I started the business on 01st Feb 2011 after a health scare and had to change my profession, one of those life changing moments where you choose to no longer do what you must do, but what you want to do.
I have been supplying electric assisted bicycles ever since. Those of you who have met me will no doubt have some awareness that I enjoy cycling and of some of the long-distance rides I’ve taken part in.
To get the best from the experience I’ve always trained hard, as the saying goes, “Train hard, race easy”.
I thought that with my renewed fitness level, ebikes were no longer necessary for me personally,(Yes it was riding an ebike post my illness that got me going again, but I quickly changed back to regular bikes as my fitness improved, but that's a whole other story) until recently.
One of the major brands have been trying to add their offering to our portfolio for some years. During Covid it was all the manufacturers could do to provide stock to the existing dealers, but post covid stock was becoming more readily available and contact with the rep was resumed.
The conversation was a little like this,
“But Rob, I’ve never even ridden one of your bikes”.
His answer to this was the arrival of a £10K full suspension demo bike, “Keep it for the weekend and let me know your thoughts”.
I had the bike for three weeks and rode the wheels off it across the majestic South Downs. Wow, what had I been missing out on all these years in some vain hope to fight back the years and prove my manly worth. I started to realise that riding an ebike doesn’t have to be the same as riding a conventional bike, it doesn’t inhibit your fitness. If anything, it enhances it, as you want to ride more, for longer.
The bike felt so planted because of the low centre of gravity, it climbed, it jumped beautifully, it handled like it was on rails and the smile on my face was a mile wide, I even heard myself whooping and hollering like an 11-year-old on a rollercoaster.
I took a friend out on a ride, both of us on full sus ebikes. We were climbing a two-mile trail up to the South Downs Way and caught up with a group of slower riders on conventional mtbs. As we overtook, I heard a derisory comment from one of the group, you know the usual “cheat” kind of flippant remark.
We slowed down and I turned to Neil in a tone just loud enough to be heard with a smile on my face I uttered “Neil, do you want to turn them on yet?” We were in manual, so yes, they climb well.
Steve Mitchell
