ELECTRIC BIKE REVIEW

Ain’t no mountain high enough

Gary Curtis tries out the Mondraker Prime electric mountain bike

I’VE RIDDEN A mountain bike for several years, but never an electric one, so I was very excited to try one. I have used electric scooters and scoozers abroad and liked them so it was time to find out if an electric mountain bike really can make that much difference.

I’ve walked past the dazzling, cool looking

Cranking E-Bikes shop in Stamford’s Bath

Row many times, always admiring the bikes on display, so was excited to be asked to try one out. Wakerley Woods was the perfect place to try the Mondraker Prime. There’s a purpose built bike route which I’ve used many times so this would give me a good chance to find out what this electric version could do, especially when it came to the steep lung-busting climbs.

Robert, who owns Cranking E-Bikes, gave me a quick demo of the controls which are very simple to use. The bike looks and feels like a very nice standard mountain bike but next to your left hand is a small screen and up/down buttons to let you know which setting the bike is in: Eco, Tour, eMTB or Turbo. e ad usted the seat and off went.

As I headed to my usual route I could feel the bike instantly giving me a helping hand. It’s an odd feeling to start with but you soon get used to it. Heading into the woods the bike felt lighter than I expected and very agile, it’s beautifully balanced so dealt with any tree roots or rocks with ease. I cruised in Tour mode for a while getting the hang of it until I started to climb. Pushing up on the display is really easy. Large buttons allow you to switch modes without taking your eyes off the track moved to a setting called eMTB.

This instantly gave me extra power and the bike cruised up the hill. The power when it comes is very natural and there isn’t a sudden surge so tricky trails are easy to power around with confidence. As you ride the bike clearly shows you how many more kilometres you have on the current charge. There is an eco setting which gives more than enough power on the at and this would take you around 100km on a full charge.

As was ying along through the woods, knew ahead of me was the steepest climb in Wakerley, a climb I had struggled up many a time on my standard mountain bike. Putting the Mondraker Prime into Turbo I attacked the steep, rugged route. The power produced in this mode is staggering. A reassuring, confident power which makes you feel like a professional athlete while using minimum effort. As weaved around the tight corners the bike never missed a beat. Reaching the top of the hill I knew I had a long, fast cruise down again to look forward to. I put the bike in eco and headed back to base.

After my experience today I can say to anyone who hasn’t tried an electric bike that it’s a total game changer. t offers a helping hand without taking any of the thrill or fun out of the ride. In fact it gives you the confidence to attack routes you wouldn’t on a standard bike. If you are looking for a new bike, this is the way to go. Highly recommended; I want one.

www.cranking.co.uk The Mondraker Prime costs £3,600.

Roller on down

Kate Maxim enjoys watching a session of junior roller derby

IT SOMETIMES ONLY takes one parent and a handful of friends to start a new club, then a whole raft of children benefit. That’s exactly what happened in Stamford three years ago. onathan ono’ Emery had been keeping his children company at the local roller disco and got quite the taste for skating. He promptly took himself off to the nearest roller derby team which is the mixed Borderland Brawlers great name at Stamford elland Academy. Here he met like-minded folk and between them they set up the Stamford and eterborough unior oller erby Club. ono then went on to play for incolnshire oller Thunder Club, which is currently ranked third in Europe.

Based at Borderville in Stamford the unior club caters for -1 year-olds teaching them how to play this fast-paced contact sport described to me by one mother as rugby on skates.’ see her point. layers are fully kitted out in helmets, elbow and knee pads, wrist guards and, if you play in a match, mouth guards. The aim is to get past the opposition to score points. But there’s a long way to go from beginner to playing competitively first you have to learn how to skate And in the very first lesson, you’re taught how to fall properly so much of the fear of in ury is removed straight away. ith five coaches per session, there’s a high ratio of instructors to players which immediately helps. Two fathers was chatting to were thrilled because their six and seven-year-olds, in ust four weeks, were now gliding smoothly, umping and even skating backwards. ast year the seven-year-old had come last in all her events at school sports day after four weeks at roller derby she’d gained so much confidence she came first in all her events this year. One dad said t’s completely different to anything else they do they learn new skills it’s an equal mix of boys and girls it’s such fun they don’t even realise they’re exercising and it gets them out of the house.’

Another ma or benefit of the game is superb teamwork skills because they have to constantly communicate their positions to each other. One mother says that watching the older children umping, ipping and darting in and out of the pack gives the younger children something to aspire to. Certainly there can’t be many sports where seven-year-olds practice alongside 1 -year-olds. The height difference can make for interesting moments but the atmosphere is one of inclusion and kindness, and think that speaks volumes. The older children can subsequently oin the adult teams and it’s not an expensive sport at 0 per term. ou can borrow all the kit including the quad skates and the first lesson is free.

The sessions start with warm up exercises as there’ll be a lot of sharp twists, turns and stops during the drills. These consist of number drills, positioning and pad work. No-one seems to stand still for a moment and everyone looked like they were having a great time. Then towards the end they had a practice round. ’d read the rules beforehand and, quite frankly, was more confused than was before, so seeing the moves put into practice was enlightening. Each team fields five players in each am’ session of play and the scoring player, the ammer’ indicated with a star on their helmet , has to pass the opposing team’s blockers’ and skate counter clockwise round the circuit. The blockers have to use body contact and change their positions in order to block the opposing ammer while helping their own ammer to score. There’s a lot to take in, and that’s ust for the audience. But the children seemed to know exactly what to do. And that’s what counts.

Sessions take place at Borderville Sport Centre on Wednesdays in term time from 6-7pm. For more information visit www.spjrd.co.uk