It’s hard to read the news without seeing some mention of electric cars and how they’re slowly becoming the new standard on the road in America. But quietly, almost without any fanfare, electric bicycles (“e-bikes”) have moved into the mainstream of the biking world.
Annual sales of e-bikes in the U.S. is now passing a million units with growth in their sales far outpacing traditional bicycles and even electric cars and trucks. Once thought of as “cheating” in terms of exercise, e-bikes have been winning over skeptics as a crucial part of any household’s transportation mix. And we’ve found them to be the perfect fit for our retirement lifestyle.
1. E-Bikes Fit Into Our Retirement Budget
We started shopping for e-bikes nearly a year before our retirement. Like many first entering the e-bike market, the sticker shock is real. If your last bike purchase was that Huffy you bought from Walmart for $75 a dozen years ago, get ready to educate yourself on the e-bike market. Top-of-the-line models can go for $5,000 or more. But doing some research will show you there are top-quality e-bike brands for less than $1,000 that will deliver all the benefits you want.
My wife and I settled on the Aventon brand, buying a pair of matching Pace 350 e-bikes, paying about $1,200 each. Now with nearly 2 years of use and hundreds of miles on their odometers, we’ve been very pleased with their performance, durability, and reliability. For instance, maintenance has been very cheap for the bikes, with an annual visit to a local dealer that services Aventon e-bikes costing us around $50.
2. E-Bikes Added A Daily Fitness Routine To Our Lives
Once we hit retirement and moved to the Palm Springs area in California, we could really see how the e-bikes were going to make a difference in our fitness routine. With the open schedule retirees enjoy, we have been able to build in daily rides that make the most of the dry, sunny climate where we live. In the winter with temperatures usually in the 60s during the day, we pull on a windbreaker and can hit the road any time we want.
In the summer, when our daytime temperatures can easily reach 120 degrees, we plan for early morning rides to beat the dangerous heat. The beauty of e-bikes is that they allow us to exercise as much or as little as we like. We can turn off the electric assist and pedal it like a regular bicycle (albeit a fairly heavy one) and work up a sweat on every hill and mile.
Or we can use the electric throttle to fly up and down hills and along any road without even turning the pedals once. Typically, we like to use just a bit of an electric assist to level out the hills and give us some extra boosts of speed, all while we still get in a decent workout.
3. E-Bikes Replaced Our Car For Some Local Errands
Other than exercise, our e-bikes are a great alternative for a quick trip to the store or to attend a nearby event. Because the electric motor can do most of the work, there’s no fear we’ll be worn out from a shopping trip or too sweaty to meet up with friends at a nearby concert.
Just recently, we rode the bikes the 3 miles from our house to the site of an international tennis tournament. Foregoing our car for the bikes meant we dodged an expensive parking fee and a long line of cars waiting to get in and out of the event’s parking lots. We were able to ride to the front gate, lock the bikes to a rack and stroll right into the event — probably in less time than driving and parking the car would have taken.
We’ve invested in a pannier for each bike, a saddle bag of sorts that attaches to the back rack and hangs next to the rear wheel. The pannier gives us each the chance to carry home groceries and other items.
4. E-Bikes Showed Us A New Side Of Our Retirement Locale
Riding a bicycle through the neighborhoods around your home is far different than driving your car through the same streets. You literally see, hear, and smell things on the bike that you won’t in your car. There’s an easy ride for us that is about 10 miles roundtrip that takes us to the top of the area in La Quinta known as the “Cove.”
Covering every inch of that distance on our e-bikes means we appreciate the rugged mountain scenery and the local streets getting us there. It’s also more likely we’ll stop and get off the bikes to explore in a way we never would in our car. The e-bikes act as an appetizer to adventure, whetting our appetites for what is to come around each corner and sharpening our senses to keep a lookout for something new and exciting just ahead.
5. E-Bikes Opened New Places For Us To Explore — With Some Caveats
Our e-bike trips aren’t limited to just our neighborhood in La Quinta. We bought a two-bike rack for our car and had a trailer hitch attached to carry our bikes with us on the road. That makes it possible for us to take our e-bike adventures to other parts of the state and beyond. There are books and websites that suggest great bike rides around the country. Nearly all bike paths are open to e-bikes, though the rules can vary by state.
In California, for instance, e-bikes are allowed in state parks as long as they use designated roads and paths as noted on this website. E-bikes count as motorized vehicles in many states, so when planning a trip with your bikes, be sure to check in advance that you can take them along all the paths you plan to visit.
6. E-Bikes Gave Us A Way To Take Our Pet Along
Our e-bike adventures have grown by one passenger since the addition of a dog to our family and a special bike basket to hold her. Mounted on the handlebars, the padded and lined basket holds dogs up to 20 pounds to get a front seat view on any ride. It takes a little getting used to the extra weight up front on the handlebars, but once you get the hang of it, you can include the family pet on any e-bike adventure knowing the electric motor means you won’t have to pedal any harder to deal with the extra weight. For larger pets, pull-behind trailers offer a way to take them along on your e-bike ride.
As you move from a traditional bike to an e-bike, be sure to do your research before you make that investment. Among the important things we found out to remember is that your e-bike is likely to be a lot more valuable than your old bike so be sure you get the best bike locks you can find. We went to a local bike shop and asked what the experts there recommended. The locks we chose were costly — about $50 each — but they seemed to be a good investment to protect our $1,200 bikes. It’s also worth checking your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy to see if it will cover the bike in case of theft and how large the deductible is for that sort of loss.
Another upgrade you may need to make is to your car’s bike rack. E-bikes tend to be quite a bit heavier than their standard counterparts. Our Aventon bikes weigh in at about 50 pounds each, meaning the rack we put on our car has to hold at least 100 pounds. Many strap-on racks won’t hold that much weight, meaning it is probably better to go with a trailer hitch-mounted rack like we bought. Also remember that if you are used to a rooftop bike rack, you’ll have to be able to lift a 50-pound bike over your head to mount it there.
Finally, wherever you store your new e-bike, you’ll need to have a place to charge it. Be sure you have an outlet nearby into which to plug the charger. And most e-bike manufacturers suggest not letting the batteries — which can cost $500 or more to replace — get too hot or too cold, meaning you’ll need to bring them out of the garage in very hot or cold weather.
Rapidly becoming a popular form of transportation for young trendsetters, retirees have a chance to tap into the explosive growth of e-bikes and make them part of their outdoor routines. Dropping prices, ease of use and rider-friendly features make e-bikes a great choice to add to your retirement lifestyle, promising an active ride with no fear of running out of steam in the stretch.
