“Looks legit”: Police seize bizarre illegal electric mountain bike/scooter hybrid with “more wiring than the average car” – but others praise “small motorised penny-farthing” and say “don’t punish creativity” + more on the live blog
“Looks legit”: Police seize bizarre illegal electric mountain bike/scooter hybrid with “more wiring than the average car” – but others praise “small motorised penny-farthing” and say “don’t punish creativity”
It’s fair to say 2026 has been the year of the police e-bike seizure in the UK (among other things, of course). Officers up and down the land have been nabbing high-speed illegally modified bikes in a concerted, nationwide effort to clamp down on dangerous riding and anti-social behaviour.
Last month, we reported that, according to data supplied by 31 police forces across the UK, 7,049 bikes were deemed to be illegal and confiscated by police in the 12 months to 19 May, compared to the 3,858 seized the previous year, a huge 83 per cent jump.
They don’t always get it right, mind you, but it’s clear they’re trying.
However, of those 7,000-plus illegal bikes seized, I’m not sure any were more bizarre, baffling, or – let’s face it – creatively engineered than this, ahem, work of art in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, this week:
I’m genuinely lost for words, I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Not quite your average push bike…” Ashfield Police said in a rather understated social media post this week.
“Officers from Kirkby in Ashfield came across this rather interesting piece of DIY engineering today. At first glance, it looked like a mountain bike. A closer inspection revealed a scooter motor, plenty of wiring, and enough tape to keep the local DIY shop in business.”
It’s like some niche, forgotten mythical creature, with the head of a bike and the rear end of a scooter. A Velocicooter, or something, I don’t know, I haven’t had my coffee yet.
And it features so much DIY wiring, I’m surprised Vicky McClure and her bomb disposal team didn’t turn up on the scene:
‘Ah come on officer, you can’t tell me that doesn’t look safe!’
The police continued: “The creation was capable of reaching around 28mph. Unfortunately for its rider, adding pedals doesn’t automatically make something a legal electric bicycle.
“To qualify as an Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycle, the electrical assistance must cut off at 15.5mph, alongside meeting the other legal requirements. Once a vehicle falls outside those requirements, it may be treated as a motor vehicle and requirements such as a driving licence and insurance can apply.
“At 28mph, this one had officially gone from ‘push bike’ to ‘please pull over’.”
A bit of a corny joke, I’ll admit, but at least Ashfield’s officers know the law concerning electric bikes, which is a plus.
“Unfortunately, the impressive collection of tape and cable ties didn’t include an insurance policy. The vehicle was therefore seized under Section 165A of the Road Traffic Act 1988,” they wrote.
“Moral of the story: if your bicycle has more wiring than the average police car and does nearly 30mph, it might be worth checking the law before taking it for a spin.”
Unsurprisingly, most visitors to Ashfield Police’s Facebook page were either simply baffled or eager to poke fun at Nottinghamshire’s latest two-wheeled invention.
“Looks legit,” Drew Billham wrote under the photo of all those safe, safe wires.
“That’s mint, I have an old e-bike with 10” wheels but thinking of turning it into a Chopper,” added Dave. Now there’s an idea that could keep Raleigh in business…
Others were just impressed at the engineering skills and creativity that went into this Frankenstein-esque machine.
“You know what? I admire the work that went into that. Guy had a vision and followed through,” wrote Marc. “Shame about the legality of it, but fair play to him for the effort.”
And Michael said: “That is genius, a bit like a small motorised penny-farthing. Get that person a qualification in engineering. Don’t punish creativity, otherwise robots we become.”
A small motorised penny-farthing? Get Jeremy Vine on the phone now, I have an investment opportunity for him…
Help us to bring you the best cycling content
If you’ve enjoyed this article, then please consider subscribing to road.cc from as little as £2.49. Our mission is to bring you all the news that’s relevant to you as a cyclist, independent reviews, impartial buying advice and more. Your subscription will help us to do more.
2 Comments
Read more...
Read more...
Read more...
Latest Comments
Actually if it's done properly, as part of a network of cycle infra, with "disentangling of modes", motor traffic reduction, proper junction treatments where necessary (eg. with detection loops for cyclists ahead of the junction)... ... then it's for *everyone* cycling and nobody sane would choose the road over it. Apart from possibly pros / hardy "never did me any harm, squabbling with drivers, dodging potholes and grates while sprinting between long stops at traffic lights " types raised in 3rd tier cycling environments (like most of the UK). Of course - has it reached that quality yet? Almost certainly not. But I'd probably give it a go at least; and if the transitions to / from weren't bad use it. For one it's probably going to remain in better condition than the road...
Although, not anywhere in the actual blog item. 🤔
This is road.cc. Please put this story where it belongs on bizarreelectricmountainbikescooterhybrid.cc. Sheesh.
I wonder if the bloke who posted this video on Facebook will ever realise the cycle lane is not intended for that cyclist in his video, as that cyclist already seems confident on the road - it's for the likes of himself, who perhaps don't cycle on the road because of safety fears.
Errr.. did you really install them on the *outside* of the cranks? How did that last? Sheesh.
- "London infrastructure is not set up to deal with the volume of bikes we are currently seeing,” said one of the new study’s authors - Presumably we can also state: " London infrastructure is not set up to deal with the volume of cars we are currently seeing,” ...
@chrisonabike To which list you can add hiding-in-mummy's-basement-behind-the-keyboard hard men who seem to have misunderstood the meaning of "stop the boats" and so block people from getting on the channel ferry.
Mostly pootling about doing urban transport-type cycling I swear by my safety beanie in winter (possibly combined with some neck-sock affair for draft-exclusion). And I'm rarely without a cap in summer, being a bit pasty. Can't tell you they've saved my life, but they've possibly helped me keep my concentration on the job. (Apart from one time where a gust caught my cap and in putting my hand up to grab it I went down. Cap tethers/chinstraps, folks...)
@tomlew Good point and even if it was how would they find out? In my experience most people seriously enough injured to require A&E treatment don't bring their bicycles in with them, and the police don't attend bike crashes as a matter of course. Scandalously academically unrigorous assumptions.
2 thoughts on ““Looks legit”: Police seize bizarre illegal electric mountain bike/scooter hybrid with “more wiring than the average car” – but others praise “small motorised penny-farthing” and say “don’t punish creativity” + more on the live blog”
This is road.cc. Please put this story where it belongs on bizarreelectricmountainbikescooterhybrid.cc. Sheesh.
Although, not anywhere in the actual blog item. 🤔