With more and more of us living a gig lifestyle, the office can be anywhere with a power socket, an Internet connection and decent coffee. Whether a coworking space, a cafe, the local library or on-site with a client, there are any number of places you can call ‘home’ at any given time.

For such a transient way of working, a bicycle is a great way of getting about, especially given the congested nature of most cities. Earlier this year a study from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) highlighted just how much more beneficial it is than other forms of transport.

The study quizzed over 8,800 people on their mode of transport to work and their mental and physical health.  The mental-health section of the survey focused on the four major dimensions of mental health (anxiety, depression, loss of emotional control, and psychological well-being), vitality (energy level and fatigue) and perceived stress.

When the data was analyzed, it emerged that cycling performed best across every single metric.  Riding to work was linked with better self-perceived general health, better mental health, greater vitality, lower self-perceived stress and fewer feelings of loneliness.  Walking came in second, with motorized transport then some way further back.

“Driving and public-transport use were associated with poor self-perceived general health when the transport modes were analysed separately, but this effect disappeared in the multiple-mode analyses,” the researchers explain. “This result is most likely due to the fact that the study population drove very infrequently and most journeys by car were probably for social purposes, such as visiting a family member or a friend.”

Safe cycling

The same research team found that this boost was even bigger if you cycle through somewhere green and leafy, but even if your commute is in a busy city, it’s still pretty cool for your mental and physical wellbeing. Alas the security of your steed is quite probably not. Bike theft is a constant problem, and I speak from personal experience when I say there is little as soul destroying as returning to where your beloved bicycle was chained to see nothing but a snapped lock remaining.

It’s a situation that Dutch e-bike manufacturer VanMoof aim to tackle with their ‘theft proof’ bikes.  The bikes come with a range of security devices that aim to make them impossible to steal, with the latest model having a wheel block that automatically immobilizes the rear wheel so that the bike is secure without requiring an external lock.

Over the past few days I’ve been putting the bike through its paces to see how likely it is to make a dent in the burgeoning e-bike market.  Firstly the positives. The bike was indeed safe throughout my trial, and whilst the duration was very short, my neighbor has lovingly bragged about the bikes he’s stolen in the past, so it’s perhaps reasonable to believe the security was tested as I left it on the street over night.

The dimensions of the bike are distinctly un-sporty, with a city bike design and chunky tyres giving a comfortable ride on the pot-holed streets of London. The electric engine in the bike is also sufficient to get you to your destination largely free from sweat, with mud and chain guards designed to keep your clothes spick and span.

I had a few ongoing issues connecting my phone to the bike via Bluetooth in order to unlock it, with the company support not really on hand to help, but that is perhaps a familiarity issue as much as any fundamental flaw in the design.

Lack of mobility

They’re the positives. The negatives mainly revolve around the weight of the bike, which at over 18kg is roughly double that of my normal road bike. When actually on the road this isn’t really an issue as the motor more than compensates for the heavy machine you’re trying to propel. Where it becomes an issue however is in actually moving the bike about.

From my experiment, with the lights on and the assistance set to full, I got around 3-4 hours worth of cycling out of it on a full battery. To recharge, I had to bring the bike inside my flat to plug it into the mains. This involves navigating a flight of stairs that wasn’t especially easy, so I’m not sure if it would be suitable for a smaller person not able to manoeuvre such weight around.

There is also a peculiarly limiting design flaw to the bike. I’m 5’5″, and the bike was okay for me, but the saddle was in its lowest possible position, meaning it wouldn’t be ridable for anyone any shorter than me. I know the Dutch are famously very tall, but to design a bike in such a way with no apparent functional rationale behind it is rather strange.

Overall, the bike does have advantages and the technology behind the security features is clever, but there are a number of quite substantial drawbacks, especially when placed against rivals such as the Brompton folding ebike, which offers many of the performance advantages but with the ability to take your bike with you onto public transport or your chosen place of work.

This level of convenience will make it hard for the VanMoof device to find a real niche in a market that is growing rapidly. When coupled with a hefty price tag, and for the mobile urban worker, perhaps there are better ways of getting around.