Raleigh Strada Trail Sport Electric: bike preview | Martin Love

A mountain bike with an electric engine to help you cope with the hills

I've grown used to smug slobs surging silently along on their pedal-assist electric bikes. They're cheating, but as they've found a quick, effortless solution to city transport, I can forgive them (I try to, anyway). Now, however, we have the electric mountain bike - and that's just not fair. Twisting the throttle to make mincemeat of hills without breaking sweat so you can enjoy the swoop and whoop of plunging downhill is just plain lazy. But if that's you, you'll love the electric Strada from Raleigh. Rugged and reliable, the bike is to all intents and purposes a standard off-roader with decent Suntour forks and pin-sharp disc brakes. But it also has a TranzX M16 motor giving a range of up to 125km in eco mode. If you can live with your conscience, it's a blast" (raleigh.co.uk)

Price: 1,550
Model: Strada Trail Sport Electric
Frame: Aluminium 6061
Fork: Suntour MT E45 suspension fork
Motor: TranzX M16 36v 250w centre mount motor with a range of 125km in eco mode and 85km in normal mode
Groupset: Shimano Deore 9 speed trigger shift
Brakes: Trektro HD-M290 hydraulic disc brakes
Wheels: Impulse tubeless ready rim 36 hole on RSP disc hub wheels with WTB Nano 700 x 40c tyres with reflective side walls