You might think that holding a bike launch in London is as misguided as a comedy festival in Germany, a nudist resort in Antarctica or the world mountaineering championships in Holland.
But there’s method in the madness of university pals Seb Inglis-Jones and Will Stirrup, who set up Maeving in 2017 in Coventry, the ancestral home of the former British bike industry.
For their first product is designed for eco-warrior urban hipster dudes to wax their moustaches, check their fob watches, admire their latest sleeve tattoo in the mirror then purr off through the echoing canyons of the city looking as cool as a penguin’s bottom to grab a mochacappufrappochino on their way to work in a custom bike shop which also sells LPs and vintage clothing.
A place like Bolt in Bouverie Road, funnily enough, the former stables and motorbike garage which Seb and Will chose to launch their new baby.
And what a beautiful baby it is – a unique and exquisite marriage of retro and ultramodern down to the braided steel hose which carries the wiring and even the brushed aluminium batteries with bamboo trim.
Stunning – and brilliantly practical, since the batteries can be easily lifted out to charge at home. The bike takes one battery for a range of 40 miles, or two to double that, and after a morning riding it, I’d say that claimed range is about right.
“As passionate bikers also interested in green technology, we thought that electric bike manufacters were more interested in power, meaning big, heavy batteries, and owners had constant range anxiety about where to charge,” said Seb.
“When we started, there were only 297 electric bikes in the UK, and 22 million in China, so we spent a month in China, and all the electric bikes there have removable batteries.”
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The two came home, put together a plan, and approached Graeme Gilbert, the former Head of Product at Triumph, who loved the idea and gathered a team of former Triumph engineers to make it happen.
Right, enough talk. Time to ride. I plonked my expectant buns onto the lovely tan solo saddle, admired the fabulous bar end mirrors and simple analogue speedo, and toggled my way to Mode One, the most sporty of the three, since I suspected that with only 6bhp on tap, Two and Three would be a trifle, er, languid.
Twist the throttle, and after a momentary pause while the bike admires itself in a shop window, it proceeds towards the horizon as smoothly and elegantly as Ambrosia Deluxe Custard, although other brands are available.
Even in Mode One, it certainly won’t set your pants on fire on its way to a top speed of 45mph, but who wants their pants on fire, with the waiting list for NHS burns units these days?
It’s actually entirely fine for purring stylishly through city traffic, the only holdups being that every time you stop at lights, drivers will wind down their windows to admire the bike and ask you all about it.
Since it only weighs 124kg even with two batteries on board, handling is as light as a pushbike even at walking speed, which will be good news for newbie bikers who can ride it after doing their basic CBT test, and the linked brakes bring the bike as smoothly and elegantly to a halt as it accelerates.
Only minor complaint was that the suspension was slightly clattery over lumps and bumps, but that’s a small detail compared to the joy of the overall package.
It’s a really strange experience riding an electric retro, like having one foot in the past and one in the future, but it’s a happy marriage, and long may it last.
It’s not only the coolest little bike on the planet, but you can save the planet by riding it, so on behalf of eco warrior urban hipster dudes everywhere, I tip my handwoven organic free-range flat cap to it.
