Sign of the economic times: Electric bikes

Top-selling electric bikes:
Electrec by Electric Motion
Price: $1,199
Motor: 600 Watt electric, 5 pounds
Battery: Lead acid rechargeable, 25-pounds
Top speed (battery only): 20 miles-per-hour
Range: 20 miles, 6-hour charge

IZIP by Currie
Price: $799
Similar to Electrec, but with slower acceleration and shocks only on the front.
Source: Don's Bikes of Rialto

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By Robert Rogers
Staff Writer

The latest rage in the swiftly changing field of transportation has an oxymoronic quality.
It's a bicycle; by definition a human-powered machine.

But not quite.

It has a motor too. A hybrid, different but conceptually similar to the four-wheel models whose sales were up nearly 40 percent last year.

They are electric bicycles, two-wheeled personal transport machines with rechargeable batteries and little electric motors that do the pedaling when you don't want to.
And with gasoline prices at a lofty $4.61 per gallon in the Inland Empire Tuesday, according to the Automobile Club, the electric bike is has moved to the fore of the consumer market years ahead of the plodding electric car.

"We hear the same thing over and over from our customers," said Scott McAfee, owner of Don's Bikes in Rialto, where electric bike models are a hot sell. "They say 'I'm sick of these gas prices, but I don't want to get too sweaty riding to work.' This way you get the convenience and cost-savings of the bike, but without the hassle."

The drastic transportation shifts come as Americans today spend more than 4 percent of their income gas and diesel, levels approaching those that gouged consumers during oil crisis years of the late 1970s and early 1980s, according to Global Insight, an economic analysis firm.

Similar trends are at work in gasoline powered scooters, which can get more than 100 miles-per-gallon. At Mountain Motorsports in Ontario, gas-powered scooters starting at $1,199 are selling in one month more than they sold all last year, said sales associate Kenny Chouinard.

"We've seen a surge of people who would never have owned a bike if gas was still $2," he said.

At Don's Bikes, the lone model is the "Electrec" by Electric Motion, which sells for $1,199. Powered by a 5 pound, 600 Watt motor, the bike will go 20 miles-per-hour without pedaling, which under California law is the top mechanized speed one can go without a license, McAfee said.

The 25-pound battery is a lead acid rechargeable, about as big as a kid's lunch box, and sits in middle of frame. Weighs about 25 lbs.

The battery plugs to the wall and has a range of 20 miles on a six hour charge.
Sales aren't brisk. They're unfathomable, McAfee said. Three years ago, maybe six of the bikes sold in a year. Now, they're cranking out 10 a month, and this month should be closer to 20.

Hector Cabrera knows all about the tight demand for electric bikes. The owner of Hector's Bike Shop in Fontana, Cabrera said conventional bicycles are flying out the door, but he has to tell too many customers the wrong word: "No."

"Almost every day someone asks about electric bikes," said Cabrera, who opened his shop in December 2006 and has seen business soar. "I'm planning to have them in stock by August or September, I have to," he said.

At Cyclery USA in Redlands, hobbyists and athletes are now intermixed with professionals looking to get to the office without too much exertion, said store manager Ramon Gonzalez.