Chamonix Electric Bikes Review

At the start of the year Chamonix proudly announced that a number of electric bikes will be available to hire via the various tourist offices along the valley, as the summer is drawing to a close it seemed like the perfect way to spend a sunny September day.

The Chamonx electric bike scheme, funded by a government grant, has been set up in partnership with Sport Spririt who provide and maintain the bikes.
The electric bikes are made by French brand Moustache who are leading the way with some award winning designs.

The bikes are available for a cheerfully cheap €10 for 24 hours, which makes this possibly the morst economic form of transport in the valley. Well except for the free bus & train network, and of course walking.

Picking the bike up, the chap from the tourist office tried to persuade me with one of the suggested itineraries but they looked a bit too promenade and not enough rando for my liking, so after a quick think it seemed like the most Chamonix-esque thing to do and start from the lowest point in the valley and head to the highest point; Servoz to the Col des Montets.

On the map this is only 30km's but as the Chamonix valley is more screwed up paper than flat map, having some electric assistance will come in handy.

The challenge of getting from Servoz to the Col des Montets, implies getting to Servoz first from Chamonix but this journey was conveniently broken up with a pilates stop in Les Houches and then a coffee stop in Servoz before actually starting off in the direction of Vallorcine.
From Servoz, cyclists are directed up the bumpy road to Vaudagne (which is due to be re-surfaced) as bicycles are not allowed on the main dual carriageway into Chamonix. The bumps are one thing but the 300 metre climb is the big hurdle - not a problem for Mo the electric bike, stick it into turbo and we're at the top before you can say K.I.T.T.
So first climb done and not a drip of sweat to dry off on the downhill stint to Les Houches where the bike reached 65kph without the motor on!

From Les Houches you can then take the side road to Taconnaz, where there is a side road to the side road, the voie verte, which is closed to motor traffic and takes you to Les Gaillands.
On arriving in Chamonix it made sense to have a quick break in the sun and watch the 24hr Mountain Bike race that was happening on the parapente field.
Watching the guys slogging it out across an undulating course in hour 6 of the 24 hour challenge, put an end to the lazy lounge on the grass.

From Les Praz onwards it's an uphill all the way to the Col des Montets with a 400 metre climb spread over 10kms, unfortunately the bike is designed more for the roads than the off-roads trails. This meant cycling up to the Col was on road and shared with a fair share of cars, but cruising uphill at a decent speed with the motor in 'tour' mode made it feel less unnerving.

One of the great things about cycling is the time and change in perspective, to appreciate things you wouldn't when travelling by car, electric bikes offer this even on the uphill when you would normally be head down, slogging it out because you're never slogging it out.

Arriving just it time for lunch at the Col des Montets and in perfect time to see a couple taking wedding shots perched on a large rock, made for a great finish to the ride.

Well, the best part was the downhill sprint all the way back to Chamonix...

Even if you're an avid downhill mountain biker or simply not a fan of bikes, we would seriously recommend trying one of these electric bikes for a day as the design, build quality and ease of use is impressive.

• Electric bikes are available to hire from the tourist offices at Servoz, Les Houches, Chamonix & Vallorcine
• 24hr hire is €10
• Helmets & panniers are availbable
• The bikes are not designed for mountain bike trails
• Servoz to the Col des Montets is around 30km's with 700m height gain