Viola Luba, 50, of St. Charles, admits she has found herself in need of a little help when it comes to bicycling.
It’s no exaggeration to say that when she tried riding an e-bike, it was love at first sight.
“I started with a lung problem two years ago and I get winded a lot easier,” Luba said while visiting The Bike Rack in St. Charles recently. “I tried (an e-bike) yesterday for, like 30 seconds, and I already knew – that’s mine. It was an easy sell.”
With spring weather on the horizon, cyclists are getting ready for another riding season, with e-bikes arguably the hottest product on the market these days.
Consumer Reports noted that “E-bike sales in the U.S. are projected to grow from 1 million in 2023 to 2.64 million by 2029, with the market continuing to gain significant market share.”
Marlene Rennwanz of Cary and her husband George were shopping for e-bikes recently at Mill Race Cyclery in Geneva.
“I love bike riding, and getting older, I have problems with my knees and some of the bike trails, you hit the hills and whatever and I’m getting off of my bike and walking it,” Marlene Rennwanz said. “You can’t go as far and now, with something like this, you can go farther on the bike trail. I’ve tried these and they’re great.”
Bruce Heidlauf, who owns Mill Race Cyclery, reports that 65% of his sales are e-bikes, compared to 50% just three years ago.
Marlene Rennwanz of Cary and her husband George check out e-bikes recently at Mill Race Cyclery in Geneva. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
“The uptick in sales, I think, is because of increased awareness of people, how cool e-bikes are … people have become a lot more accepting,” he said. “The other thing is that e-bikes just keep getting better. Every year, the companies come out with a better version, and a lot of it is software upgrades.”
Heidlauf cited changes including keyless battery removal on some models, a “find my bicycle” feature and turn-by-turn directions.
“There’s so many things that the software is doing including anti-theft when you leave – a lot of upgrades to the bikes,” he said. “They’re better, quieter, more powerful. You have to spend about $1,800 to $2,000 to get those features.”
Michael Brackett, owner of Pedal and Spoke in North Aurora, said e-bike sales are about 20% of his business, a number that has doubled since a few years ago.
Viola Luba of St. Charles stands by the e-bike she bought recently at The Bike Rack in St. Charles. (David Sharos/For The Beacon-News)
He said that when it comes to technology, middle- and higher-end bikes “have a lot of diagnostic tools now.”
“There are bike manufacturers like Specialized that monitor their bikes as well. If the bike throws off an error code they can find it in their system and we can go online and see there’s an issue,” Brackett said. “We can track warranties and service and keep people with product that works properly.”
Mike Farrell of Batavia, owner of Prairie Path Cycles, said his e-bike sales have grown to 50% of his business thanks to “the older crowd realizing e-bikes might be an option for them.”
“These people have more money for a better bike and, just as important, time. A lot of these folks are retired,” he said.
Farrell said improvements to e-bikes include “longer-lasting batteries that are easier to get in and out” as well as “some bikes that are actually lighter in weight.”
In St. Charles, Hal Honeyman, the owner of The Bike Rack, is also currently selling nearly 50% e-bikes, which he credits to their “being fun to ride and people being able to go longer and further than they did before.”
“A lot of people aren’t in the best of shape or are a little older and now aren’t worried about being stuck somewhere on the trail,” he said.
While e-bike sales have increased, so has the number of communities passing new regulations on the use of them.
Heidlauf said, in his view, “it is getting more confusing.”
“Part of the problem is that some of the individual towns are coming up with their own rules. The state of Illinois is the one that’s coming up with the overall rules, so it gets a little bit confusing and people don’t understand it,” he said.
Farrell said he regularly counsels customers at his shop in Batavia regarding safe and legal usage of e-bikes, adding “if they’re real unlucky, they get an extended lecture from me.”
“We talk to customers with every bike we sell,” he said. “Absolutely, it’s a real concern. I tell people to ride up and down their street and educate themselves to how the throttle and the bike works and then, the safety rules in terms of what you need to look for.”
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
