Electric bikes like GoCycle’s GX can get us out of our cars

As I sailed past the bloke on a racing bike, I felt slightly guilty.

I was heading uphill on a folding bike with BMX-sized wheels and barely breaking a sweat, meanwhile my lycra-clad fellow cyclist was puffing away to travel at a far slower pace.

To ease my conscience, I gently let go of the button I’d been pressing to give me a turbo boost up the hill and went back to just the standard level of assistance the electric bike was giving me.

This was in pre-lockdown days and I was commuting across London to work on GoCycle’s GX – a folding electric bike that over a few weeks managed to radically change my thoughts on battery-assisted pedalling.

Until March, I had cycled the eight miles from my home in North London to the This is Money offices in Kensington High Street probably four out of five days, on average, all-year round, for the last 14 years.

I love riding a bike. Living in London and riding to work, it was a mode of transport that was more pleasurable than the tube. In my leisure time, I do it for fun.

But I’m not that serious about it. I own no lycra, I’ve never been on a club ride and I do not have the Strava app on my phone.

I’d also rather drop a couple of grand on an old car than a very expensive bike.

Like many more serious-minded cyclists than me, however, I was of the opinion that if you’re going to ride a bike then you should do it under your own steam – and couldn’t quite see the point of choosing a heavy, expensive electric bicycle over a normal one.

Nonetheless, when GoCycle asked if I fancied trying out one of their electric bikes, I thought why not.

I imagined that I’d use it a few times to see what it was like and then stash it away somewhere until it was time to return it – going back to riding my normal bike in the meantime.

That couldn’t have been further from what happened.

I absolutely loved riding that electric folding bike and pretty much used it every day. I ended up borrowing it for longer than originally planned, and even took it up to Centre Parcs, in Suffolk, travelling there after work by a combination of train and bike.

So, what did I love about it and why do I think electric bikes could make a huge difference to the way we get about?

Firstly, it’s worth noting that a GoCycle GX should be good, because it costs £2,899.

That’s a lot of money. You can buy a decent car for that, including a bargain classic that probably won’t lose money.

However, it is also worth noting there are quite a few serious cyclists out there who wouldn’t consider the price tag that expensive for a good bike.

Yet, they would also probably look at a GX and think that they won’t get much enjoyment out of riding that.

It’s a folding bike, hinging in the middle, and while it looks considerably more space age than a Brompton, it’s got that gawky long saddle post and handle bar thing going on, which doesn’t shout nimble ride.

And yet, somehow, the GX handles exceptionally well and is good fun to ride.

A clue to why comes from the company founder Richard Thorpe, who left a design job at McLaren Cars to start-up the e-bike firm.

The GX sacrifices some of the compactness of a Brompton, with 20 inch rather than 16 inch wheels, and a bulkier frame meaning that it doesn’t fold up as small, but design elements mean it rides much better and is just as practical.

You genuinely can fold it in ten seconds, releasing one clip allowing the frame to hinge and another the handlebar stem, and then attach a small rubber strap to hold it in place.

You then flip it back and wheel it along using the saddle. Put it in a train carriage and it takes up not much more room than a Brompton, and the extra space is mainly above it where nothing would be anyway.

Out on the road, the bike can be set to give you different levels of assistance up to 15.5mph, but you must be pedalling for the power to kick in, you cannot just use the throttle to move only on electric power.

That top speed for assistance and no throttle-only riding are the law for electric bikes in the UK.

There are three gears on the bike and its a decent system, although I felt I could have done with a bit further for the gearing to go when riding flat out. 

There is a button that boosts the assistance, as I referred to at the start of this column, and you can go faster than 15.5mph if you want under your own pedal power.

The range is up to 40 miles on a charge, which takes 7 hours or 4 hours with a fast charger. 

I found that even using it for 16 miles a day of battery-assisted cycling, I only needed to charge once or twice during the working week.

The experience is like riding along with a strong wind at your back, or being a kid with your mum or dad riding alongside with their arm behind, helping you along.

You’re still cycling, it’s just a lot easier.

And this is where I think e-bikes could be a game-changer. They are unlikely ever to get the serious cyclists to swap to them, but that’s not the point.

The e-bike is better suited to those who wouldn’t otherwise cycle – whether because they feel the journey is too long or hard, the hill is too steep, or they can’t turn up hot and sweaty.

An electric bike removes those problems.

If you get a folding one, whether at the top-end from GoCycle or considerably cheaper from some other manufacturers, including Decathalon’s £750 bike, it can remove the need to drive to work or the station, get on a packed tube, or even use public transport at all.

At the same time, you have the flexibility to bung it in the car boot or take it on the train if you need.

One of the good things about lockdown is that it has got people out of their cars and out walking and on their bikes. 

I’m no longer in London – we had sold our flat and moved before lockdown began – but I’ve never seen this many people out on bikes on the roads and country lanes in Hertfordshire, where I’ve moved back to where I grew up. 

Friends in London tell me it’s the same in the capital and bike shops around Britain are reporting booming business.

It would be great if we could continue that once life returns to whatever normal will be.

Combine electric bikes with some newfound confidence from Britain getting back on its bike while the roads were quiet and we could have potent combination. 

A standard electric bike could easily replace the short regular car journeys that you do – and there is something about that assistance that means you are much more likely to decide it won’t be a hassle going on two wheels and use it instead of the car.

A folding electric bike – like any folding bike – is a compromise, but as I found with the GX they can be seriously good and a very handy companion for the commuter.

You are still doing exercise too, so it’s good for you, just with a bit less effort than you would with a normal bike – and you can always turn off the assistance to work out properly.

What’s lost in the electric assistance may even be gained overall, as people are more likely to get out on their bike and do some exercise.

Meanwhile, if your employer does a cycle to work scheme, you can save up to 40 per cent purchase price with a tax break, as we explain here.

We also need councils and the government to play their part. Off-road routes needed to be stepped up a gear in urban areas, but often the focus is all on that and not on linking up villages and towns, where a huge amount of day-to-day car journeys could be replaced.

Is it too great a leap of imagination for the authorities to buy strips of land through the fields, to link villages and towns with direct, safe, off-road cycling and walking routes?

That would make a great green transport infrastructure push for the coronavirus recovery.

An electric bike is possibly the best alternative to a car for many people making journeys of up to 10 miles. We should seize the moment and encourage the switch.