Local charity Life Cycle has been supporting Bristol residents to cycle for many years, teaching them the skills and confidence they need to get cycling. In a move to help even more people get on bikes, Life Cycle teamed up with researchers from the University of Bristol to explore the benefits of electric bikes (also known as e-bikes).
The NIHR-funded research study, called PEDAL, enabled 18 people with type-2 diabetes to try an electric bike for several months. The participants generally became fitter, and a number of people lost weight – in some cases several kilos. But the best result was that the participants were extremely positive about the experience of e-cycling and 14 purchased their bikes at the end of the study.
The results were so encouraging, that the University commissioned a video in which two participants tell how the e-bikes changed their lives.
