E-bike live panel: how popular are e-road bikes and how easy are they to maintain?

The popularity of electric bikes grows every year in the UK, United States and elsewhere - and this growth has been accelerated by the Covid pandemic. 

Data from the Bicycle Association showed a 67 per cent increase in e-bike sales in the UK, and in the US they’re up by over 150 per cent. The UK government has even discussed the possibility of putting on taster sessions, to allow people to try e-bikes in popular holiday destinations.

In our panel discussion, we address some of the most common questions:

On the road, the fastest selling e-bike category is, without a doubt, the hybrid and commuter market, with these assisted machines making for the perfect replacement for short car journeys, or trips otherwise made using public transport. 

But people aren’t just using these bikes to get from A to B, with more and more beginner cyclists enjoying riding hybrid e-bikes in their leisure time, often encouraged by the lesser reliance on physical fitness. Riding an e-bike still works your legs, lungs and heart through - a fact that all of Cycling Weekly’s testers can confirm!

Recent years have seen a surge in the availability of lightweight drop-bar road bikes, utilising rear hub motors and providing a boost for those who enjoy a racey geometry but just want a little power to help them out over the hills.

Mountain bikers, all too often faster to adopt new technology, have been enjoying e-bikes on the trails for years now - and arguably there the tech is more developed, to coincide with greater demand.

We know that electric bikes are serving a growing audience and one that has plenty of questions: how do you store an e-bike? Do you need to worry about the battery running out on a ride? How do you choose a motor? And those are exactly the questions our panel discussion aims to answer. 

Settle down with Future’s director of cycling, Rob Spedding, MBR editor Danny Milner, Cycling Weekly tech editor Michelle Arthurs-Brennan, ACE Bicycles Toby Pantlin and Ribble Cycles’ Jamie Burrow to hear more.