Welcome to another week in e-bikes. This week’s edition sandwiches concerns about illegal e-bikes and concerns about e-bikes on pavements (again) within the wholesome bread of good news from Tenways and Glasgow City Council…
Tenways brews up special edition Ago X
Tenways is back with the Ago X Special Edition. Dubbed an ‘urban all-rounder’, the Netherlands-based e-bike brand’s upgraded utility bike features an all-new frame with a stem-mounted front light and display, a 560 Wh battery, and the company’s own 80 Nm mid-drive motor.
Shifting is delivered courtesy of a Shimano CUES 10-speed drivetrain, while 100mm front suspension and an extended upper-rear chainstay will smooth out the dreaded Dutch cobble wobbles.
The Ago X special edition tips the scales at 24.3 kg and it comes in ‘Olive Moss’ and ‘Starlight Silver’ shades. Optional extras include a rear rack that can support child seats, and a front rack to carry said child’s pizza.
It’s nice to see that Tenways’ designs are becoming more refined, with hidden cables and practical touches – and its £2,099 price tag is almost as attractive as the bike itself.
Are illegal e-bikes affecting the legal bike industry?
The Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has published a briefing that warns that illegal e-bikes are “creating immediate and escalating” risks, and that this is having a domino effect on the legitimate bike and motorcycle industries.
”Capable of speeds comparable to mopeds and motorcycles, [high-powered e-bikes] are frequently ridden on pavements, cycleways and in other spaces intended for vulnerable road users,” PACTS says. “Their close resemblance to legitimate EAPC bikes makes enforcement difficult, and the lack of registration means collisions and offences are likely to be under-reported.”
The report doesn’t include any specific figures regarding high-powered e-bike incidents and injuries. However, it does highlight a decline in conventional moped and scooter registrations, which may have been driven by gig economy delivery riders who are turning to less-than-legal alternatives. The briefing also points to potential negative effects on the legitimate e-bike industry, which may be contributing to a decline in sales.
”This reflects sustained reputational damage and association with unsafe and non road legal products, especially those used in the gig economy delivery sector,” the briefing reports. “This is in stark contrast to the sales trajectory in other markets with stronger regulation of unsafe and non road legal e-bikes.”
There is a lot of nuance to this debate; as we mentioned a few weeks back, calls for e-bike enforcement and regulation can distract and detract from the far bigger dangers posed by motor vehicles. However, the knock-on effects of perceived dangers on the UK’s cycling industry are an important and relatively undocumented issue.
Westminster MP meets with Lime to discuss “reckless” use of hire e-bikes on streets and pavements
I’ve just met with @limebike to share residents concerns around the reckless use of e-bikes on our streets and pavements.
Residents in the Citiesof London and Westminster deserve Safer Pavements🚲 pic.twitter.com/YjE7UFuuZT
— Rachel Blake (@RNBlake) May 13, 2026
Rachel Blake – the Labour/Co-op MP for Cities of London and Westminster – has a bone to pick with Lime about the reported “reckless” cycling going on in her patch.
“I’ve been campaigning for safer pavements… and I’m going to be demanding that they introduce GPS technology so that we don’t have Lime Bikes on the pavements, and to make sure that we’re tackling Lime Bikes who [sic] are running red lights”, declares Blake.
“I want to see action now on this. I think we need to see safer pavements.”
> Opinion: Stop whining about Lime Bikes
While she received a number of virtual pats on the back for her stance, not everyone commenting underneath Blake’s X post agreed: “It sounds like you need to make your roads safer so people don’t feel the need to ride on the pavement”, said Bikery, while another said her post had led to “culture wars comments”.
Blake hasn’t yet commented further on the outcome of that meeting, but we’ll be following along with intrigue…
Glasgow’s e-bike hire scheme surges
Good news from Glasgow about legal e-bikes. Data from the Scottish city’s council shows a surge in e-bike hire usage since Swedish firm Voi took over the city’s contract, with a recorded 114% spike in activity. Since its launch in November, the scheme has surpassed 282,000 rides, with riders collectively travelling 520,000km, the equivalent of thirteen laps around the globe. It’s especially impressive given Scotland’s notoriously gruelling winter.
Cube recalls all 2026 e-bikes from its Hybrid range due to “suddenly detaching” crank arms
A cheery one to conclude our round-up: Cube has issued a stop ride recall on all 2026 Cube e-bike models fitted with ACID Carbon Hybrid Crank Arms sold prior to 8 May 2026.
The German brand says: “As part of our permanent quality monitoring, we have identified an issue with the aluminium threaded pedal insert on 2026 ACID Carbon Hybrid Crank Arms suddenly detaching from the crank body. We are therefore informing you about a Product Safety Recall affecting certain bike models.
“To ensure user safety, the ACID Carbon Hybrid Crank Arms on all affected bikes need to be replaced.”
The list of affected bikes is vast, and includes various Stereo and AMS mtbs, Nuroad e-road bikes, plus Kathmandu and Reaction hybrids. The full list of bikes and instructions for what owners need to do next can be found here – if you’re affected, don’t ride the bike and contact an authorised Cube dealer to replace your crank arms free of charge.
5 thoughts on “Westminster MP in showdown talks with Lime over “reckless” e-bike use on pavements, Tenways launches special edition Ago X with £2,099 price tag, Cube recall Hybrid models due to “suddenly detaching crank arms” + more”
They don’t closely resemble legal EAPCs, there are numerous tell-tale signs and furthermore even the most shortsighted plod should be able to tell the difference between someone doing 25 km/h and pedalling and someone doing 40 km/h and freewheeling. Every day in London I can guarantee that I’ll see someone on a blatantly illegal electric motorbike ride within close proximity of a police car and nothing will be done. The sole difficulty with enforcement is that those responsible aren’t willing to do it. For heaven’s sake, you could reduce the numbers of illegal electric motorcycles on the road in any given area by about 50% just by stationing a few officers outside the most popular fast food joints on any given evening.
“I’ve been campaigning for safer pavements… and I’m going to be demanding that they introduce GPS technology so that we don’t have Lime Bikes on the pavements, and to make sure that we’re tackling Lime Bikes who [sic] are running red lights”, declares Blake.
What does she think is going to happen with GPS, even if it were accurate enough to identify the difference between being on the road and on the pavement does she want it to turn the handlebars and force the rider onto the road, possibly directly in front of a motor vehicle and does she think that it will be synchronised with the timing of all the traffic lights so it can identify when a rider is going through on red?
I think she’s watched one too many mission impossible films!
Agree Rendel… as you say someone would need to motivate the police *. Presumably “we’ve targets and priorities and this ain’t one, unless we can tie this incidentally to eg. dealing / muggings”.
It is simulataneously “we all know ’em when we see ’em” and also lax lawmaking (there have been some tangles around eg. throttle etc) and of course deliberate muddying the water by sellers. Plus “it’s a box, I say it’s a legal box, you prove it ain’t”
But mostly just “legal to sell and buy so not our problem” all-round. Trading standards got hit in the austerity era IIRC and are already drowning in illegal cigarette/booze sales and frankly open dealing in high streets.
All of which – I suspect – further disinclines the law. (Seeing the legalistic and often – being kind – ill informed approach they take with other road crime…)
* And their paymasters seem utterly uninterested most of the time, with the odd and rare outrage issue because “cyclist killed…”.
Sadly I suspect that the most likely to pay any attention to this would be the Reform corporation Ltd because both “bikes” and “probably ridden by people we don’t want here”.
Every day in London I can guarantee that I’ll see someone on a blatantly illegal electric motorbike ride within close proximity of a police car and nothing will be done
Well, I can’t match the police car proximity, but cycling home from Southport through Preston after 10 tonight, I saw 2 blatantly illegal electric motorbikes. One of them had the greatest diameter rear hub motor I have ever seen, was dressed in blacker-than-black and carried no lights at all.
@Backladder Agreed, it’s a nonsense. She could much more usefully campaign for Lime and similar companies to be forced to be more forthcoming about who hired a particular bike at the time of a collision, at the moment it’s impossible to get the details of anyone who hits you in order to get compensation for damages caused unless you can persuade the police to open a criminal investigation and make the request themselves…in other words it’s impossible.