Electra Townie Go! 8i: bike preview | Martin Love

Fed up with hills and hard work? The latest generation electric bike from Electra could well tempt you back into the saddle

In Holland, a country that knows a thing or two about cycling, they now sell more electric bikes than traditional city bikes. The lurking snobbery that an eBike is 'cheating' has gone and in the coming years many more of us will be powering up for a sweat-free pedal. One of the brands ready to take advantage of this is Electra - it's already on to its second generation pedal-assist bike. The Townie Go! 8i has a frame-mounted Bosch mid-drive system, rather than a hub engine, which has four levels of support: Eco, Tour, Sport and Turbo with a top speed of 20mph. It takes 3.5 hours to charge and for that you have a range of 20-100 miles. It's comfortable and relaxed and those 'Fat Frank' tyres really soak up the bumps. It is pricey, but maybe it's time to turn down easy street (electrabike.com).

Price: 1,999
Engine: Bosch 250w
Gears: Shimano Nexus 8-speed