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Ultra Motor
"I'd ride my bike to work, but I'd be a sweaty mess by the time I got there—and there's no place to change!" We hear you ... Nothing like standing in the elevator next to the boss, dripping sweat off the tip of your nose and smelling like you just parked the jackhammer, you know?
What you need to boost you along to your destination (minus the sweat) is a little motorized nudge. Those stylish Italians don't have a monopoly on scooters anymore. Just yesterday, in fact, The New York Times profiled the Ultra Motor A2B Metro, a bicycle with a battery-powered electric motor that allows riders to cruise without pedaling as quickly as 20 miles per hour.
We've pedaled a long way, baby—and in today's greener market, you've got options.
- 6 reasons you need an electric scooter They're efficient, they're clean, they're cheap ...
- Booster pack Add a motor to your bicycle for a little extra push.
- e-Bikes Electric bikes get you there with less effort.
- Pedal power Recharge your bike's motor by pedaling.
- Here comes the sun Or just let the sun recharge your wheels.
- A little more coverage Add two more wheels and a top (yes, a top!) and you've got an eco-quad.
- Motorcycle madness If even a boosted bicycle still doesn't offer enough oomph, try a motorcycle—but make it electric.
For even more ideas, we suggest a cruise around Electric-Bikes.com, where you'll find scooters, e-bicycles, e-trikes, conversion kits, folding e-bikes and all manner of strange hybrids. Clean, quiet, and efficient, these light electric vehicles let you put the pedal to the metal—in a green way, of course.
How we can green our Summer
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eBikes are interesting - I've helped people with several conversions. At this point I would be very careful with many of the bikes being imported and ask riders and reputable dealers. There is a lot of junk coming in from China these days. At this point I think the best values are to use a well built mid-priced bike (a $400 to $500 Trek) and use one of the higher quality conversion kits. I like BionX. Total costs are usually in the $2000 range
There is a huge amount of emerging competition and prices will be falling. I'm hoping the garbage goes away. A good dealer is good insurance here.
You do need to pick a riding strategy. Do you plan to rarely use the assist, use it always at different power levels or mostly use the bike as an electric motorbike. These choices dictate design.
I've ridden more than a few and, as I've said, helped friends convert bikes. NYCeWheels/ is a place to start on the East Coast in Manhattan and Electric Cyclery in Laguna CA.
For my own purposes these are just to heavy to deal with and I prefer the exercise you get using your own power. But if this helps people cut some car use, I'm all for it.
http://www.6footsix.com/my_weblog/2009/03/walk-and-bike-y...
The A2B is a nice bike, but it's very expensive! There are defintely more affordable options out there that might be a better for someone looking for their first e-bike. One of my favorite resources for
An update. Trek has done a re-engineering and integration of the excellent BionX system. The prices are in the $2500 range, which is at the lower end of well engineered quality ebikes these days. They also have a guarantee and large dealer network. If you want a trouble-free ebike, this is probably the best way to go in the US at the moment.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/electric_bikes/
Trek recently showed a few more integrated concept ebikes that look very interesting, so expect to see progress.
I don't need one as a regular bikes works well, but there are a lot of people who might find ebikes allow them to eliminate a significant amount of car use as well as get some exercise at the same time. $2500 (or $5000 for two) is cheap if you can get rid of one of your cars.