Easy rider

WE’RE an eagle-eyed bunch here at The Press. Within an hour of a new shop opening in York that quaintly describes itself as being an “expert provider of electrically assisted pedal cycles”, managing editor Steve Hughes had burst into the newsroom.

“There’s a new shop selling electric bikes!” he said. “Someone should try one.”

Staff at The Electric Transport Shop on Walmgate proved very obliging and in next to no time I was kitted out with a new electric bicycle that was mine for the whole week.

Someone has to do it.

Electric bikes and York seem a good fit. This is supposed to be a cycling city, after all. And it’s pretty big on electric power, too.

Earlier this year, the city council announced a £60,000 programme to install charging points for electric cars in car parks, and in April it held an open day to showcase the latest electric cars at the Designer Outlet.

In May, meanwhile, the city secured £824,000 of Government funding to put towards the cost of nine new electric buses that could be operating on the city’s streets from next year.

Electric bikes would seem to be the missing piece of the jigsaw.

There are, of course, the sceptics. When I announced that I had got an electric bike, if only for a week, The Press’s cycling court reporter, Megi Rychlikova, was particularly sniffy. “You should get a proper bike,” she said. “Lazy.”

I also received more than one scoffing look from fellow (non-electric) cyclists as I power-pedalled around York. And then there was the spotty teenager who leaned out of the back window of his mate’s scruffy boy racer Fiesta and gave me a mocking jeer and a two-fingered salute.

All of which, when you come down to it, is prejudice. You’re not harming anyone by choosing an electric rather than pedal bike. You’ll be out and about getting fresh air and exercise, even if not quite as vigorously as a die-hard cyclist. And if an electric bike persuades you to leave your car at home a couple of times a week – well, you’ll be doing your bit for the environment as well.

Nevertheless, Eddie Kehoe, joint owner of The Electric Bike Shop, admits that one of the first things they always get asked is why do we need electric bikes? Especially in a city like York which is, well, flat?

He is ready with an answer. They are great for when you’re cycling into a head wind, for a start, he says. They’re great for cycling to work because you don’t arrive all in a sweat. And if you’re cycling further afield, they are great for hills. Plus, if you have enjoyed cycling all your life, but are getting older and finding it difficult to continue, they could be the perfect solution.

The proof is really in the pudding, however. And having tried a bike out for a week, I can testify to the joy of power-assisted pedalling.

The bike I had been lent was a Smarta GT. It retails for £1,100. And yes, that’s a lot of money. But then, as Eddie points out, it’s a lot of bike. “A few weeks ago it won the electric bike world championships.” he said.

The thing about the Smarta GT is that it doesn’t do all the work for you. It is essentially a regular, six-speed bike, with a battery pack and electric motor.

The battery is surprisingly light, and you can ride this bike perfectly easily without using the motor at all.

When you do switch the motor on, there are three power levels: low, medium and high. With all three levels, you still need to do the pedalling. The motor just helps.

It’s a glorious feeling. Your legs feel as though they have all the power in the world. Hills you scarcely notice. A wind buffeting you in the face? No problem.

I first tried it out in the streets near The Press’s offices in Walmgate. I then spent a week cycling to work on it – and even power-cycled to a couple of interviews.

I have tried cycling to work on a traditional bike before, but didn’t enjoy it. I always arrived feeling sweaty and smelly: not the ideal way to start a day in the office.

No such problem with the Smarta GT. My power-assisted journey into work was a breeze: and I arrived at work fresh, unsweaty, and ready for a day in the office. It was the same cycling to jobs around York – including an interview at the city council’s West Offices. Without the Smarta it would have been a 15-minute walk. With the Smarta I was there in almost no time.

Where the Smarta really came into its own, however, was at the weekend. I’ve always loved the idea of riding out on to some of the quiet rural roads around York. I have even done it a few times on a traditional bike, and enjoyed it. But at the first hint of a hill, or the first push of wind into my face, that enjoyment turned into pain. I can happily hike tens of miles across mountains and moors without any problem, but cycling up even the gentlest of hills finishes me off.

Riding the Smarta along country roads on a summer evening, hopwever, was pure joy. I tootled along lanes past Stockton-on-the-Forest, Warthill and Holtby, head up, enjoying the wind in my hair (yes, I had chosen not to wear a helmet), enjoying the quiet scenery. There was nothing you’d call a hill, but there were some long, slow inclines of the kind that, on a traditional bike, would have made me miserable. Not on the Smarta.

There were some glitches, of course. I’d been advised to top up the battery every evening – which simply involves unlocking it, lifting it off the bike, and plugging it into a recharger in your house. A full charge would cost about 5.5p, and would give me a range of 30-40 miles, I’d been told.

Which it probably would have done, except I couldn’t fit the battery into place again the next morning. Then, when I tried to cycle without power assistance, the chain came off.

Eddie at The Electric Transport Shop quickly set me right, showing me how to fit the battery properly after a recharge, and how to put the chain back on. Before I knew it, I was off and away again.

So, big question: would I buy one?

Perhaps not. I gave it back at the end of my week with a real pang, and I have missed it since. But £1,100 is a lot of money. And the Smarta has the same drawback as any other bike: it is prone to pick up punctures when you least need them.

That said, it was only when I handed the bike back that I realised I hadn’t used my car once all week.

Eddie said: “If you use your car a couple of times a week less after buying an electric bike, you’ll recoup the cost surprisingly quickly.”

So perhaps it’s not that expensive after all…

•The Electric Transport Shop sells electric bikes from £600, although the better bikes start from about £1,000, according to the shop’s Eddie Kehoe.

The Smarta GT bike I tried costs £1,100. It has six gears, and three power levels to provide power-assisted pedalling. For an extra £50 you can also get a throttle which allows you to ride the bike without pedalling at all, at a speed of up to 15.5mph – although I never felt the need to use this option.

The battery unlocks and can be brought indoors to charge, using a recharger that you plug into your mains. A fully charged battery will give a range of between 30-40 miles, depending on how you use the bike.

The same rules of the road apply to an electric bike as to any other cycle: so you can use cycle lanes, and lock your bike up at cycle parks anywhere in York. A helmet is optional.

The Electric Transport Shop are happy to let you take a bike for a test ride.

If you buy one, you’ll get a free checkover after two months use. The battery comes with a four-year warranty, and the electric motor and other electrical components on your bike have a two-year warranty.

To find out more, contact The Electric Transport Shop on 01904 623515 or electricbikesales.co.uk