New ebike store in Austin, Tx

[jkbrigman]

http://austin.culturemap.com/newsdetail ... or-assist/

They got good press in evworld.com newsletter....

JKB

[Jason27]

Thats pretty cool. Once gas prices spike again they will do quite well. Best of luck.

[MadRhino]

...Once gas prices spike again they will do quite well...

The price of gas in Montreal this morning was 1.37 per Litre, that makes 5.18 $ a US gallon, yet everyone keep burning gas as usual
Price of gas won't change the habits, unless it goes really high. It is the environmental consciousness that need to change, fashion, or very determined politics.

[dogman]

Hope they do well, brick and mortar stores that sell decent product and can fix anything deserve to succeed.

If you've been paying attention, the annual spring jacking up of the price of oil has already begun. Iran's turn this time. It's pure coincidence that the day the tree is taken down you start hearing f---heads on TV saying the price will go up this spring.

Wish those talking heads on tv would take thier spin and shove it. Oil producers must get a real laugh every year. OMG they fell for it again and bid up the price.

[jkbrigman]

Hope they do well, brick and mortar stores that sell decent product and can fix anything deserve to succeed.

If you've been paying attention, the annual spring jacking up of the price of oil has already begun. Iran's turn this time. It's pure coincidence that the day the tree is taken down you start hearing f---heads on TV saying the price will go up this spring.

Wish those talking heads on tv would take thier spin and shove it. Oil producers must get a real laugh every year. OMG they fell for it again and bid up the price.

Werd, bro. Werd. I've had enough, so I'm joining the revolution. It's no coincidence that the mission for my build is to commute to work and back.

I've been dreading the exact phenomenon dogman mentions: the annual "hiking of the gas". Usually there's a slight drop after the Christmas Drive Gouging, but this year here in North Carolina, the vendors took advantage of a new 10 cent tax to raise the price 20 cents/gallon the week before the tax took effect. No "slight drop" this year - we'll be back up to last summer's peak price well before summer this year.

[dogman]

Yep, the retail gas price shenanigans are bad enough. You know, maintenancing all the refinerys the same month in spring, etc.

But all that crap is nothing compared to the crude oil producers getting together every spring, and going " time to give those balls a squeeze" Then a bunch of sharks jump on the little bubble in price and amplify it, to benefit the 1%. Thanks for extending the recession another year guys.

Hopefully, people in Austin fight back, by getting an Ebike. Then they can flip a finger at the pumps when they go by every day.

[jkbrigman]

Not to be giving a "weekly gas update", but just a comment:

After the recent price uptick (we got as high as $3.55 for regular unleaded right around New Year's) we seem to have settled down to around $3.35/gallon here.

That means, for me, current payback using an ebike to get to work would run about $7/day, or $21/week. Not too shabby, that's a bare minimum number, and only if you have a paid-for car "fully amortized" and very, very cheap insurance. If you include the capital cost of a car, insurance and maintenance, that bumps the number up to over $20/day, or $100/week.

That means I'll pay back the capital cost of my 9C kit from methods in about 23 commute days. Pay for the entire bike and electric drive system in 60-70 commute days.

[Lock]

And Rocket Electrics gets another nice plug:
http://www.readthehorn.com/lifestyle/austin_lifestyle/56530/a_new_way_of_biking_rocket_electrics

Congrats Rocket Man! Of course, gas prices in Austin climbed from $3.10 to $3.79 since that December article...


Lock

[veloman]

Rocket Man sent me that article today, they are proud. He and the owner are indeed very nice people and I refer to them those who are interested in ready-to-go ebikes.

I'm surprised I missed this thread earlier...

The article at readthehorn is good, sort of defends ebikes as you know many people will try to put them down. Austin is big on fitness cycling and normal bike commuting (relative to the average American city, but still miniscule compared to how many use a car).

[veloman]

Not to be giving a "weekly gas update", but just a comment:

After the recent price uptick (we got as high as $3.55 for regular unleaded right around New Year's) we seem to have settled down to around $3.35/gallon here.

That means, for me, current payback using an ebike to get to work would run about $7/day, or $21/week. Not too shabby, that's a bare minimum number, and only if you have a paid-for car "fully amortized" and very, very cheap insurance. If you include the capital cost of a car, insurance and maintenance, that bumps the number up to over $20/day, or $100/week.

That means I'll pay back the capital cost of my 9C kit from methods in about 23 commute days. Pay for the entire bike and electric drive system in 60-70 commute days.

Funny, I just ordered another project, a 9c wheel from Methods....

I've now paid off the batteries I've been using since last August, a 36v 11ah lifepo4 and 3s 10ah lipo, and chargers. I still seem to get full capacity, they've been flawless for pushing 1200watts under me. And my car is a civic, and I do nearly all city riding, so not that many big miles. If i lived in the suburbs, and didn't work from home, I'd prob have 3-4x times as many miles on my ebike, and be truly saving money. Of course, the value of the fun aspect and benefit to the community (less pollution, less car danger, etc) is something you can't quantify. I would never drive to many of the places I ebike to, just because it would be too much of a hassle.

I really sometimes wish I had a 20 mile commute to work each way... just to use the ebike more.

[jkbrigman]

Not to be giving a "weekly gas update", but just a comment:

After the recent price uptick (we got as high as $3.55 for regular unleaded right around New Year's) we seem to have settled down to around $3.35/gallon here.

That means, for me, current payback using an ebike to get to work would run about $7/day, or $21/week. Not too shabby, that's a bare minimum number, and only if you have a paid-for car "fully amortized" and very, very cheap insurance. If you include the capital cost of a car, insurance and maintenance, that bumps the number up to over $20/day, or $100/week.

That means I'll pay back the capital cost of my 9C kit from methods in about 23 commute days. Pay for the entire bike and electric drive system in 60-70 commute days.

Funny, I just ordered another project, a 9c wheel from Methods....

I've now paid off the batteries I've been using since last August, a 36v 11ah lifepo4 and 3s 10ah lipo, and chargers. I still seem to get full capacity, they've been flawless for pushing 1200watts under me. And my car is a civic, and I do nearly all city riding, so not that many big miles. If i lived in the suburbs, and didn't work from home, I'd prob have 3-4x times as many miles on my ebike, and be truly saving money. Of course, the value of the fun aspect and benefit to the community (less pollution, less car danger, etc) is something you can't quantify. I would never drive to many of the places I ebike to, just because it would be too much of a hassle.

I really sometimes wish I had a 20 mile commute to work each way... just to use the ebike more.

velo, thanks for the mention of the new ebike store in Austin, much appreciated. That's the kind of thing I love with threads - something new happens later, people update the thread with the fresh information. (and lord help me I do so love Austin Tx.)

I read your post with bittersweet nostalgic amusement. We've hit $3.97 here (I have a pic in my recumbent build thread), almost 50 cents/gallon increase in the three months Jan/Feb/March. Price of gas has wobbled downward a few cents - I bought $3.87 last night and was glad to get it. Amazing how your perspective changes when gas drops a few pennies, no matter how high it goes. I'm guessing the petrol companies know this.

veloman, what motor did you get from methods, and what battery are you going to supply it with?

[ecowheelz]

Not sure if it's the high gas prices... or the unusually warm weather... but we've been having a great 2012 here in MI! We've been at it since 2008 and we're definitely seeing a BIG UPTICK over previous years. I think people are feeling much more hopeful about the economy now (especially here in Detroit), so I think that's helping e-bike sales too. Hopefully the trend continues... good luck to Rocket Electrics in Austin!

[jkbrigman]

Not sure if it's the high gas prices... or the unusually warm weather... but we've been having a great 2012 here in MI! We've been at it since 2008 and we're definitely seeing a BIG UPTICK over previous years. I think people are feeling much more hopeful about the economy now (especially here in Detroit), so I think that's helping e-bike sales too. Hopefully the trend continues... good luck to Rocket Electrics in Austin!

I think you guys are only going to do better and better as gas prices rise. Two reasons:

The market is ripe: I believe lots of people are going to take the view I do - if you can replace the car 1 or 2 days a week with an ebike, you can cut your fuel costs signficantly. If you can go more than that via ebike, or maybe every day (at least until it rains), all the better!

Complexity: Building an electric bike involves consideration of many subtle factors. If you guys can concentrate that expertise and put it to work for the customer, generating great product in a very short timeframe (day or days), then you'll also do well. That expertise is complex enough to certainly bring value to the customer!

JKB

[jkbrigman]

EVworld picked up the Austin story, citing the same source we did:

http://evworld.com/news.cfm?newsid=27758

Nice....

[Lock]

Rocket PR is one well-oiled MACHINE!
http://www.statesman.com/business/rocket-electrics-looks-to-bring-electric-bikes-into-2329355.html
http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/2012/04/27/bike-to-the-future-electric-bicycles-hit-the-road-in-austin/

[veloman]

I am with my mom on ebikes from Rocket Electrics, she really enjoys it, we are riding around town lake. To my surprise, she is using the motor less than me and getting a little workout (good for her). Without the electric we wouldn't be going nearly as far since she has a bad knee.

She says the bike is very comfortable.

[Lock]

Rocket PR is one well-oiled MACHINE!

Repeating myself, I know, but... New York Times!
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/business/energy-environment/batteries-add-power-and-market-appeal-to-bicycles.html

[veloman]

I just saw this earlier tonight. Decent article with a few exceptions of mis-information about ebikes.