Varsity Imperial Stealth Electric Bike

The bike is stunning and so much fun to ride. It’s easy to set up and was package beautifully. There was a slight scuff mark on the rear of the frame which was surprising as the packaging seemed more than adequate. Overall the bike is perfect foe my needs and looks beautiful, it’s beauty is only let down by the pedals which don’t seem to fit with the rest of the bike. I would definitely recommend Quella the bikes are both beautiful and fun to ride.

E-Varsity Review I ought to ‘fess up to a couple of things before I start this review. I am *** and have’nt ridden a bike in 39 years. So when lockdown started, and with a desire to keep away from the petri-dish that is public transport I thought a bike would be a good idea. And, because I am a *** for technology (and avoiding getting sweaty) I thought an ebike would be an even better idea. But where to start? Like so many I turned to the web/you tube etc. Trouble is, most ebikes look like they’ve been engineered by a soviet pot-welder. Enter Quella and the e-varsity range. Just what I remembered as a teenager when I built my own bike from a Reynolds 531 frame (that, and all subsequent additions were scrounged from school bike sheds and I loved it – until some *** nicked it) with an ancient brooks saddle, V-brakes, drop bars etc. So, as you might now have gathered, this is something of a late-midlife crisis purchase. The E-Varsity is a classic road bike frame, skinny tyres, caliper brakes and, in my case, moustache handlebars sourced by *** at Quella. And Quella delivered – on so many levels. Quite apart from the fact that the bike is an object of singular beauty, the engineering elegance of the e-solution is by far the best out there. The Zehus hub (and it’s worth noting the word ‘hub’ – that’s it, motor, battery cells and controller in one place) looks like an outsize sturmey-archer gear hub, adds only 3kg to the weight, and provides enough assistance, at 3 levels, to enable me to commute through hilly bits of London down to the river and back again, loving every minute. This combined with the friendly hands-on attitude of *** and *** at Quella. These two are NOT the surly know-it-alls from your local bike shop – they own the business and it shows. They even threatened to deliver the bike in person – and I should’ve accepted. I hadn’t been aware that the 2nd gen Zehus hub was so recently introduced. So recently, in fact that I became something of a beta-tester for the hub in real-world conditions. But both Quella and *** at Zehus were brilliant and sorted out the teething problems within a week. At one point *** from Quella was on the phone to me almost daily, sorting out any niggles - and I’m a pain in the ***, especially if I’ve just spent *** quid on a bike. Oh, and the 2nd-gen has a remote control (Bluetooth) with a boost button to give that extra oomph up steep hills, a battery indicator and the ability to swap between assistance modes. And its worth putting that cost into perspective. Before lockdown I was spending £*** a month on the tube – and would frequently drive and park at the station. I flogged the car (an ancient 5th-hand mini) and bought the bike. Now I try and use the bike for all those local trips I previously used the car for – saving an unquantifiable sum, quite apart from the saving on parking/insurance/maintenance etc. So I reckon it should pay for itself in a year or so. And the best bit? It’s the most fun I’ve had in ages on two wheels. You might have got the impression that I bought the bike as an exercise in cost saving, sustainability and personal health. Well, that’s how I justified it to the Vicar. But the truth is…………….WWHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!