If you’re heading up to Alexandra Palace for the Cycle Show this weekend then there are plenty of great ebikes to see. A whole hall of them! And with a great test circuit as part of the show, there are plenty of opportunities to try them out too. Here are 11 of the bikes we liked the look of on the show floor.
Ribble Urban AL e Step Through (from £2,499)
You don’t have to go far to see this one, it’s right by the door. Ribble’s ebike range all feature Mahle’s ebikemotion X35 system, and this new alloy step-through bike looks just the ticket for everyday city use.
All the city essentials are included, included a solid rear rack and a front porteur rack you can lash extra stuff too.
Ribble has speeced its own lighting system for this and other urban ebikes which is all plumbed in too
Mycle Cargo (from £1,899)
We’ve covered the launch of the Mycle Cargo already and it was good to see it in the flesh. It’s a chunky, small-wheeled, hub-geared longtail cargo bike that’s reminiscent of bikes like the Rad Power Radwagon.
The base spec gets a generous 720Wh battery but the bike can be specced with two, giving you a whopping 1,440Wh of battery capacity.
The bike can carry up to two passengers on the back and there will be a range of accessories for load lugging too.
The show bike had this retro paint splatter finish, which looked pretty cool
Forme Peak Trail ELS (£3,099)
We’ve reviewed a previous version of the Peak Trail ELS but the new version is heavily updated, with an internal battery, integrated lighting and mudguards and rack included for urban duties.
Those super chunky Schwalbe Supermoto tyres not only look great with the tan sidewalls, but they’re slick enough to roll well on the tarmac and big enough to cope with unsurfaced trails too.
The bike is specced with the Bosch Performance Line motor and you also get the excellent Kiox display as standard.
Raleigh Stride 2 (£4,395)
The Stride 2 is a behemoth of a bike, a long john style cargo bike with a cavernous bucket at the front that can swallow two kids or a huge load. There are a wealth of accessories too, including various seats and box covers to suit what you’re carrying.
The Cargo Line motor is the most powerful unit that Bosch currently make, able to assist up to 400% of rider input to get you going from the lights.
The bike comes as standard with a single 500Wh battery but it’s simple to fit another to double your range, which will be useful if you’re loading the bucket up.
Here’s a bonus Raleigh too: the Centos has been updated with a 625Wh internal battery and the option to fit a second 500Wh battery for huge range.
Kuma M1 (£2,950)
Kuma is an Irish company and you probably won’t have seen their bikes for the last few years (guess why), but they’re back in the UK now and with some really interesting city bikes. The M1 is a mid-motor, belt-drive city bike with an Enviolo continuously variable hub.
The Bafang M420 motor isn’t one that we see on a lot of UK bikes but it’s a high quality unit offering 80Nm of torque.
The integration on the bike is very neat, with the display built into the stem…
…and front and rear lights in the frame
Wisper Tailwind (from £1,600)
The Wisper Tailwind is available in a variety of builds, from this stripped back urban bike, to an all-surface expedition bike, to a full-on hardtail mountain bike. It looks pretty neat built up like this as a cruiser.
The bike has a 375Wh internal battery and that powers a rear hub motor that’s made by the same people that make the motor for the ebikemotion X35 system.
You don’t get many city extras on this build but you do get good quality kit: hydraulic brakes, Shimano transmission and Schwalbe tyres.
Gazelle Easyflow HMS (from £2,499)
The Easyflow is a bike that’s designed for maximum ease of use around town. The low-step makes it easy to get on the bike and geometry has been tweaked to allow you to put your feet down easily even when you’re in the saddle.
There are other safety features too, including a rear view mirror as standard.
The bike uses a Shimano Nexus 7-speed hub gear and a fully enclosed drivetrain, powered by a Shimano STEPS mid motor.
Honbike (£,1799)
The Honbike is another bike we’ve recently covered but it was good to see it in the flesh. It’s a shaft-drive, hub motor folding city bike. There’s a lot of interesting stuff going on.
The front hub motor and the rear wheel are both only attached on one side, a bit like the Gocycle. The shaft drive is fully enclosed for minimal maintenance. There’s only one gear.
We’re not so sure about this seat, if we’re honest. But a standard saddle is going to be an option too.
Swytch conversion system £TBC
We’ve tested both of the previous incarnations of the Swytch system, and it’s a pretty simple way to add assistance to a bike you already own and love. The new system is still in development but it looks like a step up from the current gear.
The new battery is still handlebar-mounted, but it’s more like a bigger version of a battery pack you’d charge your phone from. It clamps into a new mount but this small battery is almost pocket-sized. There’s probably not a huge amount of range in it; bigger batteries will be available too.
There’s also going to be the option of a handlebar remote with a display, which will make controlling the system easier. Pricing and timescale are still to be confirmed for the new system.
Specialized Turbo Como 4.0 £3,900
Lots of nice Specialized ebikes at the show; this Turbo Como 4.0 uses the Specialized 2.0 motor which offers 70Nm of torque for gliding round town. The step-through design makes it easy to mount and dismount too.
The Turbo Como 4.0 has a generous 710Wh battery, and this build of the bike gets a SRAM NX drivetrain. It’s also available with a Gates belt drive and an Enviolo continuously-variable hub for an extra £700.
City essentials are included: you get full mudguards, a rack for up to 26kg of shopping, integrated lighting and a suspension seatpost for taking the sting out of the potholes.
Vello Bike+ Special edition (£lots)
Finally, This special edition of Vello’s Bike+ weighs in at just 9.9kg. How have they done that? Well, they’ve spun up a full titanium frame, and hung some pretty flash kit from it.
The Vello uses the Zehus Bike+ system, which contains the motor, batteries and control gear in the rear hub. Zehus’ claim is that the system is smart enough to charge when you don’t need the power and assist you when you do, so you never have to charge it. We’re not sure that trick would work round hilly Bath though!
We’re not sure how much this build would cost, but the ‘standard’ Titanium Vello Bike+ (with a steel rear end) is £4,500, and this bike is full titanium and sporting some expensive finishing kit like Schmolke carbon handlebars and ultralight Formula disc brakes, so you’re probably looking at £7k or more, we reckon.
That’s our pick of some of the bikes from the show! If you go, let us know what stood out for you!
