The Canadian-made BionX electric motor systems are very clever - the rear wheel motor is brushless and doesn’t have a gearbox, so it’s almost completely silent. The 10Ah lithium battery is small enough to fit on the down tube of a conventional bike or tuck behind the seat of a recumbent like this and give a 20-30 mile range. And the entire system, including it’s regenerative braking, is controlled from a neat handlebar display unit.

A bit more about that regenerative braking, as it’s one of the neatest features - the BionX is a pedelec system so there’s no throttle, it just measures your effort, the load and a bunch of other things, and it gives you a boost. The amount of boost you get can be set from the display unit, but this setting can also go into reverse, so the motor actually acts like a drag brake - go down a long hill, and you can set it to keep your speed under control, and put that energy back into the battery to help with the next hill.

The handlebar console:

The BionX kits come in several different versions, some built to be light, some built for higher torque for hills, some with batteries that go on the rear rack instead of on the down tube of the frame.

The wheel normally comes in 26” or 700c, but I can build it into any size you like for an additional £45. The hub takes a screw-on block - 8- or 9-speed blocks are available, for £20.