The £4,900 Sur-Ron off-road cycle is so lightweight it can reach speeds of up to 50mph. Police say that by weaving through traffic the electric bike can easily beat the 40 minutes it often takes a car to get from Green Park to Finsbury Park.
This is a well-worn route for the stealth e-bikes when used by masked robbers behind a 19 per cent rise in luxury watch and mobile phone snatches. In February, London Standard journalists joined the Metropolitan Police’s elite Operation Venice squad on patrol. They are cracking down on these kinds of offenders by targeting robbery hotspots in the central, south and west parts of London. Each week an average of 180 victims are attacked for their valuables on the street. Like paralegal Kathryn, 24, who was bundled screaming into a side road near Waterloo after muggers spotted a £3,700 Rolex on her wrist.
