G Tech Electric Bike Sports Review

Myles Warwood

Mechanical doping is a big buzzword in the world of cycling at the minute and with the technology inside this G Tech Electric bike, it is easy to see how it could be missed.

Think of an electric bike and you probably think of a whirring moped with pedals that don’t really need any input from you to stay upright and moving forward. However, look at this. This is the G Tech Electric Bike, Sports model no less. It’s not sports in the term of a sports car, it’s not been stripped down to it’s bare essentials and looked at again by special weight loss engineers. It just means that it’s not the City version; that has a top tube which runs parallel with the down tube and a slightly squidgier saddle for added comfort. The City bike is also slightly smaller with a 17” cross bar frame apposed to the 20 inches of the Sports model.

The G Tech Electric Bike provides a little extra boost for those that need it

Parting yourself with £995 will get you either model and currently, the free accessories pack that will also land you; front and back lights, a helmet, mudguards and a kickstand. The extras on this bike will reassure you that this isn’t a racing bike, this is an urban bike with an added boost. Talking of the boost, the motor on this bike is something of scintillating interest. It’s a 36v high torque motor, with the help from the battery pack this motor will accelerate you up to 15 mph at the turn of a pedal.

Just let that sink in for a moment, 0-15mph in no time at all, this bike will allow you to beat anyone or anything away from the lights, it’s fantastic. The motor doesn’t take all the effort away from you though, you have to actually turn the pedal over for the electric motor to work. The moment you stop pedaling, that’s the moment you lose your electric boost.

The 36V high torque motor will get you up to 15mph, after that it’s up to you if you want to go faster!

The model that G Tech sent over to me was the Sports model and I have to say I enjoyed my time scooting about on it. It brought about a little bit of quaintness to my ride; there I was pedaling along doing 15 mph, knowing that I had a secret weapon in my rear hub. At times I was playing “how fast can I go for as little effort as possible?” Turns out I barely had to do anything to float up hills, overtake lycra clad Condor riders and arrive at work feeling pretty fresh.

It’s not all about the motor on this bike mind, let’s talk about the battery. It’s the similar sort of technology in this battery which powers electric cars, so the small but powerful battery has no problem supporting you in your upright position for 30 miles. When it does run out, just plug it in for 3 hours (total cost of 4p) and you’re good to go again. The battery also detaches so you can plug it in somewhere in the house without having to wheel the bike all the way through, or take the battery off if you’re parking your bike in town. After all, you don’t want to be cycling a 16kg bike for too long without any help!

The Lithium-ion battery gives the G Tech Electric Bike a 30 mile range and takes three hours to charge

The battery has four lights on it to help you know how much life there is left in there, and also two modes. When you’ve turned the battery on and see your lights light up, nice and bright, this is the maximum assist mode. Push the big green button twice and you see the lights pulsing, this is partial assist. The modes are as they say on the tin; Partial assist will help you up to 15mph then it depends what you have in your legs. Maximum assist will take you up to 15 mph and hold you there.

There’s a sensor in the pedal arm you see, it monitors what angle the bike is at and how fast you’re spinning that pedal around, if it thinks you need help, it’ll tell the battery, which in turn will send power to the motor and in the blink of an eye you’ll be boosted back up to operating speed.

A Carbon Drive belt drives the single speed gear, which for pootling around town on is great. I’m a big fan of Carbon Drives because there’s no oil and no mess; meaning you don’t have to roll your jeans up and get your chain tattoo on your calf. What’s more, it’s silent, there’s no big clunks or a big whirring noise when you’re free wheeling. Just a nice smooth, silent, rolling. Nice.

A Carbon Belt Drive offers oil free maintenance

So all things considered, would I part with almost £1,000 for a bike which is, well, cheating? It’s tricky. I can see the appeal, I really can, it’s a great bike. But, cycling should be free that’s the point, you can use it when you’re stone broke or you can use it if you’ve got five cars on the drive and a mansion in the middle of the Cotswold’s.

However, if I did have the spare cash, I wouldn’t have it for long; as a commuter bike, or a bike for nipping about town on, it’s fantastic. For an older rider, who wants to still be able to ride but maybe needs that extra push, it’s perfect. Looks just like a normal bike and you really won’t be judged. Well done G-Tech! What a great electrical bike this is!

Gtech.co.uk

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