Electric bikes let cyclists choose their level of exercise

By Dyana Bagby

It had been 18 years since Eric Hunger of Sandy Springs had gotten on a bike. Bad knees from playing tennis kept him from a once-loved form of leisure activity. Then he learned about electric bikes, which use a battery to provide pedal assistance for riders straining up a steep hill or needing an extra push after a long ride. His first ride on an ElectroBike, the brand of one kind of “e-bike,” as electric bikes are known, a couple years ago sold him on the product. “I rode 4.5 miles around town and had a blast,” he said.

Hunger was so sold on e-bikes that this month he opened his own ElectroBike store in Brookhaven’s Brighten Park Shopping Center. ElectroBike is an e-bike brand founded in Mexico City, where there are 28 stores; there are also several stores in California. Hunger is banking on what he believes is an emerging form of transportation in the U.S. by bringing the concept to Georgia and Florida, and then, he hopes, the entire Southeast.

“We have millennials coming in who want to commute to work. We’ve sold to college students who want to get around campus. And we have some people who are 75 to 85 years old and they say they don’t want to give up their quality of life,” Hunger said.

Hunger said his business does attract more leisure riders rather than competitive, hard-core cyclists. The bikes sell for $1,000 or more.

Rebecca Serna, executive director of the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, said she loves her electric bike. She has a toddler who loves to be pulled in a trailer behind her. On the hilly roads of Atlanta, pulling a small child is no easy task, but with pedal assist, uphill climbs are eased. motor turned off, the bike operates as a traditional bicycle. A flip of a switch turns on the bike’s battery to give a boost, or pedal assist, so a rider can easily pedal with the e-bike taking over the hard riding. Many e-bikes also have throttles which allow riders to not pedal as the bike essentially transforms into a scooter.

“We want biking to be an option to as many people as possible,” she said. And electric bikes are an option for people who want to ride a bike but are intimidated by, for example, the Georgia heat or the hills of their neighborhoods. “The e-bikes will fill an important role in this arena,” she said.

“We have had some people come in and say they are ‘cheater bikes,’” Hunger said. “But it’s up to you to decide how much exercise you want.”

Global research firm Navigant Research predicts electric bike sales around the world will jump from $15.7 billion in revenue in 2016 to $24.4 billion by 2025. More than 35 million bikes are expected to be sold globally this year, according to the firm.

Electric bikes are powered by lithium batteries and allow the rider determine how much help is needed during a ride. With the

E-bike batteries can be charged in conventional electric outlets. In Georgia they are also are allowed on designated bike paths, according to state law. Hunger said his decision to locate in Brookhaven was sealed as he learned more about the Peachtree Creek Greenway project, a 12-mile multi-use path and linear park that is designed to connect the cities of Brookhaven, Chamblee and Doraville and, in the long term, to the Atlanta BeltLine. In the Perimeter Center, there is also an ongoing push to ease car congestion by encouraging bicycle use with bike paths being built and striped in Dunwoody, Sandy Springs and Brookhaven.