Eugene weekly., April 21, 2022, Page 8, Image 8

Outdoors
Easy E-Bike Rider
E-BIKES CAN BE FUN AND USEFUL TO RIDE, AND CORVALLIS FOUND
A WAY TO HELP LOW-INCOME PEOPLE BUY THEM By Henry Houston
I
t’s one of those rare sunny spring Oregon days as I’m
cruising downtown Eugene on an e-bike from Electric
Avenue Sports. The sun is shining bright, and there
isn’t a cloud in the sky. I’m weaving through the traf-
fic, moving from bike lane to vehicle lanes. I must have
a huge smile on my face as I’m riding because someone
shouts from a car, “Hey, nice bike.”
Some e-bikes have a motor that kicks in to assist with
pedaling and others have one as an acceleration through
a throttle, similar to a motorcycle. Riding an e-bike with
a throttle, that acceleration comes in handy as I go from
being at a standstill at a red light to accelerating to flow
with car traffic. There isn’t that awkward sense that the
car behind you is mad that you have to start pedaling.
E-bikes are one way to cut down on greenhouse gas
emissions. There is an environmental impact from mining
for the lithium for the batteries, but in an October 2020
article in the peer reviewed journal Transportation
Research Part D: Transport and Environment, the authors
found that carbon emissions could be reduced by 12
percent if just 15 percent of transit miles were traveled
by e-bike instead of car.
As e-bikes increase in popularity, more styles have hit
the market, which Electric Avenue Sports has seen as its
niche: to offer e-bikes that match someone’s personality.
But the price of an e-bike is a barrier for many.
Electric Avenue Sports — and other bike shops — have
credit options, but if you live in Eugene, that can still be
a barrier to getting an e-bike. Lower income residents
of Benton County, who get their energy through Pacific
Power, have an option for financial help: the Corvallis-
Benton County Economic Development Office found a
way to provide $1,200 rebates.
It’s a program that has become super popular with
its residents because it’s made e-bikes more accessible,
says Kathryn Duvall, economic development specialist.
to an e-bike with a sidecar to large bikes with off-road
capabilities that could withstand a Mad Max apocalypse.
“We wanted to have a lifestyle design for our shop,”
Hawk Hekimoglu says. “This is something that you can
see yourself on, and your personality just explodes out
of you.”
Hawk and his brother John Hekimoglu both grew up
in Eugene, so they know about the large number of bike
shops in town, many of which also sell e-bikes. But he
says they opened Electric Avenue in August 2021 to sell
e-bikes that you can’t find in Eugene.
One side of the store, Hawk Hekimoglu says, are the
more motorcycle-oriented e-bikes. “We’re all just indi-
viduals running around like chickens with their heads
cut off, but we just want to show off our individuality,” he
says. “We let your charisma and style flow out.”
The other side of the store has the more practical
e-bikes, he says. When a customer comes in, Hekimoglu
says he and his brother guide the customer to the side of
the store that fits their personality. “Whether you’re 15
years old or 65 years old, you see this stuff and you just
have your own personal feelings to it,” he says.
There is a 20 mph cap for e-bikes in bike lanes and
multi-use pathways. But the store carries the Onyx brand,
which he says, goes up to 60 mph and comes with a certi-
fication of origin to be registered as a moped with the
DMV, and can then be used as a vehicle on public roads.
The number of miles that you can get on a fully charged
e-bike battery vary. The e-bike moped that can go 60
mph has a range of 20 miles without pedaling and takes
about seven to eight hours to charge. A folding e-bike, a
more practical commuter option, can travel 50 miles and
needs around four to six hours to fully charge.
The store has community rides, more so when the
weather is warm, Hekimoglu says. The group ride invites
anyone with a bike — electric motor or not — as well as
e-scooters and one-wheel hoverboards. The rides usually
go along the riverfront pathways or are pub crawls, Heki-
moglu says.
With prices ranging from the low $1,000s to nearly
$5,000, e-bikes are more expensive than most bicycles
because of the additional lithium battery powered motor
and sophistication involved.
Like most bicycle shops, Electric Avenue Sports has
credit options and even lets people come by the shop to
make payments at the store and then ride off with the
e-bike. But Hekimoglu says the cost comes with an invest-
ment that can improve someone’s lifestyle. “When you
invest in something that has a super positive impact, it
affects you in more than one way. It affects you in other
aspects of your life, as well,” he says.
An Electric Option
Buying an e-bike as a transportation option is limiting
for many households, so the Corvallis-Benton Economic
Development Office started its program to make it more
accessible for those who can’t afford the sticker price.
In 2020, the economic development office applied for
a grant from utility company Pacific Power that funded
electric transit options, Duvall says. The development
office pitched an e-bike instant rebate program for low-
income households with the goal of having 40 to 60 new
e-bikes on Corvallis’s streets.
The rebate checked a few boxes, Duvall says. The
office works with the Corvallis Climate Action Advisory
board, so it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions. An
e-bike is an alternative to the high costs of car owner-
Electric Feel
Walking into Electric Avenue Sports, the store’s e-bike
stock doesn’t offer only run-of-the-mill bikes. While it does
have more utilitarian bikes, its inventory ranges from
models with the contours of a classic Indian motorcycle
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Hawk
H e k i m o g lu
Photos by Wesley Lapointe
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M