Exploding electric bike sales

[shootingstar]

Know anyone personally who has an electric bike? I knew a lawyer who did use one to work commute and parked it in our shared bike locker area in work building.

Instead of electric bikes, I personally know 2 people who bought and use a Vespa, the small-engine European motorcycle/motorscooter. One of them is my brother-in-law. He has a red one and loves using it for past 2 yrs. He commutes into downtown congested Toronto core for work. Doesn't use it in snow/ice. Takes subway-- a 15 min. walk away. He's more of a jogger, not a cyclist.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...rticle1330292/

Excerpt:

Global sales of e-bikes, which are powered by batteries and can be recharged using a standard electric outlet, reached 23 million in 2008, with 90 per cent of them sold in China, according to Electric Bikes Worldwide Reports. That same source predicts the global market will more than double by 2012. Granted, only 730,000 of those 2008 bikes were sold in North America, but sales could quadruple by 2011.

[Pedal Wench]

I'm supposed to be writing a feature on them - once I do, I'll post a link.

[7rider]

I'm confused.
Looking at the picture, and reading some of the comments, the article seems to be about what we in the U.S. would term a scooter.
It doesn't appear to be an "e-Bike" - as what Trek has introduced this year.

[shootingstar]

I'm confused.
Looking at the picture, and reading some of the comments, the article seems to be about what we in the U.S. would term a scooter.
It doesn't appear to be an "e-Bike" - as what Trek has introduced this year.

An electric bike actually has pedals which you can pedal without turning on your motor. The lawyer who parked his bike daily near mine, I could see the electric battery pack. It's permanently designed into the frame of the bike. At least the model I saw.

A motor scooter can be powered by electrical sources, gas, depending on the model. There are no pedals.

[Jones]

On Saturday, I saw a sign being put up for an "Electric Bike" store in Rancho Mirage, Ca. I plan to ride over and check it out soon. I'll let you know.

[salsabike]

Know anyone personally who has an electric bike?

Yes, we have one. My husband used it to start riding again in '03, and I did the same in '04. Now we periodically debate selling it versus keeping it for the occasional rock-hunting trip down mountain bike-type roads. We actually used it quite successfully for that about a year ago. It saved us the hiking time so we had more rock-hunting time, and it was nice to have to carry the rock tools.

[owlice]

Darn. I thought this thread was about exploding electric bikes (that were for sale).

Now I'm all grumpy.

[Zen]

^ me too, on both counts.

[Trek420]

But do they actually explode?

[Owlie]

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who parsed the thread title the wrong way! But exploding electric bicycles...

[shootingstar]

So, where should the adjective, 'exploding' be positioned? I love hyperbole but that news article figure xxxx million sales figure looks super high. Must be a phenomena we're missing here.

Maybe electric bike owners have their own exclusive forum hang-out by now.

Hey Pedalwench, do you get a chance to ride an electric bike if you're writing a piece?