Seamus Allardice was sceptical of e-bikes before he rode one, but now he’s a convert…
“The boost from the electric motor is like catching a wave.”
I must admit the first time I saw a proper e-bike I wasn’t impressed. I let all my preconceptions about e-bikes affect my judgement – the bike looked heavy, cumbersome to handle, and I figured it was for lazy people who didn’t want to pedal. About 30 seconds later, after being coaxed to try it out, I’d dramatically changed my mind. E-bikes are amazing!
Back in the day my uncle, who owns a Suzuki dealership, brought in a few electric bicycles – but they were the Frankenstein Monsters of electric help-my-traps. They looked like a scooter, could do 40kph – downhill – but because of the awkward seat set-up there was no effective way to pedal, so they ran on electric energy alone. He sold a few around our little town, but the popularity took a massive dip when one of the community nurses took a massive tumble coming down a hill from visiting an elderly patient in the rain – she lost quite a bit of skin, the electric bike lost a lot of plastic bits and my uncle’s market dried up instantly.
These electric bikes are nothing like those! They’re a bicycle first and foremost. You can comfortably pedal one from A to B and in fact the electric motor takes its lead from your pedalling, so when you’re not applying force to the pedals the motor supplies no assistance. Though the head and seat tube angles aren’t supplied by BH the Evo Jumper Dual Sus MTB 29er, BH’s most capable off road e-bike which I spent a few days testing for this article, feels like it’s designed around a conservative geometry. The saddle position is up near the line from the bottom bracket and the head angle is fairly steep, though that’s offset by a positively angled stem.
Power is supplied to a Brushless 350W motor situated around the rear hub and the 70km rage is ensured by a battery housed in a detachable case on the down tube. The case latches securely into place, in a way that will fool non-cyclists into thinking you’re just riding a normal bike, and can either be detached for charging or charged via a port while attached to the bike.
But enough of the technicalities, you want to know what changed my mind…
Since the first time I’ve ridden the proper e-bike I’ve introduced quite a few people to them. And the initial sequence of events is always the same: scepticism, get onto the bike, give one pedal stroke, shoot forward at an unexpected pace, let out a little excited yelp (I’ve seen and heard grown men do exactly that) and then return from a short 20 meter circuit with a massive grin. The boost from the electric motor is like catching a wave – it’s a sudden surge of speed that makes movement feel completely effortless.
Can you ride one where you would a normal mountain bike? On the BH Easy Motion Evo Jumper Dual Sus and Neo 29er models, certainly! I’ve ridden the hardtail Neo on the trails around Rhodes Memorial without a problem and I tested the Evo Jumper Dual Sus 29er on the farm roads of Rustenberg Wine Estate, both handle capably – though there is one upgrade I’d strongly recommend if you are planning on going proper mountain biking on one of these e-bikes: 200mm brake rotors. I did notice the Evo Jumper’s heavy back-end trying to run away with me while descending and I’d have felt a lot more secure with 200mm rotors, for added stopping power, front and rear rather than the 180 and 160mm standard set-up.
If my little expeditions aren’t enough to convince you, Marc Erasmus, the ABSA Cape Epic’s Stage Location Manager, rode the same Evo Jumper Dual Sus 29er I tested on the trial ride for the 2016 Epic. Impressive!
E-Bike Likely Uses
As we see it, most people will still use an e-bike for the following things, despite the fact that they’re more capable than ever.
- Commuting – for ±10km trips there’s really nothing better (when it’s not raining).
- Sight-seeing and Game viewing – for the less fit (think tourists) they open up city bicycle tours and bike based game viewing like never before.
- Motorpacing – get almost anyone to ride ahead of you on an e-bike while you slog it out in their slip-stream, it’s far safer than using a motorbike or car.
- Getting out there – if you have a significant other who’s not quite as keen on the hard work of mountain biking they can now join you on a long ride on an e-bike (they’ll probably have to take it easy so they don’t drop you though).
- Overcoming Medical Conditions – for would be cyclists with heart conditions e-bikes offer all the thrills without most of the cardiac stress, speak to your doctor about the possibility now.
E-Bikes in SA
The range of bikes available in SA isn’t big. To find out more visit www.bhsouthafrica.co.za to view BH South Africa’s range of bikes (by far the biggest in SA), check out the custom built e-bikes by www.chilledsquirrel.com, or sus out Specialized’s Turbo Levo or Turbo at www.specialized.com/za.
