ON Friday, Brighton’s bike hire scheme will launch with more 450 of the pale green machines stationed around the city. If London’s Boris Bikes are anything to go by, they will be a fixture in the city for many years to come. With that in mind, we sent out Fred Dimbleby to review the bike.

These things don’t com e cheap.

£1,000 I’m told – the latest in city bike share technology.

But what are they really like. Are they comfortable enough? Will they get up Brighton’s hills? Is there enough room for my shopping in the basket?

Ahead of the bike share’s launch on Friday I was given an exclusive ride to find out all the above and more. Here’s what I made of Brighton and Hove’s newest form of transport.

The seat

Brighton is not the easiest place to cycle. There are lots of hills and some of the roads can be bumpy or have potholes. However, the suspension on the bike is excellent.

Although I didn’t test it on some of the rougher roads, it felt comfortable throughout the ride. The seat adjustment was heavier than it should be, so it may be a struggle to set it at your perfect height.

However, the bike can accommodate riders from just under, 5ft to those around 7ft.

Gears and system

The bike has eight gears, which is a huge help when tackling some of the hillier parts of the city. However, eighth gear seems almost redundant as the bike is too big and heavy to achieve any real speed, not that you will be racing these bikes.

However, the lower gears do the job when it comes to going uphill. The bike, oddly, is missing a key element – a chain. Unlike many bicycles, it works on a prop shaft system. This means that, instead of a chain, a series of cogs turn the wheels. Although being slightly disconcerting at first, the system can lower maintenance costs and make the bike more reliable.

Frame

This bike really fits in with the city’s aesthetic. Its frame has been designed to match the colour of the bollards on the seafront, something which is being called regency green. The frame is built in the Dutch style, meaning it looks large and not at all streamlined. It matches other bike share schemes around the world in being instantly recognisable as a sharing bike.

It is a pity that the bike could not have been sleeker in its design as that would have possibly added to its Brighton and Hove style.

Unlocking and GPS system

The bike boasts an innovative locking system, which allows you to lock and unlock it from the bike itself. This is a welcome departure from other bike share systems, where you often find yourself waiting in a large queue to operate a highly convoluted system in order to get a bike out.

Having said this, the rental scheme could definitely be improved for the bike. Anyone wanting to hire one of these bikes has to go online and sign up for the system.

This is slightly more hassle than simply signing up at a station or getting a one-time ride on the bicycles.

However, all in all, the added benefit of being able to lock the bicycle up in almost any location is worth the slight loss from the awkwardness of the system.

Lights and Basket

This is the real benefit of the bicycle. The bike’s lights look like they have come straight out of a Brighton nightclub. They are LED and, unlike normal lights, are not only automatic but are also integrated into the bike structure. This means that you will never have to think about attaching, or even turning on, your lights at night.

The basket is also great. It can carry 20 pounds, which I am reliably informed is the same weight as 50 hamsters – in case that information is relevant to you. All the things that I was carrying could easily fit in to the trendy-looking basket, so I would call that a success.

Wheels and brakes

Kevlar is the only material that is used both to save lives in the battle field and to stop tyres shredding on Brighton’s roads.

Here, the Kevlar stops damage from stones and uneven surfaces – again lowering the costs of maintenance. The wheels also have guards to stop a cyclist suffering in the slightly wetter Brighton and Hove weather.

The brakes seemed strong enough but one complaint was the brake handles, which were too small and seemed out of place on the large bike.

Overall

The bike is a winner. There is real comfort through the suspension and seat and enough gears to get you round the hillier parts of the city. There is also great innovation with the fantastic lights and computer system and the regency green makes it feel very much part of the city.