One of the world's biggest bike manufacturers Hero Cycles has designed a new range of e-bikes in Manchester. They are already being made at their factory near New Dehli and the first bikes will arrive in the UK and Europe towards the end of March. 

Although most of their millions of bikes made each year are sold to Indians, Hero Cycles recently moved their Global Design Centre to Manchester in the UK as part of a wider plan to expand in Europe. The new e-bike range has been named Insync, with models ranging from £1,000 to £1,400. Hero say the quality yet affordable bikes will help plug the gap left by the EU's crankdown on cheap Chinese e-bike imports, after Chinese manufacturers were accused of 'dumping' bikes in Europe and flooding the market. 

Sreeram Venkateswaran, CEO of Hero Cycles in the UK, said: “The EU crackdown on China means there is now a gap in the market for a sensibly priced e-bike in Europe. Hero and Insync can meet that demand as we harness the expertise of our European design team in Manchester with our efficient manufacturing hub in India. The e-bike market is now very attractive to Hero Cycles and we see massive potential to build e-bikes for the European market and the rest of the world. The key for us is to provide great quality at the right price point and these e-bike will retail at around £1000 to £1400.”

Will the new Hero Cycles e-bikes offer decent quality for the knockdown price? We'll be keeping an eye out to see if we can get hold of one to test in the coming weeks...