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It will come as no surprise to those of you who have visited the North Yorkshire Moors that there is some exquisite riding to be had. Whether you’re pedalling atop a road, gravel or mountain bike, there are miles upon miles of gorgeous landscapes and quiet lanes to enjoy. Or, in my case, you take a bike that doesn’t necessarily fit any of those categories. Instead, it’s an electric folding bike – specifically, the Estarli e20.X, which isn’t just your run of the mill folder.
The e20.X comes with a belt drive, a 2-speed automatic gearbox, and, in my case – and crucially – gravel-specific tyres.
So, with this well-equipped e-bike, I set out on a mini-adventure to explore the North York Moors and discover just how much it can actually do. Turns out, it’s more capable than you might think.
From Captain Cook to purple heather
When people think of the North York Moors, they don’t always think of the far north moors, where Captain Cook’s monument stands tall, and the hooked nose of Roseberry Topping provides a platform for one of the best views in the county.
So I decided to take the bike that way, and set off for Castleton Moor via train. I made sure the bike was fully charged – which is easy to do away from the bike as the battery resides in the seat tube. I then checked the tyre pressures were okay, and that my little pannier shopping bag had the essentials for a morning on the moors: a coat, a drink and a lock for the bike – oh, and an 11-week-old cocker spaniel puppy called Rémy.
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Rémy was unable to touch the ground as he hadn’t undergone his full course of vaccinations, so he resided quite happily in his special backpack. It was also a great way of combining a bit of socialisation and desensitisation to big scary things like trains, and his presence also meant I wouldn’t have a poonado to look forward to upon returning home.
I used the Komoot app to map my route with a quick reference to OS Maps when needed – not all gravel routes are created equally, and not all auto-follow route builders recognise the difference between a bridleway and a footpath and angry farmer.
Choo choo to Castleton Moor
If quaint little train journeys are your cup of tea, I highly recommend the Esk Valley train line. It heads up to Scarborough and takes in some really small stations. I departed from Great Ayton – boyhood home of Captain Cook, in case you didn’t know – which has only one platform and one train every once in a while.
It was easy enough getting the e20.X on the train and folding it up. I would have folded it to an even more compact shape if the train was busy, but as it stood, I was the only bike on there after six young lads got off with their mountain bikes, presumably to head to Guisborough forest to enjoy the trails there.
The e20.X tips the scales at just over 17kg, which is a very manageable weight, and wheeling it around once it’s compact makes life even simpler. This was particularly useful given I had precious cargo to worry about.
A mere 25 minutes later and me and Rémy were ready to depart from Castleton Moor; he, snug in his backpack, and I, having forgotten there was a reasonable incline straight off the bat. That proved no bother for the powerful hub motor on the Estarli though and the two-speed automatic gearing immediately came into its own.
The gears switch between 1 for lower speeds and inclines, and 2, which is primarily for cruising along at higher speeds on flatter terrain. It works really intuitively and there was never a point where I felt like I wished I had control of the gearing.
We reached the top of the hill and turned down a gravel bridleway, through some sweeping descents and up past some bemused pony trekkers who couldn’t believe that I was doing this route on a folding bike, let alone with a tiny dog on my back.
I have to say I was a little sceptical about the performance of the e20.X on the chunkier gravel, but the Schwalbe Billy Bonkers tyres really held their own on the loose stuff. And I know that the bike isn’t exactly set up with long and slack geometry, but I felt pretty confident going down these sometimes technical sections.
Alpacas and heather
I continued along the bridleway towards Commondale, which also hosts a tiny station and a convoluted gate system to get in and out of it. The place itself is small and nestled at the foot of a valley, with reasonably steep hills to get in or out of it.
We headed up and out towards Kildale, via some beautiful moorland and smooth paved roads – except for the occasional cattle grid. Grazing sheep adorned the sides, barely flinching as we whizzed past, which I think either reflects the hardiness of the sheep or the quietness of the bike motor.
Once in the village of Kildale, we headed through the Kildale Estate, which houses a lovely waterfall and river walk with a quiet path up towards Captain Cook’s monument.
On the bike, however, we faced a few steep climbs on leafy lanes to get towards Gribdale – the common parking area to access the monument.
I won’t lie and say the bike wasn’t struggling up these hills, but we really were asking an awful lot of it at this point. We passed a sign that said 25% at one point and yet still managed to grind our way up there. These efforts drained the battery somewhat quicker than I’d like, but it’s not hard to see why.
After that, we travelled along a beautifully quiet road to a gated farm, which houses alpacas, sheep, cows, you name it. Rémy was particularly enamoured with the alpacas.
Bike Base and beyond
Once we reached Gribdale car park, we’d conquered the last climb of the day, and our reward was a glorious descent towards the Bike Base café for a spot of lunch. Situated just a little way up from Great Ayton train station, Bike Base is a relatively new business that is incredibly bike and dog friendly – and even offers e-bike hire for those looking to explore the local area.
I locked the e20.X up and sat down to enjoy a well-earned hot chocolate (yes, even in summer it’s hot chocolate weather in the North East) and panini. Rémy chewed quietly on a dried chicken’s foot so he wasn’t tempted by my bacon.
After that refreshing pit stop, we saddled back up and rode back into Great Ayton – which itself is a destination for cyclists, hikers and tourists, although I doubt it’s just because of the Captain Cook heritage. Legend has it, there’s an excellent ice cream shop called Suggits that entices pepole from far and wide.
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We covered just over 11 miles with 1,125ft of climbing on our little moorland adventure. Just enough for little Rémy to have a nap, and for me to build my appetite for an ice cream. The e20.X surprised me with how comfortable it was and how stable it felt, particularly off-road.
It just goes to show, don’t judge an e-bike by its geometry.
