Picture Courtesy of NYCE Wheels

instance, all across Asia, electric bicycles are now replacing regular bicycles as the preferred method of pedaling transportation and the trend has been tremendous. Actually, if estimates are correct approximately 120,000,000 electric bikes are now on the roads today.

Due to the fact that America has a much different infrastructure the many of these countries, because people drive long distances to get to work, electric bikes have not caught on quite as much as other electric vehicles such as electric cars and electric motorcycles. However, with the rise of gas prices in all sorts of environmental concerns, electric bicycles are being viewed by Americans in a much more serious matter than ever before.

Ed Benjamin, who is the founder of the Light Electric Vehicle Association, says, “electric bikes are very energy efficient and the idea that the best way to get around it sit in your automobile. However there are an awful lot of places where that just doesn’t work.”

There are basically two types of electric bikes that are on the road today, pedal assisted and full electric power. The difference between the two is quite simple, with full electric power all you have to do is twist the throttle if you so desire, while pedal assisted electric bicycles are the type wherein you need to pedal it in order for the electric motor to kick in and assist you.

While the thought of purchasing an electric bicycle may be very attractive to some people, there are a few considerations that must be taken. For example, you need to consider how far you’re willing to ride electric bicycle to where you need to go. If you’re living in a major city or metropolitan area elected bikes are a viable way of getting through traffic and around a lot of the problems that traffic causes. However, you are sacrificing facing the elements as well as the protection that an automobile to give you. However, as I stated before, electric bicycles are not a viable method of transportation when you have to drive almost an hour to work as most Americans do. They are usually more practical when you have to go just several mouse to work and because the electric motor is there to assist you, you probably won’t wind up showing up at work all sweaty and out of breath.

Also, another consideration is the price of these vehicles. You can pick up electric bicycle from a vendor such as Walmart, Best Buy, or quite a few online vendors that sell and ship electric bicycles, but in the $400-$1000 range these electric bicycles are not of the highest quality and you will sacrifice some performance and maintenance issues if you purchase one of these. Not only that, but the full power e–bikes are quite a bit more expensive than the pedal assisted and you will have to pay anywhere from 2000 $4000 to get one.

However, with the employment of Americans waning right now as well as gas prices that are beginning to rise every day, electric bicycles may be a future alternative to people who cannot afford to drive long-distance is anymore. However, having said that, it will only be a matter of time before we find out whether or not America will embrace electric bicycles as the transportation of choice.

We’d like to thank NYCE Wheels Electric Bikes for the opportunity of using their photograph.

Apparently, Ft. Collins has tried to integrate bicycling into its infrastructure with bike – to – work days and more convenient bicycle parking its more prominent areas of town.  Much of the award was based on these upgrades and changes that affected the residents of Ft. Collins in terms of health, civic responsibility and even economic growth.

It would be interesting to see how far the city could take this idea and run with it, perhaps much like Europe that has bicycle paths running everywhere in most countries.    In many places in Colorado, where people are very physical, and do a lot of hiking and cycling, there are bicycle paths that lead throughout the country side.  Places like Vail, Breckenridge and other areas of recreation already have massive biking integration built into their infrastructure.

As an electric bike enthusiast, would be nice to see if cities like Ft. Collins could try to integrate electric bike facilities and charging stations as well, which would also reach out to another subculture of partially green society: electric bicyclists.

However, as you well know, introducing anything new into a society requires money, and with the current state of affairs of most American communities and local governments, these are difficult times.  So, it may be awhile before we will see a lot of progress in integrating electric bikes and scooters into a bicycle friendly community like Ft. Collins.  Only time will tell.

Photograph Courtesy of NYCE Wheels

The Electric Bicycle Has Evolved

In the last 20 years there have been radical changes in the electric bicycle. There are now more electric bicycles produced around the world than there ever has been in history,  and there has been almost a 60% increase in electric bike manufacturing plants worldwide. So, it should come as no surprise that the electric bike has evolved to a higher level, and that evidence comes in the form of a great new electric bike called the eZee Torq II. With a speed range of up to about 20 miles per hour and a distance range of approximately 30 miles, this electric bike will probably replace your car on shorter errands and commutes.
The eZee Torq II A Comfortable Ride yet Able to Handle Rough Roads
One of the best benefits of the eZee Torq II is the fact that it is such a comfortable ride.  Consumers have praised its comfort on rough roads where there are potholes and cracks. This electric bike has even been used by delivery people who work on the road almost 8 hours a day! Not only is it a comfortable ride on regular roads, but it is also a great off road electric bike as well.  Fashioned after European-style electric bicycles, this e-bike has an alloy frame which keeps it light and efficient at around 60 to 62 pounds with the battery on board. So, its performance and comfort are very competitive in the electric bicycle market.
Getting an Aerobic Workout without Killing Yourself
As with most electric bikes this is what is known as a pedal – assisted electric motor, which means that the motor will kick in when you need it at higher speeds and going up inclines. The 700 peak watt motor can run on 350 Watts continuously while smoothly accelerating to higher speeds, and as a matter of fact, owners of the eZee Torq II have praised its quick acceleration while maintaining a smooth ride.  Another one of the reasons this is such a popular commuter bike is the fact that you won’t wind up getting to work all sweaty and out of breath.  However, it can also be a great workout bike because you can really push yourself with it while still getting a great aerobic workout.
Consider the Benefits of the EZee Torq II and Decide
When  you consider the benefits of riding the eZee Torq II electric bicycle, you will see that even though it has tons of features as well as the benefits and advantages it will give you and your lifestyle, it will change the way you view transportation. You will swear that you can do without your car or, at least you will use your car a lot less while saving money and creating a healthier lifestyle for yourself.

Most Important Features at a Glance
Battery: 36V 10 Ah lithium ion with electronic battery management
Charger:     Automatic Smart charger, maximum charge time 5.5 hours
Brakes:  Shimano Nexave with a disk brake in the front and a roller rink in the rear
Speed: 20 mi./h
Range: 30 miles approximately
Weight:    59.5 or 62 lbs including battery
Frame:    Road bike with a Al alloy 6061
Motor    Brushless Servo motor, 700 watt peak / continuous 350 watt

Where to Purchase an eZee Torq II Electric Bike and Get More Information: NYCE Wheels

ElectricRider's site is easy to navigate

When you are looking for different types of electric bike parts it is always a good idea to bookmark on your web browser different types of electric bike and scooter parts stores. If you are located in the United States then you will probably want to bookmark this particular site because it has a lot of different electric bike parts that you can order to have sent you pretty quick. One of the great things about the Internet is the fact that you can find all sorts of information very quickly on just about any subject that you care to look up. For example, yesterday I wanted to learn how to fix a dishwasher in my home, and within minutes I found an excellent video that showed me how to do that.

You can do the same thing with electric bicycles. If you have an electric bicycle you really should learn how to do your own maintenance on it because parts and maintenance can be very expensive if you don’t know what you are doing, so it would be a good idea to learn how to do many of these maintenance and repairs on your own. Not only do you need to know how to fix different things on your electric bike or scooter but you will also need to know where you can get the parts from should the need arise.

The website ElectricRider.com ( http://www.electricrider.com/parts) is just loaded with all types of different electric bicycle parts from different companies that deal with electric bikes. When I was on their site earlier today, I noticed that they had every type of part imaginable ranging from batteries, battery chargers to sprockets, gears, headlights, and even drive belts for the different types of electric bike motors. Of course, they were dealing with companies like Crystalyte, Currie, Schwinn,Vega and a host of other outstanding electric bike companies. So, this is a really good reference for anybody that would like to buy or need to take your electric bicycle part.

One of the things I like about the website is the fact that it is so easy to navigate and to find exactly what you are looking for rather quickly. The company didn’t waste a lot of money hiring a website programmer to put flash pictures and other items on there that would take a while for the website to open up. So, if you are operating on a DSL or regular cable Internet connection, this website will open up immediately and you will be treated to a menu of things that you can click on automatically. One of the things I just hate about going to certain websites is the fact that they are designed in such a way that they want to look real advanced, while sacrificing functionality. This is one of the reasons why Amazon.com beat the tar out of everybody in sales. It is so easy to navigate and find exactly what you’re looking for.  The same thing can be said about  ElectricRider.com is a great site, the load is quick and gives you fast navigation so you know exactly what you are looking for.  Not only that, but they are dealing with high-quality parts and things that you would need if you get in a pinch for a particular part on your electric bicycle or scooter.

So, take a look at their website, I do not think you will be disappointed in what you see and you will definitely want to reference this in your bookmarks.

ElectricRider.com – http://www.electricrider.com

Actually, they hand writing has been on the wall for quite some time because of the fact that the world population has now exceeded 6 billion people and all of those people will probably be using fossil fuel to get to work and back as well as all of the other activities that are involved with their lives. The problem with this scenario is the fact that oil is a finite resource and will eventually run out. So, human beings on the planet Earth need to think about what type of alternative energy we can use to sustain the lifestyle that we have.

One of the easy ways that people who on electric scooters or electric bikes can get almost free energy from the sun is to buy electric panels for your garage or house. After you have purchased the electric panels (which aren’t cheap by the way) you can then wire them in a manner which will be conducive to charging up your electric bike batteries. Once you have your electric bike batteries wired from the solar panels you will be able to extract free energy from the sun without being on your city’s electrical grid.

Not only can you power up your electric bike or scooter that this matter, but there are also people who are powering up their electric cars this way too. Yes, there are still people out there with electric cars, however they have used their own innovation to build their cars in a manner which allow them to run and operate on electricity. Some of them have even installed electric panels so that they can charge up their electric batteries without drawing any power from electrical grid in their areas.

This is really a reasonable and easy way of gathering sustainable energy so that you are no longer dependent on any city or for an oil company to supply you with what you need to survive.

Now, if you are a cheapskate like me, then you will probably want to look into ways that you can save some money while everyone else is freaking out at the gas pumps.  One of the alternatives I would of course recommend is to buy ebikes (or electric bikes to you newbies).

Other Reasons to Buy Ebikes

Even if gas prices don’t go up, you will probably wonder why you should buy an electric bicycle.  My personal favorite reason to get an ebike, is that I get the joy of riding a bicycle without the effort.  I can still pedal around, but if I’m smart on my electric bike, I will use the motor to ride against headwinds and hills that I don’t want to kill myself on.  On some ebikes, I can use a pedal assisted motor when I’m on a hill that is too hard on my skinny little legs.  What this means is that when I flip a switch on my handlebars, the motor gives me an extra boost of power so that the hill doesn’t affect me.  This also means that if I decide to bike my way to work and save some gas money, I won’t show up all tired and sweaty.

Another great reason to ride an electric bicycle is that you can drive a motorized vehicle on the same pavement a bicycle does. Since in most states electric bike motors are not as powerful as gas ones, electric bikes can still ride on the sidewalk like all other cyclists.  However, even though the average person glancing at you will probably not even notice that you are on an ebike, you still have to be careful and considerate to pedestrians that you will encounter.   Always use bicycle safety and rules whenever you ride on your electric bike in public places.

The last reason that I think a people should buy ebikes is because they are just plain fun.  There’s nothing that makes your day than getting outside into the sunshine and getting some fresh air while riding an electric motorized bicycle.

Like you, I hope that gas and oil prices won’t rise, but if you have an ebike you can at least ease some of your gas price anxieties with a fun and safe way to travel.

One of the leaders in the new arena of e-bikes, was Currie Electric Bikes.   Predominantly, Currie had two distinct strains of bikes, the Izip and Ezip lines that were good, stable products in the market.  Today, Currie Technologies is clearly taking the lead in the production and sale of electric bikes and now, you can actually purchase these bikes directly from the company instead of going through a dealer.

Today, the Currie Electric Bike has evolved along with the company, and the Izip Express is a very good example of this.  This is a human assist e-bike (or an electric assist bike,  whichever way you would like  to look at it) that uses  the EVO Assist,  a high torque Currie electric bike motor.  Just to be clear, the electric motor assists you as you pedal, creating plenty of power as you do.  This feature allows you to bike with minimum effort.   This also includes climbing hills and tackling different types of slopes and headwinds as if it were very easy.    This is possible because the Evo Assist 2.0 is a 750 watt powerhouse that is fed electricity byway of a 36 Volt 8 Amp battery pack.

This powerful system will give you somewhere around 20 plus mile per hour speeds (32+ kilometers per hour) and a range of approximately 31 miles for a person that is under the recommended weight of 240 lbs. ( I wonder when they are going to make an electric bike for people over that weight!)

I think one of the cool things about the Currie Electric Bikes that are on the market today is that they have a device called a Cadence Sensor, which automatically detects human power and adjusts itself according to your needs.  So imagine you are starting to ride out of your driveway and your wife starts to chase you because you didn’t wash the dishes like she told you to.  No problem, just start pumping your legs and the EVO Assist on the bike will take you briskly to the bowling alley, adjusting to the amount of effort you put into the system.  (Not that this has ever happened to me.)  There is even a power boost built into the system to get you out of those real tight situations.

The Izip Express also carries other high quality features such as double wall alloy rims, stainless steel spokes, tires that are double shield puncture – protected, and a host of other high quality features too long to list here.

To find out more about the Izip Express and the entire line of high – quality Currie Electric Bikes, go to this link:

Currie Electric Bikes

A person like myself can only question and ponder if electric bike enthusiasts and electric scooter fans alike will be represented at this summit. It would be great if there were at least a few electric scooter or electric bike models were present at this important summit. One of the electric vehicles that were talked about at the summit is an electric car that could go about 300 miles on a single charge.  This was featured on the  CNN site and you can see the clip here: Electric Car at Dubai Summit

As I have stated before, I don’t think humans are heating up the environment I believe that the Earth is probably going through a warming cycle right now and it will probably go through a cooling cycle someday, but I don’t know when.  However, I do think that this energy summit is very important, because I don’t like being dependent on oil and I do like to live in a clean environment.  So, I guess you can say that I am somewhat of a tree- hugger.

My question is this: If you can get a car to drive almost 300 miles on a single charge, how far can you get an electric scooter or an electric bike to go?  It seems to me that over the last four years, batteries have taken a leap forward.  Here is an article from Technology Review on a battery breakthrough.

Apparently, there is a Texas company named EEStore that has created a battery that can out perform lithium – ion batteries.  The batteries can outperform acid based batteries by almost 10 times, or so the company claims. From what I can see, there is quite a bit of controversy about whether the batteries and the capacitor storage syste can do what they say they can do.

I tried to find out more by going to EEStore’s site, but the site is currently down.  Apparently their site is being renovated and will be online very soon. You can find out more about this company from Wikipedia.

Anyway, I am very enthusiastic about the possibilities behind all of this green technology and being an electric bicycle and electric scooter enthusiast, I am very excited to see fine companies pouring the energy into creating products that help us get away from our dependency on oil.

ELMO

Electric Bikes and Electric Scooters Site

Yep, that’s right.  You can now get the E-Zip 2008 Trailz Hybrid Electric Bike for both men and women from Walmart at a very reasonable price.  It was bound to happen sooner or later, that major corporations, like walmart were going to start representing the more popular brands and actually, the Ezip   Currie Technologies, the company that created the Ezip as well as an entire line of electric bicycles, probably couldn’t be happier.  However, Currie didn’t just stop at selling to just the big guys like Walmart, rather than just sell wholesale to large businesses, Currie is now selling their entire line directly to consumers as well.

Now, before everyone gets their panties in a wad and starts sending me comments about how this is just a standard piece of equipment not worthy of being noticed by the elite, ebiker jet-set, let me stop you right there.  Is this the most elite ebike in the world?

Probably not.

Is the E-Zip 2008 Trailz Hybrid Electric Bike the top of the line, state of the art ebike that you can buy on the market today?

Probably not.

However, I can tell you that you are going to spend upwards of about $2000 for a Rolls Royce version of an electric bike much less the fact that you will be buying it from a company that is probably not located in your town, which means you are spending good money without actually seeing too much of what your are purchasing.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a good quality electric bicycle that has all of the standards and features that you will need for average use then the E-Zip 2008 Trailz Hybrid Electric Bike will work for you just fine.  Not only will it easily meet most people’s requirements but it won’t break the bank either.  Currently, the Ezip Trailz is running for a mere $349.00 and you really can’t beat the price.

Some of the more prominent features of the Ezip Trailz:

1. PAS/TAG technology: This means that you can use  the ebike with the motor only or with motor assisted power.  You can pedal while you are using the battery which can increase your range.
2. It has an easy comfort design which will make your ride far more comfortable than many bicycles on the market.
3. Rack-mounted SLA battery for easy swapping.  In other words, you can take the battery off and put a fresh charged up battery in with no fuss.
4. A 7-speed geared system.
5. Rear rack so that you can carry groceries,  dogs and other stuff. ( Just kidding about the dog part.) You can also add a second battery (sold separately) for added range.
6. The E-Zip Trailz utilizes an exclusive 24 vilt Currie Technologies controller.
7. The charger is a UL listed Currie charger with an LED display so you can see when your battery is charged.
8. The frame has a unisex high comnfort design made of high tensile steel.

Really, when you consider all of the features that you would derive from theE-Zip, you have to hand it to Currie Technologies.  I know many electric bike enthusiasts will probably decry my praise of this bike, but when you consider that you are getting 450 watts of power that can  carry you a range of about 15 to 22 miles on a single charge, this really is a great feat of technology considering the price.  The case can easily be made that for many ebikers and especially those of us that are getting their first electric bicycle, you really don’t want to shell out loads of money the first time around.

One other thing I want to mention, is the fact that this bike, despite its cheaper price, is a high quality electric bicycle.  It has a nice design, it is pretty easy to maintain and most of the reviews I have read in many of the forums, have been pretty positive.  Yes, there were some ebike “elitists” that get real freaked out by a standard model, but for most of us that is all we will ever need or can afford.

ELMO

This is the land of cool ebike stuff!

I just thought I would dash off a quick notice about the 50 Cycles electric bike site.  It seems like they are having an Autumn sale that is pretty significant and one that some of you may want to take a look at for some great deals and bargains.  As you may remember I reported on this really cool site awhile back when I was skipping around the net looking for sites to review.  Based in Loughborough, England the 50 Cycles shop is one of the most extensive sites and shops around. As a matter of fact they are already promoting the iZip Via Mezza Enlightened on their site as a folding ebike that they are selling.

50Cycles not only carries a load of new electric bicycles, but they also are carrying the latest in gadgets and accessories that will thrill and excite any electric bike or electric scooter enthusiast!   For example they are selling a new turn signal for bikes called the Spooklight.   This is a really cool and new turn signal light that not only lets people know which direction that you are going but it also can charge up your iphone or mp3 player!  Too cool.

Of course this is nothing less than what we have come to expect from our ebike friends in the UK because we all know that this is the land of 007 and Dr. Who!!!  Check out the 50Cycles web site today, and if you are in the Loughborough, England area, don’t forget to stop by their shop and have a look around.  I’m sure if I stopped by I would find something I just couldn’t live without!

ELMO