The good folks at Thula lula loaned me this funky little E-Bike for the week. Yes, an electric bicycle. You can pedal it just like a normal bicycle and then if you want a little bit of assistance just twist the throttle and the electric motor can carry you silently away for a claimed distance of about 40 kilometres. Basically, Thula Lula are trying to convince South African’s that this can be the new mode of transport for a large percentage of our country, and I’d have to agree that it certainly must be one of the smartest and cheapest ways to get around!

The bikes range in price from a shade under R4300 to around R10 000 and they also have a little add-on pack you can buy for your current bike (around R5000).

The Big Mama bike, which is a bit bigger, goes for an affordable R4300 and the bike I tried was the folding option that retails for about R8000.

Upon first inspection it looks like most folding bikes, except that it has this big battery behind the seat post. Build quality actually looks quite good. An aluminium frame, good-looking aluminium bar and stem combo, good wheel size for commuting, a kickstand and strong pannier rack. My only complaints are the huge (and uncomfortable seat) and very short seat post. With the seat set even at maximum I looked like I was on a BMX the whole time, though it is easily fixed with a 450mm seat post and normal seat. Actually, it’s a credit to the electric motor that I could sit in this awkward position while going up Queen Anne drive and onto the steep Rhodes Memorial road and not even break a sweat or have to get out of the saddle once.

The motor is attached to the rear wheel but you can buy add on kits that comprise of a battery pack, pannier to hold it on, accelerator and a front (or back) wheel with the motor in (like the one below).

I think that for keen cyclists that want to commute this would be the way forward as then you aren’t weighed down with the heavy framework and extra (lights etc) and ‘comfort/cruiser position.

There is a switch on the left of the bar that, if you activate it, the motor engages every 2-3 seconds and gives you a helping hand as you pedal along- a great way to get a light workout on the way to work without sitting in traffic and without needing a shower once you arrive.

Your right hand sits over a throttle unit and this is where the magic happens. Twist it and you can easily reach about 25kph on a flat road with no wind (without even pedalling).

I think a lot of the older generation would benefit from an E-bike when getting into cycling as a means of exercise as you still get a work out but if you come to a huge hill then you can opt out of it. The key is to get people into exercising by not making it extremely hard from the get go, and then as they inevitably get fitter, they find themselves not using the motor at all.

By the end of my short ride up to Rhodes memorial and back, the temptation to stop pedalling altogether has surfaced and I found myself getting lazy once I was up to speed on flat roads.

Another nice little advantage to having the electric motor was quick take offs from intersections. A little pedal and a twist of the throttle meant you could take off and get up to top speed very quickly, even if you started in the highest gear- quite a nice feature and it makes being on the roads a little safer as you don’t hold up cars that are wanting to turn in front of you.

I would imagine that these E-bikes would be great for school children to use as well. OK, they’re not the coolest looking things around but suddenly a 10-15km ride to school isn’t a sweaty workout. The advantage to parents is no more school traffic and a charge that only costs something like R3 in electricity! My neighbours kids used both the E-bikes at my disposal and loved it so much they even braved some of the rainy days, rather than go in the car.(A reminder of how much a bike means to a kids independence!)

It also has the advantage that you don’t need a license to ride it-it’s classed as a normal bicycle. I hope that this takes off with school children one day as the more cyclists on our roads the more cycling lanes we’ll get. Someone on thehubsa, made a great point in that if more peoples kids were on the roads, maybe more people would think about driving more responsibly and keeping an eye out for cyclists.

Louise, used the folding bike on her commute to work. On the way into town, she went over De Waal drive and a fellow commuter struggled to keep up with her on the climb. The problem of the low gearing came into play on the way down into town as she ran out of gears and had to freewheel into town. Louise arrived at the office with hardly a drop of sweat expired, but said the folding bike was not really convenient and was quite a hassle to push around- a few modifications could probably fix this. The battery pack adds a lot of weight to the bike so the normal option of carrying the bike up the stairs was out of the question and she has to cram into a lift with the bike.

On the way home, the bike ran out of juice. This posed quite a problem as the bike is not ideal to pedal up hills without electric assistance (frame is too small for someone 6 foot in height!) and while she was still travelling faster than the traffic, she really battled getting the bike home. Lesson learned! Make sure the battery is fully charged before setting out!

On trying the conversion kit on a normal bike, most of my worries disappeared. The added advantage was that this had an even bigger motor (500W vs 250W), and you can get a 1000W motor as well! The bike was still heavy when picking it up stairs and the front wheel felt very heavy on the steering due to the extra weight of the motor, but cruising along at 30kph more than made up for that!

The great thing about the conversion kit that it is very neatly done and the pannier that comes with it has a space for the battery to slide into and lock into place. The front wheel attaches with a big set of nuts so that theft of the wheel would be more difficult than just releasing a skewer.

Overall, I am highly impressed with these E-bikes. They are efficient (if you keep them charged!), easy to use and maintain and a blast to ride. With the great new cycle lanes being built from town to Blouberg, I would imagine that these bikes are the perfect way to get out of grid locked traffic and start gaining some fitness and health. I’ll let you know when I’ve modified one of our commuter bikes with a motor!