Home > Electric Bikes > Electric Bike Buyer’s Guide (UK)

Price: From £1,395   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Expensive, but superb German roadsters”

As a general rule, the best drive system for an electric bike is the crank drive (see Electrical Bike Technical Guide). In spring 2112, it looks as though the new Impulse crank drive system looks will keep the company ahead of rivals using Panasonic, Daum, Bosch and Yamaha crank drives.

Kalkhoff arguably produces the best crank-drive machines. Once mid-range, the Agattu has moved decidedly up market, and is now a top-end electric bike – well equipped, and multi-purpose, but quite expensive. Whether you live in the flat Netherlands or mountainous Swiss Alps, there’s an Agattu model that will suit the conditions. The Pro-Connect is altogether sportier, and like the Agattu it’s gone way up-market, with prices starting at £1,995. At this price, the bikes still use the long-established 26 volt Panasonic crank motor with the 477Wh Derby Cycles battery, but the more expensive models now come with Panasonic’s new 36 volt Impulse system. This can either give longer range, or on the sportier models (Shh! Don’t tell anyone!) more power and speed… up to 25mph in fact. There’s a solitary Bosch-powered model in the range now too.

In a hopeless attempt to conceal the fact that most of its bikes now cost £2,000 to £4,000, Kalkhoff has introduced the Groove at £1,395, but this is really just a collection of carefully sourced Chinese bits, and thus not the real Germano-Japanese McCoy. If you can afford it, go for the real thing.

Low, medium and high power alike, the Kalkhoff bikes provide stylish, practical, economic and effective transport.
Full review of the Agattu Wave, and the Pro-Connect was reviewed in A to B 66.

BH E-motion  

Price: From £1,395   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Effortlessly Fast and Effectively Disguised”

Cytronex is a small British manufacturer based in Winchester. The bikes are typically mid- or top-end sports bike from such manufacturers as Trek, Ridgeback and Cannondale, electrified using the exquisite little Tongxin motor fitted to the Nano-Brompton, powered in this case by a water bottle-sized battery. The result is light and unobtrusive, and the Cytronex bikes have acquired a reputation for being superb sports electric bikes – economical, fast, silent and fun to ride. As a rule, they are 100% legal, but Tongxin produce motors of different speeds, so in a matter of minutes you can change the 15mph front wheel for a version that will propel the bike some way above the legal limit for, er, off-road use. The very light battery and motor give Cytronex a real advantage where weight is concerned, and the company claims that its Super Six model is the world’s lightest full-size electric bike.

If you are looking for a sports commuter bike, this should be at the top of your shortlist. The only real disadvantage is a relatively limited range from the smallish 148Wh battery, one of the very few NiMH still on sale, but also one of the most reliable and long-lasting. In any event, these lithe sporty bikes go much further than you might expect.

Full review of the Cytronex.

Price: From £1,799   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Kalkhoff with Brit badges”

Having got its fingers burnt early on in the evolution of the electric bike, Raleigh was reluctant to return, but when its German cousin Kalkhoff began selling hundreds of thousands of electric bikes on mainland Europe, and a growing number in the UK, there just had to be a Raleigh-badged version eventually. The Dover is almost identical to the Kalkhoff Aggatu, but a little more expensive, although you do get the sort of back up a distributor like Raleigh can guarantee. The first bike was an 8-speed, but this will be joined late in 2010 by the 360, fitted with NuVinci continuously variable transmission. This proved something of an acquired taste, but Raleigh also introduced a simpler, cheaper 3-speed version early in 2011, which looks likely to attract many new customers. Like the Kalkhoff bikes on which the Raleigh variant is based, these machines will benefit from the new Derby battery range, principally the big 486Wh example.

Not content with simply ‘badge engineering’ the German brand, Raleigh has gone on to develop and specify its own entry level machines. This new range – the Velo-City with Nexus 7-speed hub, and Velo-Trail with 7-speed derailleur – look set to send shock waves right through the electric bike market. At £1,199 and £999, the two bikes undercut and out-specify most other Chinese machines, yet they come with a two-year battery warranty, trip computer and the sort of dealer backup only Raleigh can provide. Just a year into its electric bike renaissance, Raleigh is going great guns

We have a full review of 8-speed Raleigh Dover and 360. We also have a pre-launch review of the Velo-City.

Nano-Brompton 2.0

Price: From £1,950   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Techy delight with superb crank motor”

German company Daum is apparently best known for its exercise bikes, hence the great big screen on the handlebars offering every conceivable bit of information on the bike, it’s progress, and the world around you. This is all a bit of a nuisance if you don’t like techy things, but an absolute delight if you do. No doubt your friends will be fascinated by the total altitude you’ve climbed, the gradient profile of the B6837, your heart rate at the top, and so forth. We didn’t like the cheapie Chinese battery sitting way up on top of the rack (bad for weight distribution), but we loved Daum’s own crank motor, a fabulous bit of technology, as is the ‘miles to go’ meter and power gauge. Wonderful bike.

Full review of the Daum Trekking.

Price: Secondhand from around £400   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Rest in Peace. A modern classic – will be remembered as the best electric bike of its era”

The Lafree – and by that we ONLY mean the pretty bikes made between 2000 and 2006 – has been out of production for more than five years, but remains the standard by which modern bikes are judged. They ate the occasional gearbox and suffered some odd electronic problems, but they were light, user-friendly and a delight to ride. Some spares are now running out, but we’ve re-manufactured the motor drive sprocket ourselves, and there are few other specialist consumables on the bike, apart from… Batteries, which are now in short supply, but there are fixes brewing for this too, and the NiMH batteries last a long, long time by modern standards. Well worth considering if you’re looking for a really good second hand electric bike, see below for details.

Price: £1,250   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Neat and economical Swedish roadster”

Cheapest of the Panasonic-powered crank-drive bikes is the Monark Eco, a Swedish roadster. It’s only a 3-speed, and t’s a bit heavy, so performance is not up to Kalkhoff/E-motion/Raleigh standards, but thanks to lower gearing, you should get in excess of 30 miles in normal use. Well equipped, but the lack of gear ratios mean it’s not suitable for seriously hilly areas. Like the other Panasonic machines, you can make it go a lot further by fitting a Derby Cycles battery.

Full review of the Monark Eco.

Price: From £1,840   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Lovely Dutch roadster”

The Ion overflows with high-tech features, and does just about everything short of make the tea and giving you a nice massage when you get home. This electric bike isn’t particularly fast, doesn’t go very far on a charge (although there is now a bigger battery option) and won’t stomp up 1:6 gradients, but it’s a pretty bike, it feels fast, and it oozes that indefinable IT factor. Not cheap to buy, but when you ride it you feel good, and in our book, that is enough to put it close to the top of the pile. Made in the Netherlands, the Ion claims to be the biggest selling electric bike in the world, thanks to massive home sales, but it’s been a slow seller in hillier places, which is not perhaps surprising. One question mark is over the odd electronic system that (for example) needs resetting via a dealer lap-top if you take the front wheel off. Bit of a problem unless you happen to live near to one of the handful of UK agents. More positively, most Ion variants are still fitted with reliable NiMH batteries, which should last much longer than the new-fangled Li-ion used by almost everyone else.

Full review of the Sparta Ion.

Price: £1,800   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Classy, comfy, expensive and weak”

The Gazelle is the Rolls Royce of the Euro-roadsters, and sells in big numbers in its home market, but has proved less successful in the UK for a number of reasons, principally because prices rose into the stratosphere a year or two back (they’ve since dropped a lot), and like many Dutch bikes, they tend to be weak on hills. Some Gazelles, such as the Easyglider, use the Panasonic crank-drive, which should be good news, but for reasons known only to Gazelle’s marketing department, the Easyglider is fitted with a sculpted custom-designed battery, so it is unable to share the bigger capacity Derby battery like other Panasonic bikes. This, and the price tag of around £1,900 has put the Easyglider at a serious disadvantage. The Innergy range uses Gazelle’s own power system, with a front wheel motor and torque sensor. This arrangement presumably suits the Dutch terrain well enough, but we found it slightly under-powered and lacking in range. On the positive side, Gazelle bikes are solid, well-equipped and extremely comfortable to ride, and that may well be enough to tempt you, especially if you live somewhere flat. The company has rather shot itself in the foot vis-a-vis the UK market by making a mess of distribution, leaving all sorts of outlets selling the bikes at all sorts of prices. Forget the rest and visit Cycle Heaven of York – not the official distributor, but by far the best and most knowledgeable outlet for Gazelle.

Full review of the Gazelle Easy Glider. We have also reviewed the Chamonix Innergy in A to B 82, and a BionX-adapted Fuente Pure in A to B 85, see back numbers for details.

Price: From £1,800   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Clever system, but pricey batteries and slightly limited range”

Trek was a big bicycle manufacturer, with zero knowledge of electric bikes. Coming late to the party, it very wisely decided to team up with BionX to produce an electric variant. Canadian company BionX produces innovative high-quality equipment, using a silent gearless motor with regenerative braking and four levels of assistance. Unfortunately, Trek has put the battery on the rear rack, and gone for a relatively small 260Wh battery to keep weight and cost down. That will limit range a bit, hence our 4-star rating. And watch out for the near four-figure replacement cost of the batteries… eek!

We have not yet tested the Trek, but the BionX system is reviewed in A to B 85, August 2011

Price: From £1,600   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Quality East European bike, Japanese electrics”

Gepida is a relatively modern bicycle company formed in 1994. Previously unknown in the UK, it seems to have made a good Euro living by manufacturing roadsters in post-Cold War Hungary, and flogging them to wealthier places that like good solid roadsters. Since then, of course, Hungary has ceased to be a cheap labour zone, and Gepida now buys in frames from the Far East like almost everyone else. Seeing its key German and Dutch markets going electric at an alarming rate, the company began experimenting with power-assist, but the first generation Fekete seems to have been quietly filed away under ‘dud’ or at least ‘brave try’. The solution was to team up with someone big and experienced, like Yamaha, desperate to get back after embarrassingly walking away from electric bikes a few years before. This fruitful partnership produced the Reptila 1000 in 2009, and there will no doubt be other variants to come.

Clearly, with Yamaha’s electronics genius and Gepida’s long(ish) experience in building the sort of roadsters the Germans and Dutch enjoy, the Reptila wasn’t going to be a bad bike, but it has its faults. Yamaha has been slow to grasp the trend towards larger batteries, and these days a battery of 212Wh is rather disappointing. This wouldn’t matter if the bike was strikingly economic, but against the Panasonic it feels somehow poorly tuned, as though the motor, gearing and frame are not quite working in harmony. This combination of a small battery and ill-sorted electrics and transmission produced a test mileage of only 16 miles when we tried the bike in June 2009. The relatively weak performance may account for the bikes being widely discounted in the UK… never a good sign. Reptila has responded by producing MTB and beach cruiser variants, the Sirmium and Nedao respectively, but this is rather missing the point. Despite the niggles there’s a good bike trying very hard to get out of the Reptila, and such things as batteries and software glitches are easily fixed. The Gepida Reptila may yet blossom into an electric butterfly.

Price: Kit from £1,800, Complete bikes from £1,600   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Clever Canadian system”

The BionX is a French Canadian system that has been around for many years, first with a NiMH battery, and more recently with lighter, but less reliable, Li-ion. For a long time it looked as though this clever system wasn’t going anywhere, possibly because French Canadians can be a bit prickly with the English-speaking world, but also because of the high price of a Canadian machine in a sea of Chinese imports. BionX has finally accepted the inevitable and outsourced manufacturer to China, opening the floodgates to wider adoption of the system, which is now fitted by Trek, Kalkhoff, Airnimal, Birdy and no doubt many others, as well as being available as a retro-fit kit from BionX itself.

The essence of the BionX is a completely silent direct drive motor that can provide power or ‘regenerative’ braking on demand. The disadvantage of direct drives is poor hill-climbing, although the latest High Torque BionX motors really have cracked this one. The original BionX had a rather limited range, but it’s an efficient system, and used with sensitivity, power consumption can be very low. That said, the cheaper models have quite small batteries, so you have to go for something expensive if you want 30 miles+ range. And the price of replacement batteries is astronomical. It’s the kit and battery cost that prevents BionX being a 5-star system, because it really does set standards for others to follow.

We have two road-tests of the BionX system in A to B 45 and 85 (see back issues).

Price: From £1,995   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Reliable, Sturdy and Sophisticated”

The Heinzmann motors are designed and made in Germany and have a deserved reputation as the best hub motors around – they’re relatively quiet and very reliable, but expensive against the vast array of Chinese hub motors flooding the market. Heinzmann was very late coming over to Li-ion battery technology, but that gave the company plenty of time to study the strengths and weaknesses of the technology before taking the plunge… something many Chinese manufacturers should have done. Battery capacity is on the low side, but we can safely assume that Heinzmann Li-ion batteries will last longer than most. The Heinzmann motor and batteries are available in kit form, with numerous speed options and two battery capacities, 192Wh and 355Wh, which can be bought son their own or in pairs, although you might need a mortgage for that. At something like twice the cost of a typical Chinese kit, the Heinzmann isn’t a cheap option, but it’s about ten times as good. Basically, you get what you pay for.

The motors are also available built-up into a bike – the Heinzmann Estelle. Typically German, the Estelle is a competent and well-equipped machine, but currently quite expensive in the UK. The bike is available in three distinct styles: Comfort, an attractive step-thru city bike, the Tour, not at all what it sounds, because it’s actually a VERY low step-thru city bike, the Elegance, a comfortably suspended machine for tracks and trails, and the Sport, again something of a misnomer because it’s styled a bit like an MTB with mudguards. Interestingly, the Elegance and Sport are available in Speed trim to suit the fast E-bike category in Germany and Switzerland. In this form, they are throttle controlled u to 12mph, but will go much much faster as pedelecs, hitting a maximum of 23.5mph. Great fun if you can afford the £2,700 price tag, but not strictly legal in the UK. See above for our views on the legislative nonsense that makes these bikes illegal across the rest of Europe.

We have a number of road-tests of the Heinzmann (see back issues).

Price: From £1,495   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Interesting new folding electric bike”

The fascinating Gocycle enters with a rather lowly three stars, but we hope to upgrade it as the machine improves. Designed (but not made) in Britain, it’s bursting with technology, from a magnesium frame, to quick-release wheels on monoblade forks. Range is reasonable, and it’s a perky performer, but early examples have suffered from a few software and hardware glitches (including rapid wear of the QR wheel splines), and the bike is fitted with a basic 3-speed hub gear and simple on-off switch, so not as capable as it could be. Minor grumbles aside, it’s a uniquely sexy machine, and although folding is a bit slow, it’s light, and can be packed into a small car in five minutes.

We have one road-tests of the Gocycle in A to B 73 (See back issues). Incidentally, this test was based on a rather brief acquaintance because Gocycle refused to let us have a bike for months, then sent one round for a two hour trial with a chaperone. What did they think we were going to do, eat it?

Price: From £1,000   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Quality brand, but rather boring”

Since axing the Lafree, Giant just doesn’t seem to have been able to get it right with electric bikes, the models changing on a more or less annual basis. The Lafree was followed by the Suede, which was slow, unreliable and an indifferent hill-climber. The 2007-2008 Twist was similar to the Suede, but better made, and offering a lot more range. At first it shared a number of ideosyncracies, but it gradually improved, just in time to be replaced by the Twist Freedom and Express, which ended up costing a great deal of money for what they were.

The bikes are now called Express and Esprit and much improved, but they are essentially Dutch bikes: large frames, rather weak motors, and precise power cut-off at 15mph. Prices have dropped a great deal though, with the entry-level Twist Express at £1,000, which should tempt some people back to the brand. Not bad, but some way short of the electric variants from other big manufacturers, such as Trek and Raleigh.

We have one road-test of the Giant Suede and one of the new Twist (See back issues).

Price: From £600   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Economic Commuter Machines”

There are numerous Chinese electric bikes about, most of them overpriced and under-specced. The Byocycle come with a few annoying niggles, but our relatively high star rating comes from the very reasonable price (£600 at the time of writing), large Li-ion battery (unusual at this price) and two-year battery guarantee. Big guarantees generally come with a bike costing £1,000+, so this is a real bonus. The slightly more expensive Byocommuter has self-powered lights, a rack and mudguards. Byocycle are also very cheap for spares, including batteries, which fit many similar machines. The Juicy Bike seems to come out of the same factory, differing only in a shorter guarantee and slightly higher price, but they’re very nice people of you happen to live near Buxton. The bottom line is compare spec and go for the longest guarantee and cheapest price.

We have one road-test of the Byocycle Byocommuter in A to B 72.

Price: From £850   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Better bikes from China”

Ezee has flirted with cheaper models such as the Rider, a budget bike aimed at the Powabyke, but this has been dropped, and the Liv is the cheapest model today – big NiMH battery and a good solid, fast bike, although the price has crept up. The Ezee Quando is a single-speed folder. Usually we’d say ‘urrgh!’, but this one has astonishing hill-climbing abilities. The Sprint used to be a cheapish option, but now costs £1,450, the same as the Forte and the Torq, lighter, faster, more conventional looking bikes. The early Torq was an absolute delight to ride – fast, near silent and sexy. An all-time classic, and winner of the Tour de Presteigne three years in a row, but it is now looking a bit middle aged: heavier, more power-hungry, and slower. We thought the new-style Forte and Forza failed to hit the spot too, but you might disagree.

An early adopter of lithium-ion batteries, Ezee has suffered very badly from reliability problems, expensive batteries and short guarantees. The situation has improved, and the guarantee is now a just adequate 12 months, but the mud has stuck. Second hand Torqs and Sprints can be picked up very cheaply, but you’ll need another £400-£500 for a replacement battery.

Price: From £999   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Sexy black, macho, top-end Chinese bikes”

We were convinced that Wisper bikes were 100% Chinese designed and built, but the British distribution and marketing company has not only assured us that it had some design input, but provided documentary evidence, so we’re convinced! Like Ezee, Wisper has gone for a slightly more knowledgeable, male, techie audience, and its bikes tend to be black, silver and white, oozing testosterone. Prices reflect this, but the marketing is clever, and the target audience seems to love them. We’ve been told about a few reliability issues, but nothing like the Ezee battery debacle, and Wisper has now quietly joined Ezee in offering a two-year guarantee. Our relatively low 3-star rating is a result of the high prices, the top bikes now being well into European territory.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: From £539   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “A chunky old favourite”

Powabyke is almost unique amongst electric bike manufacturers, having survived from the very earliest days of the genre, and producing one of those 1990s bikes today. This ‘classic’ 6-speed Euro, City and Tryke feature steel frames and lead-acid batteries, and are both heavy and crudely made by modern standards, but they have survived because they’re solid and trusty, and there’s a good dealer network should anything go wrong. In recent years, we’ve been a bit dismissive, but we’ve seen the hi-tech stuff come and go, and the old Powabyke is still plodding along, doing very nicely by all accounts, and down to just £599, making it great value for money. Don’t expect any fancy stuff – the Euro features a large motor fed by the largest battery on the market, itself weighing more than many conventional bikes, but range can exceed 35 miles on a good day. And this is one of the few E-bikes you can realistically ride any distance (20 miles plus) without pedalling at all. When the chunky lead-acid battery finally hands in its notice, there’s a unique subsidised battery reconditioning scheme that helps to keep running costs under control, and anyone handy with a screwdriver can replace faulty cells themselves. In a world of £500 ‘throwaway’ Li-ion batteries, this is a huge bonus. It’s a museum piece, but so what? Classic retro-chic.

The other ‘X-byke’ models couldn’t be more different: light, conventional frames and a small water-bottle lithium-ion battery. When the X-byke was launched in 2009 it was criticised for the small capacity of its new battery and archaic DC motor, retained from the older bikes. The 2011 models come with a smaller, lighter motor and a bigger battery, but we’re told this will not be phased in until March 2011, so make sure you check which one you’re getting.

We have road-tested the Powabyke Classic, Folder, Euro, X-Bike and Commuter.

Price: From £780 (normally £765)   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Genteel, budget roadsters”

Powacycle has long been regarded as the best of the many cheaper newcomers. Prices start very low, but ignore the cheap, cheerful jobs and take a serious look at the Salisbury and Windsor (effectively gents and ladies roadsters). Prices have crept up to very nearly £800 for 2011, which slightly takes the edge off the gloss, but in a world of fast-changing models, badges, distributors and battery guarantee periods, Powabyke has stayed remarkably steady. The Salisbury and Windsor won’t set your world alight, but they give reliable and practical transport at a reasonable price. You can also be confident that they’ll be there tomorrow to honour the guarantee.

We have one road-test of the Windsor in A to B 56.

Price: £1,599 but widely discounted   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Quality brand, but keeps getting it wrong”

This might have been a 5-star bike, but Schwinn’s first electric venture using the excellent motor shared with Nano-Brompton and Cytronex, was flawed by duff electrics and was soon out of production… our test bike failed twice under load… The Tailwind has been relaunched with the nifty but very small Sanyo Eneloop fast-charge battery. This charges in 30 minutes, which is great, but the battery is just too small for practical use day-to-day, unless you are planning very short journeys. So Schwinn seems to be going down the plug ‘ole yet again, and the Tailwind – officially £1599 in the UK – is popping up for less than £600 in late 2010/early 2011. It’s a great bike at that price, but hurry: they will soon be gone.

We have one test of the Schwinn Transit in A to B 62- see A to B Back Numbers

Price: From £400   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Brute power, with limited endurance”

Plenty of confusion here, indicating just how volatile this market has become. When we tested this kit back in April 2001, it included a small but powerful motor that latched onto the rear spokes on a typical bike. At the time, the Curry was made in America, but production shifted to the Far East, then something corporate happened and the venture split in two, with two different designs coming out of different factories, with different names and specifications… To make matters worse, there have been endless debates over who might or might not be the UK importer, resulting in a number of possible contenders offering a number of different kits… All we can say with any certainty is that the US-spec model we tested was immensely strong, but technically illegal in the UK. If you’re looking for brute power without much endurance, look no further. The current range appears to include the same direct spoke-drive, a toothed belt variant and a complete bike with unknown spec… From 2007, the bikes settled down as Izip (also Meerkat, just to confuse you), a (mostly) budget-priced range, made goodness knows where, but still carrying the trademark external motor. Today the company is going over to more conventional hub motors and Li-ion batteries, but there’s still a big range of bikes with a few oddities in it.

We have road-tested the Izip.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: £745 - £1,299   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Lots of style, but limited endurance”

Great things were expected of the EV Global, the U.S. parent of these bikes, but the market never took off there, so sales have languished. The bottom-end Enviro is actually a Far-Eastern badge-engineered machine, albeit quite a nice one, but the LE and SX are everything you would expect from a U.S. manufacturer – big, brash, stylish, well-equipped and fast, but with limited range.

In European trim, the power has been capped to 200 watts, and top speed from a heady 18mph to 15mph, to keep within the law. However, the importers can also supply a Euro-spec bike with a crafty switch for ‘off-road’ use, if you get our drift.

With rather low pedal gearing, these machines are more moped than bike, but stylish and classy all the same.

For specification and distributors, see Electric Bike Price Guide

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: From £749   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Almost right, but not quite there”

The motor and battery appear to be identical to the Bliss (see below), but the GR-8 is a bigger, more rideable, folding bike. Styling-wise, it works better than the Bliss, although there’s something uncomfortable about the proportions. Weight is tolerable at 26kg, but it’s a bit feeble and our test sample failed. However, we’re reassured that things are now better.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

We have road-tested the Bliss.

Price: From £400   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Quality brand, but some serious reliability issues”

Thompson market a range of well-equipped, bargain-basement Chinese electric bikes. Whether you’d find one useful depends on what you’re after: These single-speed, very low geared machines are not really designed to be pedalled, although a large battery propels them for a fair mileage. A good cheap retro choice for older, less active folk.

We have road-tested the Thompson Euro-Classic, Euro-City and Euro-Tourer.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: From £400   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Value for money Chinese jobbies for non-pedalling types”

Like the Thompson range, these two bikes – the Retro and Cruiser – are cheap and cheerful Chinese imports. However, the Retro is the crudest machine we’ve seen, and they’re not quite so cheap, so you won’t be quite so cheerful. The well-equipped Cruiser might be worth looking at, but bear in mind that the low saddle and even lower gearing make pedalling almost impossible. And don’t expect to stop in a hurry.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

We have one road-test of the E-bike Retro and Cruiser.

Price: £300-£600   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Mostly a complete waste of garage space”

There are now so many cheap Ebikes flooding in from China it’s impossible to rate them separately. However, there are three broad classes:

1. Wierd, dodgy-looking little folders. Keep well away – they are heavy, unreliable and with limited range. It will be one of the worst things you’ve ever wasted £300 on.
2. Super-snazzy MTB-style machines. Sheep in Wolf’s clothing. Mostly heavy, crude and impractical. Aimed at people with more money than sense and selling like Hot Cakes, which is a bit depressing.
3. Facsimiles of successful machines. Less clear cut (see Powacycle above), but we haven’t yet found a copy of – for example – the Kalkhoff or Nano-Brompton that was worth buying. Electric bikes are high-technology machines… it’s generally not worth buying something from a market trader (we may be proved wrong though).

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: From £899   Rating: 5/5   Verdict: “Rest in Peace. A modern classic – will be remembered as the best electric bike of its era”

Giant’s first Lafree was a dreadful thing, but the classic machine, produced between 2000 and 2006 was a superb bike. Just to confuse you, this started life as the Lafree Twist, became generically known as the Lafree, but the Lafree branding was later dropped, so they became Giant Twists. Giant has now withdrawn the bike, but it’s still tops in our book, so still a 5-star electric bike. The Lafree (sorry, Twist) is a proper bike, with power-assistance. Designed by Giant’s Dutch arm, this attractive machine looks like a Dutch roadster, and includes such features as a step-thru frame (or not if you prefer), lots of practical accessories, hub gears and quiet trouble-free Panasonic motor assist. At around 20 miles, range is better than average, and the battery is one of the smallest and lightest around, so if you can afford it, buy two. Efficiency surpassed only by the most modern Panasonic drive bikes like the Kalkhoff.

Problems? After four years, the bikes themselves are proving extremely reliable, but there have been a few battery and charger faults. Giant had to withdrawn the original Panasonic charger, replacing it with a Metco unit while the problem was fixed, but the last machines were back to Panasonic. Watch this if buying a second hand bike, and go for the 5- or 7-speed SRAM hub, which is much better, and generally worth more.

Developments for 2006 included a larger battery, retrofittable to all models and complete destruction of the Lafree range. Still that’s multinationals for you. We’ve heard that secondhand prices are holding up well, and we’d consider the Lafree a good buy for anything under £800. Like all thoroughbreds they can be a bit highly-strung, and we’ve had a report or two of complete electronics failure – with spares being run down, this could be a problem.

We have several road-tests: E-series (this is something different), Lite, Comfort, Comfort ST, and Comfort at 2,000, 3,500 and 5,000 miles, and how to keep a secondhand machine on the road.

Price: From £1,060   Rating: 4/5   Verdict: “Neat and Cheap, but limited range”

Another Panasonic crank drive, but no longer imported into the UK.

For prices and stockists, see our Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: £1,095   Rating: 3/5   Verdict: “Stylish and fun, but no longer on sale”

Beautifully made in Japan, the Step Compo was an electric folding bike that really worked. Plus points include superb styling, good folding and light weight, bad points have to include the four-figure price tag and limited range from a microscopic battery.

Why the past-tense? It’s out of production, but Honda never tell us anything, so we can’t be absolutely sure… And beware of Chinese imitations, which look just as pretty, but are heavy, with limited range.

We have one road-test of the Honda Step Compo.

Price: £1,200   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Technically interesting and much improved”

The Sparc is a great idea. It’s a combined hub gear and electric motor, saving both space and weight. The weak points are limited power and relatively noisy operation, but the small battery was upgraded in 2005, and new electronics mean a bit more oomph. The Sparc-powered Dahon Roo will now whip the skin from a rice pudding with ease, but don’t expect to climb any steep hills unless you’re willing to pedal fairly hard. On the positive side, the whole bike weighs 18.1kgs, making it one of the lightest around, and of course, it’s a folder. Our only real grumble is with the price.

We have tested the 2002 and 2005 Dahon Roo EL.

Price: From £599   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Unbeatable range and efficiency, question mark over reliability”

An interesting one this. The S-Drive (or, more correctly Schnachner) was broadly similar to the Heinzmann, although designed in Austria and made in the Far East. The motor was noisy, slow, and tended to shred it’s drive gears. On a more positive note, it was an efficient system, and the dashboard ammeter helped you ‘drive’ the motor, giving world-beating economy… in excess of 40 miles on our hilly test route. The present situation is unclear, and the bikes seem to have disappeared.

We have road-tested the early version of the S-Drive.

For prices and stockists, see Electric Bike Price Guide

Price: £350 or $350   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Simple, crude and effective friction drive system”

The basis of the design is a simple, quiet, reliable motor driving straight onto the tyre. Powered by a similarly cheap, reliable lead/acid battery, the Zap (either a complete bike or easily-fitted kit) is a surprisingly good performer, outpacing all other friction drives. There are one or two disadvantages – the friction roller tends to slip in the wet unless you choose the tyre with care, and the roller wears out fairly quickly, although later models are ceramic rather than steel. Otherwise, a great little performer for the price. Out of production for a while, the Zap reappeared, but has now finally bitten the dust, overwhelmed by much cleverer technology from China.

We have tested the Zap kit and Zap/Brompton adaption.

Price: From £765   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “Ancient but Reliable Brit technology”

TGA was a slightly mysterious outfit based in Essex, that later moved it’s base up the road to Suffolk, where the company now concentrates on selling mobility trikes. Until very recently, it still built a few ancient electric bikes and trikes. With the accent on crude, but simple technology, (allegedly a lorry windscreen wiper motor driven by car batteries) the machines should be reliable, and are certainly easily fixed when things go wrong. For a few hundred pounds, you could buy a kit of parts to convert a conventional bike, but TGA has now been overwhelmed by better, lighter products from China.

Price: From £595   Rating: 2/5   Verdict: “A neat Powabyke clone”

China exports vast numbers of electric bikes, both good, bad and ugly… some of them effortlessly achieving all three. The SolarTracker SLB machines was better than most, being neatly styled, but like the Powabyke, too expensive. When we tested it, the power output was (deliberately) set very low, but it got better.

We have one road-test of the SolarTracker SLB-2000.

Price: From £695   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Hopeless bike, but sexy photography”

Oh dear oh dear. It’s almost beyond belief that a machine this poor could have made it on to the market, but here it is – Italian with US characteristics. Without dwelling too long in this dreary place, the Oxygen is over-weight, over-priced, unstable, under-powered and much else besides. In the test, we summed up by saying ‘…the wrong sort of motor, drawing too much power from the wrong sort of batteries, mounted in the wrong place…’, which just about covers it. Still, the Italians are very good at photographing attractive young ladies, so we must forgive them.

We have tested the Oxygen Atala once, and will almost certainly never return.

Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Best forgotten – a complete disaster area”

Aprilia’s Enjoy has been withdrawn, and we’re not surprised. It looked the part, thanks to some wicked Italian styling and lots of techy bits, but it was inefficient, over-priced, poorly designed and generally a bit of an also-ran. And you needed a mortgage for a replacement battery…

We have one road-test of the Aprilia Enjoy Race.

Price: From £699   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Rather unpleasant, but good in parts”

We liked the tiny motor and NiMH battery, but the Bliss proved a bit disappointing. It’s reasonably light, but horrible to ride, poorly geared and over-priced. And the claims are unrealistic – it will not do 20-30 miles. It survived our test, but we wish it had broken down and gone back where it came from.

We have one road-test of the Bliss.

Price: From £895   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Let down by hardware and software faults”

We had a few problems with our test prototype Tornado, and the importer seems to have disappeared.

Price: Reduced to £90   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Heavy, slow, crude and overpriced. RIP”

This sounded jolly clever – you whip off the back mudguard from a standard bike and mount the battery/motor unit over the wheel. In practise, the friction drive slipped wildly in the wet, the system was horribly heavy, and the frumpy lead-acid batteries provided a laughably short range of just a few miles at lethargic speed. This was a seriously inefficient machine – ETC has now ceased trading.

For specification and distributor, see Electric Bike Price Guide

We have one road-test of the ETC kit.

Price: Out of production   Rating: 1/5   Verdict: “Effectively useless”

Sir Clive Sinclair has a track-record of superb technical and design innovation, but since the not-quite-right C5, his record on transport has been less than meteoric. The Zeta power-assist attachments were noisy, underpowered and effectively useless. They have now been withdrawn. We’ve awarded one star because they were cheap, so if you insist on buying one you won’t have wasted too much money.

We have tested the Zeta kits.