Technium Privilege Pedelec Electric Town Bike

The Technium Privilege bike is fitted with a lightweight but very powerful battery and motor that is designed to add extra power as you pedal. There are 3 assistance levels which you select on the handlebar. On the low setting you do approximately 70% of the work and the battery provides the other 30%; on the medium setting the effort is shared 50:50; whilst on the high setting the battery provides approx 60% of the power. The intelligent management system senses how much power you are providing and adjusts the motor to suit. In normal use you would expect to keep it on medium to make normal pedalling a breeze, switching to high power for an extra boost as you go uphill.

The motor automatically switches off when you stop pedalling to coast down a hill. Once you pedal faster than about 10mph the power is gradually reduced until at about 15mph the motor stops helping altogether. This helps prolong the battery life, prevents you from accidentally going faster than you really should be and keeps it legal so that you don't need a motorbike licence.

The battery is secured to the bike by a lock and is removable to be charged on a mains charger, where it takes approximately 3 hours to fully charge. The battery is a modern 26V Li-ion type battery with a rated capacity of 10Ah when new. In practice this gives a range of approximately 50 miles in average conditions when new, but if you live in a particularly hilly area and are constantly using High power then obviously you will get less. The battery has an expected service life of 2-3 years, approx 500 charges, before it's useful capacity drops below 50%. Replacement batteries are available.

The bike itself has an 7-speed Shimano Nexus hub-gear on the rear wheel for trouble-free shifting and easy maintenance. The motor is cleverly hidden at the cranks, helping to drive the front chainring. It is a fully equipped city bike with dynamo-powered front and rear lights, rack, stand and mudguards, but weighing just 21kg including the battery.