My partner needed an electric bike – it is hilly round here so an ebike was the only viable option. There were two important criteria:

1. She isn’t particularly small, but the trend towards large wheel sizes means that most bikes are far too big.
2. Her top priority was that it shouldn’t look like an electric bike – no bulky battery.

One of the few bikes that met both criteria was the Boardman HYB 8.9e with the Fazua battery and motor system. Both the battery and motor are in a removable lump that clips into the bottom of the downtube. The motor drives the bottom bracket via a three-lobed rotor (that forms the Fazua logo). It is a mid-drive unit – the motor power is transmitted via the normal gears and chain – with torque sensing.

Overall the bike seems to be good quality. The first bike seemed to have been dropped during assembly – the plastic top downtube liner was broken – but Halfords shipped out a replacement quickly and that bike has been fine. It rides nicely and the Fazua system works very well, providing plenty of power for even steep hills.

I did upgrade the firmware in the motor to version 2.0 and tweak the settings via the Fazua toolbox. This was easy to do and very worthwhile – the bike is much more powerful and responsive now. It is still entirely legal – the changes are better performance at a wider range of cadences, plus less rider pedal pressure for given level of assistance.

I’ve fitted mudguards and a rear panier rack. I like the way that the front mudguard eyelets are part-way up the forks. This is an important safety feature as it stops the front mudguard getting jammed in the front wheel if road debris gets between the tyre and mudguard. With the eyelets close to the wheel the mudguard gets closer to the wheel as the debris moves up, causing a jam. With the eyelets further up the mudguard moves away from the wheel releasing the debris and avoiding a jam. The panier rack is so she can lug the heavy stuff up the hills!

The bike is nice and light – about 14kg including battery and motor. It doesn’t feel heavy and is easy to lift around.

The only downside is the downtube. This isn’t actually a tube as it is part of the Fazua system – it is just a C shape so the battery and motor can be clipped in. This means it has very little torsional ridgidity – readily apparent if you watch closely while pressing on a pedal. In practice this doesn’t matter at all – the motor power means you never press hard on the pedals anyway!

Overall – recommended. My partner loves the bike and is happy to go on rides with big hills.