Beware of offers that seem too good to be true.
Having recently bought a new 16-inch folding e-bike for £415, I was naturally drawn to the Twofish 16-inch fat-tyred folding e-bike, which is currently selling on Amazon UK for around £280 under the brand name IWAFO.
At that price, it certainly caught my attention. But when I started looking into the specifications, I noticed something that potential UK buyers really need to be aware of.
The bike is fitted with a 48-volt system and a 500-watt motor, and it also has an unlockable speed limit. That means it does not meet the requirements for an electrically assisted pedal cycle, or EAPC, here in the UK.
For an e bike to be ridden legally on UK public roads and cycle paths without a licence, registration or insurance, the motor must have a maximum continuous rated power of 250 watts, the motor assistance must cut out at 15.5 mph, or 25 kilometres per hour, and a throttle cannot propel the bike on its own above 3.7 mph, or 6 kilometres per hour, unless you are pedalling at the same time.
The IWAFO is advertised with a 500-watt motor, which is considerably above the 250-watt UK limit. Combined with the ability to unlock the speed restriction, this means the bike cannot simply be treated as a normal road-legal UK e-bike.
Now, this is where I think potential buyers need to be very careful.
The fact that a bike can be legally sold does not necessarily mean that it can legally be ridden on UK public roads. If a bike does not meet the EAPC requirements, it may fall into the category of a moped or motorcycle and would then be subject to completely different requirements, including registration, insurance, licensing and other legal requirements.
So, as my final thought, I suppose there is nothing necessarily wrong with the bike being sold in the UK if the seller is complying with the relevant rules governing the sale of the product.
But shouldn't the seller make it absolutely clear to UK customers that this particular specification of the bike cannot legally be used on public roads or cycle paths as a normal electric bicycle?
At £280, it certainly looks like a tempting bargain. But as I always say, do your research before buying, because sometimes that bargain isn't quite the bargain you think it is.
