By Francois Steichen, Greenwich
E-Bike ownership and usage took off during the Covid Pandemic as commuters became concerned about close contact and so stopped using public transportation.
Yet E-bike sales have not stopped since Covid slowed. Ed Mantaring, the long- time Manager of Danny’s Cycles in Noroton Heights, says, “Before Covid, we sold two or three E-bikes per year. Now, we sell 30-40 per year.”
There are many positives to E-bikes, yet one negative threatens to destroy their popularity just as they are gaining traction in the marketplace.
In order to help educate the public about E-bikes, Danny’s Cycles is offering an E-Bike Tech Day this Sunday, September 15, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, at their shop in Noroton Heights. The primary purpose of the event is to educate the public about all the positives, and show them how to avoid some of the negatives.
Owner John Biscogliosi, who owns 5 Danny’s shops in Westchester and Fairfield, will be present, as will Ed Mantaring.
E-bikes offer an alternative for persons with reduced mobility, or those who want to get fit or stay fit, especially as riders go up hills. The bikes also offer a “non-workout” workout to commuters or shoppers who incorporate a bike ride into their daily errands.
Parents rejoice that they no longer have to drive their 15+ year olds (Connecticut Law requires a Driver’s Permit to ride an E-Bike) to soccer practice, school, or other events. They also appreciate that getting an E-bike for their teen is less stress-inducing than handing him or her the keys to a car.
And E-biking teens themselves have stated that they don’t necessarily want the responsibility of driving a car either. (This new generation… crazy, right?)
Perhaps most importantly, e-bikes are climate change-reversing. A study at MIT found that E-bikes are 18x more efficient than an SUV; 13x more efficient than a Sedan; and 6x more efficient than rail transit. Yet e-bikes are only about 12% less efficient than a traditional bicycle.
So what’s not to like?
Well… E-bike batteries, for one thing. Or so the media reports tell us.
There seems to be a story almost every day about an apartment destroyed or lives lost in New York City by catastrophic fires caused by Lithium-Ion battery explosions.
In Fairfield and Westchester, parents and teens who shy away from the $2,000 – 3,000 price tag on an E-bike will sometimes buy a bike under $1,000. Many such e-bikes are equipped with uncertified batteries. These are the batteries that cause the horrific fires in the Deliverista community in New York.
Bicycle shops and Fire Departments in lower Fairfield County and throughout Connecticut are on the front lines of efforts to educate e-bike users in purchasing and using bikes with certified batteries.
More on their efforts next week.
Danny’s Cycles Darien is located at 1950 Boston Post Road in Darien, CT 06820
Screenshot