The explosion of cycling in France following the Covid-19 crisis should not be extinguished with galloping inflation this fall.
But preferring the bike to the car on a daily basis if you want to equip yourself with an electric bike is not within the reach of all budgets.
Sold for 795 euros, the electric wheel designed by Teebike makes it possible to transform any bicycle into an electric bicycle for a more moderate investment.
Repeated strikes (2019), Covid-19 (2020/2021), galloping inflation (2022)… so many arguments that push the French, sometimes willy-nilly, to reclaim the bike.
In this new school year, those who are now called "velotafeurs" and who go to work on two wheels will undoubtedly be even more numerous.
But not everyone can afford an electrically assisted bicycle (VAE) whose average price is around 2,000 euros, compared to 700 euros for a classic bicycle.
Less expensive solution: transform a simple bicycle into a VAE.
This is what Teebike offers with a very simple solution that “20 Minutes” was able to test… an electric wheel offered as a kit.
Five minutes flat.
It does not take more to install on a good old bicycle the electric front wheel developed by the Nice company Teebike.
Two nuts to unscrew and screw again and here is your mount transformed into a VAE!
The idea is not new.
Already, in 2015, another French company named Rool'in had imagined such a concept.
But then, the VAE did not have the success it knows today.
It was when he discovered a bicycle cemetery and the ecological disaster it represented that Laurent Durrieu, entrepreneur, decided to take up this idea, develop it, and create Teebike.
All bikes, all sizes
Either an electric wheel available in all sizes (from 20 to 29 inches), which incorporates electronics, a 250 watt motor and a 320 wh battery.
Autonomy announced: about 60 km.
Connected via Bluetooth, the set (delivered with a smartphone handlebar holder) works with an application that allows you to control your mileage, speed, remaining range, but also to take advantage of three levels of assistance and a "Boost" mode for enhanced assistance on hills.
No question of arriving at work with a soaked shirt...
Healthy and effective help
We were able to test the Teebike wheel, in the heart of Paris, mounted on an old bicycle.
Result: if the comfort of a real VAE is not quite there, the assistance provided for pedaling is indisputable.
The front wheel drive, which can cause slippage on gravel, is not our preference (we prefer the drive by a central motor and the rear wheel), but it allows here to transform an ordinary bike into an e-bike in a jiffy.
An electrified rear wheel would have been more restrictive to substitute.
Especially since, according to Teebike, many cyclists who have adopted its wheel use it on weekdays for work and sometimes replace it on weekends with the original wheel for more classic or sporty bike rides.
Appreciable also, the function which allows the wheel not to wait, as often, for the first pedal strokes to be implemented at start-up.
Very practical when you leave after a red light or a Stop!
Weighing only 7 kg, the manufacturer's wheel is not a handicap for going up or down stairs.
And your whole bike will probably weigh less than the more than 20 kg generally observed for a real VAE.
Recharging, wired, remains a handicap if you live upstairs: unless your bike room is equipped with an electrical outlet, you will have to remove the wheel to connect it to the mains.
There is also the question of theft: the two nuts being easy to unscrew, a dedicated lock will be necessary...
50 euros per month for rental
On arrival, the sensation offered by the Teebike wheel more or less corresponds to that provided by an entry/mid-range electric bike, which would be sold between 1,300 and 1,800 euros.
The 795 euros claimed constitute a sum, of course, but Teebike also offers its wheel for rental, without commitment and with the possibility of purchase during the contract, for 50 euros/month.
What remains quite expensive: at this price the firm Dance offers in Paris the monthly and permanent rental of an electric bike (with a 12-month commitment), including a concierge service in the event of a glitch.
Still, Teebike has found a promising niche.
Five thousand wheels have already found takers.
Sold and rented on the manufacturer's website, the Niçoise wheel is also available in FNAC (795 euros) and Darty (799 euros) stores.
Teebike even offers the sale of a few second-hand bikes reconditioned with the Apprentis d'Auteuil and equipped with its wheel for 5 euros more, or 800 euros!
According to Teebike, 30 million used bikes are sleeping in French cellars.
high tech
Bike: Four accessories to make our urban journeys safer and more enjoyable
high tech
Bike: Four accessories to make our urban journeys safer and more enjoyable
Record sales
Change of gear: more and more French people are getting into or getting back into the saddle.
The figures bear this out: 2.7 million bicycles were sold in France in 2021 (+4%), including 660,000 electric bicycles (+28%), according to Union Sport & Cycle.
For their part, those who are now called vélotafeurs would even be at the origin of one in four bicycles bought in France!
high tech
20 minute video
New mobilities mag
Bike
Electric bike
Work