Duncan Bell is riding his ebike

Going electric means never having to fear the hill – or the Lycra lot

According to a recent study, 50% of the British population is considering buying an electric bike right now. Admittedly that study is by Bosch, which makes motors and batteries for electric bikes. And sure, ‘considering’ can have a number of levels, from considering getting a sandwich at lunch to considering becoming a globetrotting crime fighter who travels the world righting wrongs. But we can say with some certainty that more people are thinking about buying an ebike now than before.

There are a number of reasons for this: post lockdown, people want to do more exercise – but not too much exercise. A lot of people are also extremely conscious about their carbon footprint. Nobody wants to use public transport if they can possibly avoid it. People in big cities have also probably noticed that cars average about 10mph tops, and yet there are some big and beautiful cycle lanes with about three bikes in, right next to where they’re sat in gridlock.