May 2016
Maybe you’ve noticed those people riding bikes around town who seem to take our steep Ashland hills in stride. Their secret might well be an electric bike.
This cool, environmentally conscious hybrid allows you the choice of pedaling as much or as little as you like on your own power, then switching to an electric “boost” when you reach those difficult climbs. Some models even provide continuous power without pedaling.
Jerry Solomon, owner of Ashland Electric Bikes in the Ashland Shopping Center, is an avid proponent of this remarkable new technology. He has long been an avid cyclist but adopted the e-bike concept early on.
“Converting my own bike to electric nine years ago was an epiphany of sorts,” he said. “I instantly knew that Ashland needed to be made aware of the electric bike phenomenon, which I thought at the time was about to explode onto the scene.”
Although e-bikes didn’t exactly “explode,” Jerry says, the idea has finally caught on in Ashland, as well as across the country.
The electric bike has a small rechargeable battery that gives riders a boost or, on some models, allows them to ride without pedaling at all. It is environmentally-friendly and especially useful in a place where the terrain varies as much as Ashland’s.
E-bikes are great for everyone, whether you want to use your bike for long rides through the countryside or to run daily errands. And for purists who think adding the electric “boost” is cheating, a growing number of studies show e-bikes offer as good a workout as traditional bikes. Jerry offers a link on his website to one such study.
Because of the explosion in numbers and types of e-bikes, Jerry and his team love to help customers navigate the options.
“We offer a selection of the most successful e-bike brands available,” he says. “Our job is to vet the best equipment from the most solid companies.”
Ashland Electric Bikes offers expert service for e-bikes and traditional bikes. The lead mechanic, Nikolas Lidtke is a graduate of Ashland’s United Bicycle Institute.
An avid cyclist since high school, Jerry is proud of the business and the reputation he has built since he moved to Ashland from Colorado ten years ago and began building bikes in his living room.
“We are known nationally as one of the early pioneers in the electric bike industry,” he says. “We’ve succeeded by offering quality products, listening to our customers’ needs, and providing exemplary service long after the initial sale is complete.”
For more info, call 541-951-3034 or go to ashlandelectricbikes.com. You can also like them on Facebook.
