I'm the first person to moan about electric bikes. What's the point? Bikes are for exercise and only a real slouch would buy an electric-powered machine. Give me a human-powered bicycle any day. Well, perhaps not. My bike needed a new rear brake so I took it down to Cycle King in Croydon - let's say it's now my favourite and most convenient bike shop, only a short downhill ride away. So I'm in there, I hand in the bike and they tell me it'll be ready around 5pm.
When the time comes, I'm there and to be honest, I love bike shops. I don't want to simply pick up my machine and head home, I want to look at the bikes, check them out and engage in idle chat with the guys in the shop. And this I did with the store manager. We chatted about Westhill electric bikes, in particular the Ghost 2.0 which I immediately fell in love with, it was a mean-looking machine. Our chat revolved around the usual stuff: what's the point? You don't get as much exercise as you would on a normal bike and so on, but I was wrong. I'm always wrong. There is a point in electric bike ownership. The point is, certainly with the Ghost 2.0 and other bikes in the Westhill range, that you can cover more ground, you have to keep pedalling (you're not riding a moped) and that means you get the exercise and you can travel further.
The motor is in the rear wheel and the Ghost 2.0 looks just like a 'normal' bike except that the rear hub is thicker, coz that's where the motor resides.
The great thing about Cycle King in Croydon is the size of the shop. Compared to most bike shops, it's huge and there's room to ride bikes in the store. The manager convinced me it was worth a try and set the bike's motor to the number three setting (there's nine in total, plus 27 gears) and off I went. As soon as I started to pedal the power kicked in and wow! I get it! I get it!. I wonder what it would be like on setting nine? Only one way to find out! Whoosh! As soon as I touched the pedal I was off and had to remember to stop pedalling when I reached the end of the shop floor. Stop pedalling and the motor cuts out, start pedalling and whoosh! Off you go. I couldn't believe it to be honest. I needed the open road, I needed the hill coming out of Westerham to put a bike like the Ghost 2.0 through its paces. I wanted the 269 as I know this crazy machine could fly and I wanted a piece of it. Sadly, of course, I didn't have time, although I would have loved to have riden the Ghost home.
The price isn't too prohibitive either. At £1,599 it's very reasonable and at Cycle King there's interest credit. My brain was working overtime. It costs me around £130 per month to use the train, but to buy the Westhill would set me back just £120 per month, a saving of £10. Not that such sums would make me flavour of the month if I turned up on my Ghost 2.0 and tried to explain the maths behind my decision.
Another plus point, of course, is that Westhill bikes are British made. There are four bikes in the range (at the time of writing). The Ghost 2.0, the Phantom (more for off-road usage), the Classic (a Dutch style, unisex machine which, because of road tyres, is probably faster than the Ghost and Phantom and, of course, the Link (a foldaway bike). Look, they're all good and I'd be happy with any of them if I'm honest, which I am. My preference? The Ghost 2.0, it has my name written all over it and, ironically, the road next to mine, is Westhill.
When it comes to charging the battery, the 'lock and load' technology employed by Westhill means that batteries can be charged in or out of the frame. The Ghost 2.0 has disc brakes, 27 gears, 27.5 x 2.10 tyres, puncture-resistant tyres, and a kickstand - perfect! The Phantom has 30 gears (3 x 10) and an otherwise similar spec to the Ghost. As the for Classic (a Dutch-style bike with rack at the back) it offers a walk-assist mode at 4 mph, front and rear disc brakes (like both the Ghost and the Phantom) and the ability to travel up to 100 miles on one charge. The lightweight folding bike that is the Link is pretty good too, in fact, the manager of Cycle King loves it. He'd taken it out for test ride earlier and it was now being charged as we chatted.
Bikes are great fun anyway. Bike shops are great places to be and I think the amazing thing about the bike, apart from the fitness element, is that there's room to become a big kid again. Now, with electric machines, there's something more to get excited about and when I eventually left the store, man-powered machine in tow and a 15-minute uphill ride ahead of me, I felt a little bit sad that I was walking out of the store without a Ghost 2.0. As I said earlier, it had my name written all over it and that equation about £120 per month instead of £130 made more and more sense the further I rode away from the shop.
Riding uphill along the Upper Selsdon Road made me think about the Ghost's electric motor and the speed at which it moved as soon I pushed forward on the pedals. What a bike! WHAT. A. BIKE!
I'm converted. All I need now is the money to buy one as I know what I'd do with it first: I'd ride up Westerham Hill to the Botley Hill pub and sail past all those Lycra monkeys on their carbon fibre racers. Then I'd stop using public transport and ride to work, safe, perhaps, in the knowledge that my tyres are puncture resistant - that, of course, is the acid test. Can tyres really be puncture resistant?
If you're interested in Westhill electric bikes, visit www.westhillbikes.com or call them freephone on 0800 0234 937 or email them at enquiries@westhillbikes.com
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| The Westhill Ghost 2.0 and behind that the Phantom at Cycle King... |
The motor is in the rear wheel and the Ghost 2.0 looks just like a 'normal' bike except that the rear hub is thicker, coz that's where the motor resides.
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| The motor is in the rear wheel hub... |
The great thing about Cycle King in Croydon is the size of the shop. Compared to most bike shops, it's huge and there's room to ride bikes in the store. The manager convinced me it was worth a try and set the bike's motor to the number three setting (there's nine in total, plus 27 gears) and off I went. As soon as I started to pedal the power kicked in and wow! I get it! I get it!. I wonder what it would be like on setting nine? Only one way to find out! Whoosh! As soon as I touched the pedal I was off and had to remember to stop pedalling when I reached the end of the shop floor. Stop pedalling and the motor cuts out, start pedalling and whoosh! Off you go. I couldn't believe it to be honest. I needed the open road, I needed the hill coming out of Westerham to put a bike like the Ghost 2.0 through its paces. I wanted the 269 as I know this crazy machine could fly and I wanted a piece of it. Sadly, of course, I didn't have time, although I would have loved to have riden the Ghost home.
The price isn't too prohibitive either. At £1,599 it's very reasonable and at Cycle King there's interest credit. My brain was working overtime. It costs me around £130 per month to use the train, but to buy the Westhill would set me back just £120 per month, a saving of £10. Not that such sums would make me flavour of the month if I turned up on my Ghost 2.0 and tried to explain the maths behind my decision.
Another plus point, of course, is that Westhill bikes are British made. There are four bikes in the range (at the time of writing). The Ghost 2.0, the Phantom (more for off-road usage), the Classic (a Dutch style, unisex machine which, because of road tyres, is probably faster than the Ghost and Phantom and, of course, the Link (a foldaway bike). Look, they're all good and I'd be happy with any of them if I'm honest, which I am. My preference? The Ghost 2.0, it has my name written all over it and, ironically, the road next to mine, is Westhill.
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| A closer look at the Ghost 2.0... |
When it comes to charging the battery, the 'lock and load' technology employed by Westhill means that batteries can be charged in or out of the frame. The Ghost 2.0 has disc brakes, 27 gears, 27.5 x 2.10 tyres, puncture-resistant tyres, and a kickstand - perfect! The Phantom has 30 gears (3 x 10) and an otherwise similar spec to the Ghost. As the for Classic (a Dutch-style bike with rack at the back) it offers a walk-assist mode at 4 mph, front and rear disc brakes (like both the Ghost and the Phantom) and the ability to travel up to 100 miles on one charge. The lightweight folding bike that is the Link is pretty good too, in fact, the manager of Cycle King loves it. He'd taken it out for test ride earlier and it was now being charged as we chatted.
Bikes are great fun anyway. Bike shops are great places to be and I think the amazing thing about the bike, apart from the fitness element, is that there's room to become a big kid again. Now, with electric machines, there's something more to get excited about and when I eventually left the store, man-powered machine in tow and a 15-minute uphill ride ahead of me, I felt a little bit sad that I was walking out of the store without a Ghost 2.0. As I said earlier, it had my name written all over it and that equation about £120 per month instead of £130 made more and more sense the further I rode away from the shop.
Riding uphill along the Upper Selsdon Road made me think about the Ghost's electric motor and the speed at which it moved as soon I pushed forward on the pedals. What a bike! WHAT. A. BIKE!
I'm converted. All I need now is the money to buy one as I know what I'd do with it first: I'd ride up Westerham Hill to the Botley Hill pub and sail past all those Lycra monkeys on their carbon fibre racers. Then I'd stop using public transport and ride to work, safe, perhaps, in the knowledge that my tyres are puncture resistant - that, of course, is the acid test. Can tyres really be puncture resistant?
If you're interested in Westhill electric bikes, visit www.westhillbikes.com or call them freephone on 0800 0234 937 or email them at enquiries@westhillbikes.com
