and off the London Underground (or just not have cluttering up half the house and like nine-tenths of the corridor), for a reasonable price, then how about this. The ‘urban commuter folding e-bike’ from Aldult goes a steady 15 miles per hour, and has a 20km range, making commutes a breeze. The design is nice too, inspired by a dolphin apparently.
Price: £339.99
Do you live near Parliament Hill, or Muswell Hill, or just happen to have a handy wad of cash to drop on an electric bike? Well then, this is the bike to have a butcher’s at. Bells, whistles, literally they’re optional, but metaphorically they’re here. A Shimano groupset including 11-speed gears and hydraulic brakes, super-light carbon fibre frame (the total weight including motor, battery, and controls is 3.7kg), and features including an app that will activate the motor on the bike if your heart reaches the maximum BPM you’ve set it for. Looks nice too.
Price: £4,930.00
With roughly 35 miles charge, you can use this to take you on those big cycling adventures (ideal for ones where there are loads of hills like NW London). The price point also happens to be pretty nice given there’s high-quality componentry with a lightweight alloy frame, Shimano 7-speed gears. Especially with the current 22% off over at Amazon.
Price: £752.09 (was £959.00)
If you have a bike, or like bikes, or have been anywhere near a herd of cyclists wearing nice hats doing their group session together, you might have heard of (or seen the word) Specialized. They’re one of the analog manufacturers looking to get into the e-game, as we’re calling it. This one is high-end, with a nice £551 discount. It goes 80 miles at up to 15.5 mph on a single charge. The recharge time is a nippy four hours.
Price: £2,799.00 (was £3,350.00)
Popping wheelies at 5 and struggling up a full-on mound at 6? The e-answer for you is this off-road bike from GUNAI. With 26 inch wheels (thicc tires) and 21 gears, there’s not much you won’t be able to cycle over. The motor should be all good for 50km of power. It’ll even work on sand and snow, woosh. And it folds, so you can hop it on the train.
Price: £1499
Here’s a good one for those of you who don’t want your new bike to look like a transformer, but do want the convenience of turning up places via bike without being covered in sweat. A push of a button and three levels of power assistance come into play to take the load off the commute from office to pub (or to work, nobody needs to be cutting around Old Street roundabout and worrying about pit stains). Also, you can custom colour this bike (along with loads of other features), so aesthetic options are a’plenty!
Price: £2199
If you’re looking for speed and flexibility at a more affordable price, this bike from HITWAY should be considered. The battery is removable, if you just fancy a nice cycle without having to carry a battery up and down the stairs, but when you need it the power will see you hit 25kmh with ease, and it’ll last two hours on full power. Other nice features include fancy Shimano gears and a LCD screen that’ll keep you updated on battery levels, speed, and more.
Price: £799.99
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