Every once in a while we at VBike notice an interesting bicycle that meets some of the particular needs of who we are as Vermonters and our terrain. That's part of VBike's never ending journey to boldly go where no bike has gone before. OK, maybe that sounds too "Treky", but truly, our work is all about how to move us, our bodies, senses and emotional connectivity back towards a healthy relationship to this amazing land we live in. Well, our most recent addition to the VBike fleet is one of those game changers that can get some of us back out into the real world. Let’s find out more…

For the past year or so we have noticed a bike called the RadMini from Rad Power Bikes. The RadMini is a fat, folding, utility electric bike – that’s a mouthful. The first thing that people usually notice about the bike are the huge, fat, squat tires.  At 4 inches wide they’re half the width of the average car tire!  The initial impression is that this thing is either some kind of two-wheeled monster (never mind it weighs less than 2 percent of the average car) or a total impractical joke. Thankfully, both are totally wrong. This bike is easy to mount thanks to the 20 inch wheels and nice design and it rides surprisingly efficiently even without the e-assist engaged, almost in defiance of its fatness. Lesson – keep those first impressions at bay. (Later on in this blog are more thoughts about issues regarding the perception of e-bikes. Check it out.)

Some Additional Thoughts About Bikes Like the RadMini

Unfortunately, many of us have fallen into the trap of thinking of the automobile as the one size fits all solution. But one thing we have learned at VBike is that having single solutions creates a lack of diversity and that is great for things like the climate change, shopping malls, highways, sprawl, and compromised soundscapes, but not for us and our communities. The automobile has historically been pushed on us by car companies, the oil elite, advertising agencies, the AAA, asphalt manufacturers and host of others that have hacked into our bodies, minds and senses to shape the way we live and plan our lives to the massive detriment of our children and our world. Enough said.

And here’s a final note - lots of bike enthusiasts will look at the RadMini and not comprehend why this is so important. Many have taken wholesale the longtime stance of the US bike industry that bikes are fitness/adventure equipment, recreational, or toys for kids. That’s all changing  and the bike is now being unburdened from its confinement as a plaything and becoming a real vehicle for real people in a real world looking for real solutions. Still, there are many that will scoff at this because they are still stuck in the old paradigm and therefore implicitly supporting families, households and individual be stuck in a 1950’s car cult. Let’s move on…
​
Let’s move on to a brighter future that takes into account our need to connect with the world and keep our bodies engaged, as well as bringing to our communities exciting  innovations to get as many of us out from under the dome of the car. VBike’s acquisition of the RadMini and many, many other vehicles to come will be the harbingers of this great movement of how we and our children can show up in the world at a time when we absolutely need to!!

This information is real important for us to grasp just how the e-bike revolution is taking hold in Vermont. Folks are doing more with these bikes - commuting, going further, carrying their children, and running errands. It's also challenging the unquestioned automobile culture for our local transportation.

​So, we need your information if you have an electric bike. And let us know what you think about the survey by emailing us at info@vbikesolutions.org. Just the fact that this statewide survey is being conducted is a testament to what is happening!

Thanks for your support.

Here's more bikes in the VBIke fleet!

This past weekend VBike held its 1st Brattleboro Bike Rollcall to showcase the e-cargo bike and e-bike riders in Brattleboro. This event brought together a fine sampling of some of the inspired "first wave" of adopters - families, households, seniors and others – that are bringing an amazing level of recognition to Brattleboro (and to its bike shops) as an exciting leader in innovative bike transportation solutions.

Best of all we're leaving behind a 1950's model of car-centric lifestyles and moving forward with a way to get around that actually nourishes our relationships to  our bodies, improves our communities, keeps us local, provides us with an appropriate response to the realities of the 21st century, and is just a thrill that keeps our senses in the world rather than confined to the interior of an automobile.

​People of every shape and size gathered around the VBike fleet asking questions.  A steady stream came directly from Montpelier’s famous Farmers’ Market, freshly inspired by the natural community that comes from walking through an open air market, browsing produce and seeing friends and neighbors.
 
What followed was four hours of what we have come to call the “E-lation” smile.  Our bicycles are magnets for the curious, who need to know more about these sleek creatures.  One can see  from first glance that electric assist bicycles have so much to offer.  They are familiar, yet….
 
Often it is after a child has made it clear they want a ride on the padded seat of the Yuba Spicy Curry or Boda Boda, that the shy  parent is walked through the simple steps of 1-2-3-4 assist options, watch the turns, and get ready to be lifted off.
 
And then we wait.
 
For the smile.
 
Every single rider who got on a bike—cargo or our modified Trek, didn’t matter—returned with that grin, un mistakable, of a convert.   The possibilities.  The freedom.  E-lation. 

​As you may know, the flagship vehicles for this bike mobility revolution are the cargo bikes that many of you might be noticing around town moving kids, groceries and all sorts of stuff.  Burrow’s has been carrying cargo bikes for the past 3 years while Brattleboro Bikes has just recently joined in. But what is totally cool is that Burrow’s has completely sold out of the awesome line of Yuba cargobikes and now have more on the way to meet the growing demand! And Brattleboro Bikes just received the ODK U500 utility bicycles from Juiced Bikes, featuring a step-thru frame (anyone can get on this bike), a 48 volt e-assist system, and a great platform for all sorts of cargo and passenger add-ons. Start seeing electric cargo bikes because they are here and folks are buying them, kids are smiling, and parents are having a ball.

On the e-bike front, Brattleboro Bikes just received the new CrossCurrent hybrid e-bikes from Juiced Bikes and they are also a dealer of Prodeco e-bikes (they sold out and more expected in the shop soon) and the e-bike line from Dillenger Electric Bikes.  Meanwhile, Burrow’s has had success with Raleigh e-bikes.

However, one of the big parts of this story has been the e-assist conversion kits.  A conversion kit allows you to transform your favorite bike, or practically any bike, into an e-bike. Both shops are now signed up with Dillenger Electric Bikes to sell and install their extensive line of add-on kits. This includes the amazing Bafang mid-drive kits that go perfectly with most types of bikes and especially the cargo bikes. These e-assist systems are very powerful, customizable, and easy to use. Both shops have also installed other Dillenger front and rear hub assist kits.  In addition to this, Burrow’s has sold and mounted Hilltopper conversion kits for many local folks. The Hilltopper is decent entry level front hub motor kit.

​All this is part of the silent revolution going on in Brattleboro - the conversion kits can be pretty stealthy and many folks might not even be aware of what they are seeing. These add-on systems are one of the reasons why we have more and more cyclists riding in Brattleboro.

VBike is rolling out to a totally exciting spring and we’re planning a whole bunch of activity for the spring and into the summer. There’s new additions to the fleet, funding that has come through (but not enough), and we’re getting recognized for the work that we have been doing to bring a vision to bike transportation in Vermont – transforming bike transportation into something exciting, doable, fun, relevant,  practical and best of all, wildly contagious.

But before we go into any of that, we need to reiterate why VBike is doing what it doing.  Some folks think that we’re trying to “save the planet”, be “politically correct” or “sustainable”, or do the “green” thing? Really the most important thing about VBike is to get us to show up in the world in a fundamental way that just doesn’t happen when we’re in an automobile regardless of the fuel source. And perhaps we’ve beaten this thing around a lot, but it’s always important to point out that we are excited to witness what happens when more of us show up in the world and pay attention to what we are doing and are more connected to our community, human and non-human. As we have mentioned many times, the word automobile clearly implies automatic mobility that mostly disengages our bodies from the act of transportation while largely overriding our sensory experience and emotional connection to the wondrous world.  VBike is not anti-car, but we are for showing up, being present, bearing witness and dropping “into” the world in a way that is enlivening and transformative to ourselves our bodies, our children, and our communities.

So, with all that said (and there will be more of that to come at a later date), we want to tell you more about our awesome start to the spring of 2016. We took four bikes up to the Vermont Walk/Bike Summit held in Rutland on April 1 - 2. The Summit was organized in a partnership between VTrans, the Rutland Regional Planning Commission, the Rutland Area Physical Activity Coalition and a number of other sponsor organizations. This was VBike’s first real group road trip and our bikes were a hit. The Summit drew public officials, legislators, planners, advocates and others from all over Vermont and featured some great speakers, engaging workshops, a bit of deep strategizing, and fun bike rides.

Furthermore, the great news is that VBike is now an award winning organization. VBiker, Amy Enoch, pointed that out when we received our Notable Project of the Year award at the Summit and all of us smiled. Now that we are all past the award going to our heads, we’ve got lots of work to do and a fair bit of blogging and updates we will be sending out real soon.

And a huge thanks goes out to the VESCU and Go Vermont for generously sponsoring our trip to the Summit. Their support allowed us to bring our team and our bikes to clearly deliver the VBike message at the Summit.  If you don’t know about the VSECU low-interest loans to get you on the transportation bike of your dreams drop in to our site to take a look!

Also, we have to thank our industry sponsors like Yuba Bikes, Dillenger Electric Bikes, Bar Mitts, and others for their great support. Additionally, we want to thank the Bellows Falls Community Bike Project for donating a bike for our electric-assist commuter bike collection. We’ll be sharing the bike with them from time to time.