these bikes are so lazy people should just buy PROPER bikes, theres no excuse for it. In France you see 75 year olds going around on pedal bikes so there's no excuse why 'older people' cant do it it England.

rainonme you are so very wrong and your views are sadly often typical of a small section of cyclists. I have a few bikes including an electric, a MTB and soon a new carbon Boardman, all do very different things, have a different purpose and do them very well.

Try commuting 8 miles in 24 minutes taking in two long and steep Pennine hills on human power alone, you'd need to be a professional to do it. The electric does it with ease with no tax or insurance, occassionaly idiots want to race and on the flat they are often in front. Then the hills come, my speed is reduced by only a few mph and I'm at work quicker with less time spent on some traffic filled roads and with less chance of an incident.

Every tool does a job.

Apart from the tools that don't have a job. ;-)

im sorry but i think it defeats the object of cycling, if you are faster up hill on an electric bike then leave for work 5/10/15 mins earlier, i also think they are so expensive you can get a cheap bike for £60 but a cheap electric bike is £600. Also if you want to go fast without pedalling just get a motorbike/moped??

What is the object of cycling ? There is no object to cycling unless it's your living. Do shoes defeat the object of walking by making it easier to walk. As for price, stuff is only expensive if you haven't got the money to buy it and as for going fast without pedalling, you do pedal electric bikes that's why they are still bikes.

yes but you dont have to ;)

whydoesitalwaysrainonme

Try cycling round a hilly city like Bristol when you are 75yrs old. An old relative of mine is still cycling at 87 thanks to help from the electric motor. There is no way he could get out and about with pedal power alone.

fair enough if you are 87 years old but if you are reasonably young then i dont see the point.

I'd have thought the point was obvious. Good quality urban transport, a little light exercise without having to worry too much about the 'hills' thing (which puts a lot of people off cycling), and fuel costs of about 0.3p per mile. If 'cycling' is your thing, then I can accept that electric bikes seem a bit pointless. But if 'getting to work quickly, cheaply and cleanly' is your thing, then these seem ideal.

I fail to see the point of racing bikes or mountain bikes and yet plenty of people have them and i dont care. Why do you care about electric bikes.