They're still very expensive but these bikes are the future of transportation, mark my words.

The average journey is more than within comfortable ebike distance, and carrying cargo and wearing normal clothes is not a problem. Throw in airless tyres and a belt drive and the thing is practically zero maintenance save a quick clean every other month.

No congestion, no damage to road surfaces, gets fatties and oldies out of their cars and whizzing around, reduced hydrocarbon emissions, everyone's a winner.

I have personally trialled an ebike for a few months for use as a commuter vehicle and general domestic transportation. The up front cost of the unit was high £1299 but I found that I barely used the car for anything including going to the shops during this period, as moving 9kg of shopping cargo up hills was much easier (you still put in a bit of work - the motor isn't so strong that it can move >85kg of load all on its own).

Once quality ebikes come down to around £800 we'll see a lot more of them. They're already insanely popular in China. Any strong opinions?