GAS2 is one of my favorite blogs lately. The writing is often of a higher (or at least more enjoyable) caliber, and if you like green-ness and wheels, it's not a bad place to hang out. Lately, they have featured some gorgeous electric bicycles. They all have that board-tracker/retro chopper look to them and they truly are works of art. Here are three for your perusal/ogling:
Otocycles
Derringer
Icon E-Flyer
At $3000-$5000 each, one could still make an argument for their economic viability in the same way that I have seen many people convince or try to convince their spouses that a motorcycle made financial sense. See Dear, at 40mpg this $16,000 Harley will save us lots of money! And when you factor in virtually no fuel costs, no insurance payments, no registration, and no parking fees, an-e-bike does make a lot of sense.
But, do these bikes make any sense? Will they be comfortable to ride? Will you worry all day about your $5k baby disappearing from the bike rack? And will it be rough on you when some dork on a $600 diy e-bike goes flying by you?
Just as a reference point, our good friends Keith and Melissa recently put together a nice little e-bike that has the same capabilities as the Otocycle. They invested less than $300 in that bike and had the full installation accomplished in just a few hours. They bought the bike from a Craigslist ad and the conversion kit from this company:
Green Bike Kit
And Melissa looks stylish and has a smile on her face when she rides the beast!
So, would you spend the money for one of those three up top? Would you build your own for a tenth of the price? Or would you not do either?
May you enjoy your commute with an EV grin!!!
Added bonus for those of you who don't mind spending the money but want performance rather than image:
Stealth Electric Bike
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