Keith approached us with a very specific requirement being his desire to purchase a low weight, high quality e-bike.
Having been recently diagnosed with osteoarthritis of the knee, he had decided to return to cycling after a gap of 45 years (!) and had started his research via the NHS website – with their advice into how to mitigate the pain with the NHS recommending low impact sports such as swimming and e-bikes. Already an avid swimmer, he decided that an e-bike was an excellent solution to additional strengthening exercises.
In Keith’s words…
It might seem a strange place to start a review of a custom built, high performance e-bike stating openly that I had no real knowledge of e-bikes but….
I don’t see the point in buying mass produced products that bikes unfortunately have become so started looking at the high-end German products that looked great, apart from their inherent Achilles heel – their weight. All the bikes I looked at and rode seemed to weigh over 25kg – and I feared for my knee if I ever ran out of power – unlikely but I guess it’s like range anxiety with any electric vehicle, if you plan it should be fine but the best laid plans of mice and men…so I started deeper research on lightweight e-bikes.
By this time, I had also convinced myself I wanted a gates belt drive coupled to a Rohloff hub as these are as close to maintenance free as you can get, very clean and I have always loved belt drive motorbikes.
{This is where I should provide a disclaimer, for the last forty years I have built, loved and spent an inordinate amount of time and money on building custom motorcycles so I have a real interest in both design and execution of any product, and I think I have developed a sharp eye for great design.}
So, I re-started my research based around lightweight e-bikes (or pedelecs as they seem to be known on the continent where take up of e-bikes is much stronger than here in the UK) and found several European and American products…and one UK bike that simply stood out head and shoulders above all the others, Evari.
Evari are a young company set up by Craig McDonald, who I immediately recognised as someone who had a similar design ethos to mine - clean lines.
All bikes inherently have several cables that should be routed cleanly around the bike, Evari has taken this to the next level and with a total weight coming in around 18kg, I was hooked.
I did some more research on Evari bikes, and it became clear that these are high end products, carbon fibre and titanium throughout with all the best parts, Bosch motors and that all important Rohloff Hub.
{As an aside, the Rohloff hub assembly itself costs around £1500 with most bike shops stating a cost of quite a few hundred pounds to retro fit to an existing bike – assuming it will fit so you can see, there is a substantial portion of cost here before we get to THAT frame).
Then I spent several hours simply staring at Evari’s website at THAT frame – what a work of art.
I spoke to Craig and started at the entry point Core bike but then I decided to upgrade to the CS as I wanted the one- piece bar assembly. The Core was great, and I was all set on it (and you can have the one-piece bars on there) and looked at the three colours it was available in then looked at the CS colour range.
This was when the penny dropped….,
Craig has brought together a network of the best parts from all over the UK (and I guess world) to bring together these bikes.
So I moved up from the Core to the CS as there was on offer over twenty different paint finishes applied by Kustomflow (who also do the paint on the Core range) and thought this was the way – very reasonable to a custom paint job as I know from the several I have paid for over the years on motorbike applications. I also knew of Kustomflow’s quality after seeing several of their bespoke sprayed motorcycle helmets at custom motorcycle shows I had attended.
But I wanted a particular red (Mazda candy apple no v41 if you are interested) with a few decals of my favourite cartoon characters (always had them on my motorbikes for luck)– and thought, why not?
Sure, it cost a little extra, but I then moved up to the CS+ where you can have literally anything you want as a paint job– at a cost.
And this is where it gets interesting.
Sure, I was now paying several thousand pounds for an e-bike, but what I got was a bespoke, one off, work of art. The fact I can ride it and enjoy the pleasure of riding a bike again is nearly secondary to the absolute joy this bike brings me. I am regularly stopped to ask about the bike and its incredible “look”.
And the price.
I now have a unique, fantastic to ride and look at personalised bike for not much more than the initial cost of the German bikes I looked at. I parked up near one recently and the owner asked me about mine (he had a Rohloff hub as well) and he couldn’t get over how lightweight my bike is – then he enquired about the price and he was both astounded and disappointed at the same time as he said - for a little more outlay he could have had a show stopper like mine and a better ride to boot!
My bike is a delight to ride and own and I can feel the real benefit it has brought to my mobility and the strengthening of the muscles that support my knee. From the outset, I approached this purchase to aid with a disability – and came out with a work of art. To say I am happy with my purchase would be an understatement….
My approach was not simply the looks (that are amazing) of this bike brand but the pre and post care Craig has offered has been phenomenal – don’t be scared of the fact they are a small bespoke UK based firm – these are all the reasons to embrace them as the one to one care you receive is something that I thought had been lost – just like the bikes – simply stunning.
Thanks Keith, It was a pleasure building this bike with you! :)
