Peugeot EC03-100 - on2wheels

Smart-looking town bike with comfort at its heart

Peugeot’s EC03-100 is an e-bike built for comfort: there’s front suspension in the form of Suntour CR8V 60mm forks, and as a special treat the seat post under the saddle has its own spring suspension too. Riding on cobbled streets has never been smoother!

The bike has the familiar looks of a regular pedal bike, with its low-slung frame, high(ish) handlebars and a parcel shelf. But unlike its traditional country cousins, this urban beauty comes with three levels of electrically assisted pedalling power, wired into the E-Going front wheel hub drive and powered by a 9ah/36v/317w battery. On paper, that gives you a 30-mile range, but in the real world conditions that’s likely to be slightly less. But fear not: for a better range, bigger batteries are available.

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The EC03-100 is a great bike for urban commuting, with the motor providing more than adequate assistance in town traffic. The power is delivered smoothly and steadily, almost without you noticing you’re being helped with pedalling. The end result is that you can concentrate on the traffic around you, not pedalling for dear life – and you arrive at your destination without breaking a sweat.

You switch the motor on from the control panel on the left handlebar; the same unit lets you control the level of assistance (levels 1-3) and shows you the battery level. The lights switch on if you hold the ‘plus’ button down a couple of seconds, and similarly if you hold the ‘minus’ button the bike starts to move forward slowly in an ‘assisted push’ mode that lets you load the bike with shopping bags and walk along it while the motor gives you a helping hand. On the right hand side you have the gear switches (7-speed) and a mini-display showing the gear in use. That’s also where you find the bell. There’s no speedo on this bike.

Brakes are traditional calipers that need a good squeeze to stop the bike quickly, but do the job perfectly well in town speeds.

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A nice feature in this bike (and one that surprisingly many e-bikes are missing) is the built-in lock that stops the back wheel spinning. It doesn’t stop anyone picking up the bike, but it’s a good deterrent for opportunistic thieves.

Overall, the bike is pleasant to ride in town, offering great comfort and ease of use. For faster roads you might want to consider a sturdier ride, but for short-distance commuting and nipping around town, this is great bike.

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