King Charles reckons e-bikes are cheating… but here’s why that’s unfair

Quite high on the list of things we didn’t expect to read today was the ‘news’ that King Charles has had his say on electric bikes… by royal assent, electric bikes are hereby officially cheating.

Now, the comment was reportedly made at yesterday’s inauguration of the King Charles III England Coast Path, the world’s longest coastal walking route, with the monarch taking in a two-kilometre stretch on a sunny Thursday in Sussex and making the jokey remark to some passing cyclists.

According to GB News, King Charles quizzed a group of riders who’d stopped to see what was going on, asking, “Have you got the latest bikes?” Then, when informed the rides in question were of the electric variety, the head of the British Royal Family apparently replied with a smile: “Cheating.”

First things first, there’s absolutely nothing to suggest anyone should care too much about this quite unserious interaction on a Sussex cliff face, but it does also reflect a commonly heard trope regarding electric bikes. From Joe Bloggs in the pub to quite literally Buckingham Palace, faced with the sight of an e-bike, there are many people across the land whose first thought is apparently ‘cheating’.

In fact, it’s an attitude you’re just as likely, if not more likely, to hear from within the cycling community. Whether in lazy social media posts on cycling forums or jokes on the club run, it can sometimes feel like many in the cycling world are the worst offenders for e-bike-bashing.

Quite clearly there are scenarios where e-bikes are cheating. If you beat Tadej Pogačar up Alpe d’Huez this summer thanks to your hidden motor, nobody’s going to argue your electric bike isn’t cheating. Likewise, it might be frustrating to see your beloved solitary Strava KOM nabbed by someone riding an electric bike who hasn’t tagged their activity as such, but when it comes to the big picture of e-bikes, micromobility and transport, we don’t mind getting quite opinionated that people need to move on… (perhaps on an electric bike).

Stand on a London street corner and you’ll see the transformative effect of having accessible, confidence-inspiring electric bicycles that give people choice in how they commute and travel around a city.

Ask the person who might have otherwise packed up their cycling but can now still get out with their mates and enjoy the health benefits, physical and psychological, of going for a spin.

> New study finds that e-bike riders quadrupled their cycling distance over a six month period

You could even ask the former Transport Secretary who, before a resignation for a decade-old phone fraud offence, had marked her first months in office by U-turning heavily on her initial stance that she doesn’t cycle around her home city of Sheffield because it’s too hilly.

After joining constituents, representatives from Cycling UK, and three-time Olympic gold medallist and South Yorkshire’s active travel commissioner Ed Clancy for a ride up some of the city’s steepest climbs, Haigh concluded e-bikes have the potential to “make all the difference” in encouraging even those wary of the city’s hills to cycle more.

“Sheffield is known for its hills and that may be a barrier for some people who might be thinking of choosing cycling to get around,” she said. “It was great to be out with Cycling UK and to see how much easier it is to cycle when you have an extra boost from an e-bike, it makes all the difference.”

As a certain Bradley Wiggins eloquently suggested back in 2019: e-bikes are “brilliant” because they allow people to cycle who otherwise wouldn’t.

> E-Bike myths debunked: 6 common misconceptions about electric assistance

“You’re still active by riding an e-bike. It’s not like you’re sat on a moped. You can choose when you use the power.”

“Rather than having to walk up a hill and feel terrible because you can’t get up a hill, there is still a sense of achievement for someone who can’t get out of the house, maybe,” Wiggo said. “If you want to go out and beat blokes round Richmond Park and that, then fair enough, yeah, but not everyone wants to do that. Some people just want to get out of the house and feel active.”

Anyway, maybe all this didn’t need bashing out 750 words on a Friday afternoon (a recent report suggested ‘are e-bikes safe?’ is now a more common question from the public than whether they’re ‘cheating’). There was almost certainly nothing more to Charles’s remark than a friendly, light-hearted moment with some passers-by, but if you give us half a chance to shout from the rooftops about how great electric bikes are, then we’re going to take it.