Remember when we were kids and we rode our bikes everywhere?The sphere of our world was defined by how far we could ride and a new bike was the ultimate badge of honor.If you wanted to go someplace, you got on your bike and went and if you couldn’t reach it by bike, then it probably wasn’t really necessary.Now, try climbing on a bike and see how far you can get today.

As a man born in 1951, my bike was my first, best and only form of transportation until I was a college sophomore.Once I acquired an automobile, the bicycle was soon forgotten.Lately, with the high cost of fuel and maintenance of a car, not to mention stratospheric purchase prices, I have begun to once again look to a bicycle for short -range transportation.

I purchased a ten-speed bike at a garage sale for $35 dollars a thought that I would soon be on my way zooming about the way I remembered.Dream on buddy.At 58, despite having always been physically active and going swimming several times a week. I found that I was just not up to it.Basically, I lacked the stamina, muscle strength, flexibility, and just about everything else needed to ride a bike for transportation.By the time I arrived at my destination I was hot, sweaty, sore and stiff.Perhaps eventually I would be able to get past this point but it was going to be a struggle.

Fortunately, I had a brainstorm and recalled reading about something called electric bicycles.A little googleing and viola!a dozen websites popup containing information about electric bicycles, more than I ever wanted to know.

Apparently the most common type of electric bike uses what is called a "hub motor."This is a motor that is actually part of one of the wheels and uses opposing magnets to cause the wheel to spin.An electric bike consists of what is basically an ordinary bicycle with a hub motor, a battery pack, a controller box and a throttle.These bikes come in a large variety of sizes, styles and prices.There is also a variety of battery options available ranging from ordinary lead acid to high tech lithium.Still another option is to build your own bike from a kit.This is the option I chose.

I purchased a 350 watt 36 volt motor kit from Worldwide Electric Bikes.I chose this company for a number of reasons including price, options, and the all-inclusive nature of their kit.This kit came with a lithium ferric phosphate battery(LiFePO4), special brakes that cutoff the motor while braking and recharge the battery and a three speed internally geared front wheel motor.I chose a front wheel motor for it’s extreme ease of installation.When it arrived, everything was in one box including wire ties, nuts and bolts and a battery rack.The only thing I ended up needing to add was one bolt for the battery rack.

I installed this kit on my $35 garage sale 10-speed bicycle in one afternoon.The most difficult aspect of the installation was making sure everything seated the way I wanted it to.I followed the directions on Worldwide Electric Bikes website and with minor adjustments (which the website indicated would be necessary) everything went together the way it was supposed to.By using a kit I saved several hundred dollars and wound up with a great bike.

I began riding my newly reconstituted vehicle that same afternoon and the difference was extraordinary.I continued to pedal and get my exercise and the motor is almost as quiet as an ordinary bike.However, now I can take hills with ease, travel ten or more miles without breaking a sweat and using the bike for short-range travel is a pleasure not a pain.In fact, I have to fight my wife and daughter over it.The fact that being electric, it gives off no emissions, doesn’t use imported oil, is inexpensive and easy to use is of course a big plus but personally, I just think it’s really, really cool.

These vehicles could go a long way towards relieving traffic congestion and air pollution in our cities and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.Long a transportation staple in Asia and Europe it’s only a matter of time before they become commonplace in the United States.

Author: Steven Bodenstein

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