I love bikes. Many of you have met me so this doesn't come as a surprise. Whether it riding them, building them or just looking at cool stuff I have a love affair with the bicycle. My wife jokes that my bike is my mistress. She's says if I would just clean the bathroom as often as I clean my chain we wouldn't have the little fights about housework.
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This love of bikes is what motivates me. Anyone who finds something they are obsessed with want to share it with others. You want to convert as many people to your way of thinking as possible. I run the shop the way I do because I want to help as many people enjoy cycling as much as I do. It's about being a bike evangelist. Share the love and passion and it grows your love of the bike in return.
The bike is the greatest invention. You can get around. You can have fun. You can get in shape. All at the same time.The bike makes the world a better place and it makes people who ride better people. Today I went on a mountain bike ride. It was cold and cloudy and I didn't care. Dress right and head out to the trails. I live 10 minutes from some sweet local singletrack. I put on my iPod and got lost in the woods. Fallen leaves, steep climbs with snaky single track through the trees. Two hours of hard riding left me tired but content. This is what I love about riding. Each ride is something new.
Some rides are a zen experience that leave you at peace with the world. If you're stressed out, go on a ride. I challenge you to finish the ride in a bad mood. It just won't happen. Lots of happy chemicals put out by the brain make you feel better after a ride.
Other rides are tests that push you further than you thought you could go. Go on a fast group ride with a riders faster than you. You will have to kill yourself just to keep in contact but you'll find you can ride a lot faster than you ever thought possible. Enter solo enduro races. Something 6-8 hours long. After a certain point it stops being about fitness and becomes a test of toughness. As long as you eat properly you can keep going if you can keep from quitting.
It's the feeling I get from riding that make me want to spread the word. The thing that give me the most job satisfaction is when someone comes in after getting a bike and raves about how much fun they're having. That's what gets me up in the morning. In teaching, talking or writing articles, I want people to get interested, motivated or just curious about getting out on a bike more.
Become a bike evangelist yourself. If you love riding think about showing a new rider how much fun it is. Give them a taste of local trails or that cool road loop that you found. Get a trailer bike or tandem so you can go riding with family members without the problems of different paces. Arrange a weekly ride with people from work. Start commuting to work. This is good for you and will get people asking about why you ride. Anything that gets people thinking about riding will get some of them to take the step to actually start riding.
Share the love of riding and the love will come back many fold.
Though it's been a very huge problem, cars are still one of the most important necessity to be able to live in this fast-pace world. Not even the high prices of gasoline and other petroleum products, air pollution and its effects on everyone's health and accidents that killed almost millions everyday will make people stay away from their gas-guzzling, death machines that are their cars. Transportation is just a very important need that should be fulfilled and cars makes it easier for everyone.
But is it really that easy to own a car right now? After stating all the obvious downside of owning a car, there is still a long list of cons that is added to having to drive a car everyday. But obviously, we just can't stop driving cars and stay at home because that will just put lives to a screeching halt. But what if I tell you there are other ways to go about with your daily life, moving from one place to another, without having to turn that car key of yours? Well, there are. And one of them is using a electric bike.
The electric bike which uses lithium batteries can go at about twenty miles one hour in just one charge, depending on the load and riding habits. This type of two-wheel transportation are also almost completely silent, give off no emissions, do not use expensive oil, do not require to much room to operate or park, never need a tune up and provide exercise. So basically, it takes away almost all the drawbacks of using expensive transportation mode like cars at the same time giving more to oneself and the environment. Aside from those, using electric bikes is also efficient because people can weave traffic easily unlike their usual bulky cars.
Electric bicycles on the market today are a bit pricey. However, there is a way where anyone can own one without having to spend a fortune. They are called electric bicycle motor kits. These are kits that can turn your ordinary bike to a charged up electric version that has more kick than the usual pedal-power. Any bike with stable frame will do and can be converted into a futuristic transport mode.
Of course, the most important part of the electric bicycle motor kit is the motor, which is usually a hub motor. This type of motor is an electric one built directly into the hub of the front or rear wheel. An advantage to this design is that no additional transmission system is needed, thereby increasing the efficiency of the drive system. This design also does not require chains, belts or gears. Essentially the motor is the hub of the wheel and contains two concentric rings of opposing electromagnets. When power from the battery is applied to the motor the opposing magnetic force causes the wheel to spin. This type of motor is almost completely silent and requires no maintenance. The higher the wattage of the motor, the more power it provides.
However because electric motors are most efficient at high rates of revolution, this type of motor tends to be inefficient. Integrated planetary gear drive trains are sometimes included, but reintroduce transmission losses. Also, there are no standards for measuring wattage. Most hub motor marketers use peak output numbers as opposed to the operating output numbers, which means for example a motor rated at 1000 watts peak may be a 500-watt motor in its standard operating output. That is why purchasing hub motors can be a bit tricky at times.
An advice for people who wants to own an electric bike, e-Bikes that are built from electric bicycle motor kits are usually your best bet when it comes to performance, quality and savings. Building your own will actually give you an option to choose a more powerful motor, better battery, and many other features. Also, you get to choose which bike you can use as your foundation, be it your old bicycle that you've grown into or a much better bike than those factory-built e-Bikes in terms of weight and comfortability. A good electric bike motor kit should have the motor pre-built into a wheel, dual brake motor cutoff, a twist or thumb throttle, a motor controller, wiring harness and a battery mounting rack with a lock mechanism. One more tip is to buy a front wheel kit which is easier to install. A really good kit also includes wiring diagrams, mounting hardware, wire ties and complete step-by-step instructions for the installation. Lastly, spinning bike manufacturer purchase your electric bicycle motor kit from a company with good customer support because you would want to be able to call them if ever you have trouble putting up your electric bike. Anyone that can ride a bicycle can ride an electric bike and anyone with basic tool skills can install an electric bike conversion kit.
Electric bicycle is definitely the green transportation that everyone have been looking for. It can provide a very efficient alternative to the cars and trucks we have today. And at the same time, it also helps lessen air pollution and our dependence on fossil fuels. Also, using electric bicycles also give you a little exercise while going about your daily life. Many pros to this very simple solution. True, it won't solve all of our problems in just a day, but it's a good start.