Adrian Chiles' Panorama episode on e-bikes is poorly researched scaremongering that isn't worthy of your attention

Bad news: they got Chiles. The man who gave us seminal columns like 'What is an app? I honestly have no idea', 'If dishwasher-loading was a sport, my dad would be a world champion', and 'You’re never too old to climb a tree – and I should know' has turned to the dark side. 

That’s right, the esteemed presenter and (less esteemed but nonetheless entertaining) columnist Adrian Chiles has pointed out - via a whole Panorama episode named 'E-Bikes: The Battle For Our Streets'  - that like any other form of transport, some people have chosen to not obey the law by riding e-bikes that are more powerful than an EAPC (250-watts of continuous power, cuts out at 15.5mph, no throttle, yadda yadda).

> Adrian Chiles asks whether e-bikes are “a new menace in need of tighter regulation” on BBC Panorama

It is shocking to find out that young people in particular are pushing boundaries and acting in ways that may lead to them hurting themselves. I have never heard of any form of transport where young people have done exactly the same thing before, so I for one am glad that the BBC have spent licence fee money to make a programme giving us this earth-shattering insight.

Let’s be honest here. It was a throwaway programme, presented by an affable but fundamentally unserious man who did not do much research, that few people will see, and is unlikely to change the minds of many on either side of any debate there is to be had around e-bikes.  

The fact remains that legal e-bikes are becoming more and more popular because they are great. Before I moved to the sticks where an e-bike is less use to me, I used to review them for ebiketips, so I would like to think I am firmly on the side of e-bikes. Look, I even wrote about those pesky e-cargo bikes that everybody tells me Chiles hates. 

I just can’t get het up about this though, and pearl-clutching about some nonsense programme that I don't think many people watched does not help our case of being safer on the roads or getting more people onto e-bikes.

Go to London, and some common complaints that people have is about Lime bikes being left everywhere, about not being able to find them, or that they’re not in good enough condition. 

That is amazing. 

Every one of those complaints is indicative not of a population that is sceptical and scared of e-bikes, but one that is adopting them. Lime, arguably the most recognisable e-bike share company, has seen significant growth to the extent that its CEO Wayne Ting said in November that the company is ready to sell its shares to the public. 

Think about that, a company whose business model is predicated on more people cycling is in a position for an IPO. 

To me that’s more indicative of where we are with e-bikes. Not a BBC programme that is poorly researched, given a clickbait title, and with an otherwise nice but ultimately clueless Brummie stuck in front of the camera.