The 4th Annual Optibike Winter Sale – Our Biggest Sale of the Year

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The 4th Annual Optibike Winter Sale
Our Biggest Sale of the Year
8 New Optibikes
Discounted up to 35%
1 day only
Wednesday, February 20, 2013

It has been a fast start in 2013 for Optibike and we are anxiously awaiting Summer’s arrival. We are pleased to announce our Annual Winter Sale in which we are significantly discounting 8 Optibikes for Summer delivery. This is a fantastic opportunity to save up to 35% on a new Optibike- you will not see another sale of this magnitude in 2013. If you have any questions, please call Neal Topper at (303) 848-8381 or email Neal@optibike.com.

How to purchase a sale bike:

1) Select the bike (or bikes) you like from the list of “Annual Winter Sale Bikes.”
2) Beginning at 9:00 am on Wednesday Feb 20, 2013 call Neal Topper to purchase the bike you want for Summer delivery
3) If you reach a voice mail, don’t worry, Neal will call you back. In past sales events, our phone system has been overwhelmed with calls and getting through can be frustrating, if not impossible, so please leave a voice mail. Calls will be returned in the order that the voice mails are received.

Sale Terms:
The Annual Optibike Winter sale will be held on Wednesday, February 20, 2013. Only 8 bikes will be sold at sale prices, these bikes are numbered 1-8 on the list “Annual Winter Sale Bikes.”
At the time of order, a non-refundable $1000 credit card deposit is required over the phone. The remaining balance of your order is due by check or wire transfer by Friday March 1st 2013.

Each Sale Bike has a corresponding “ship date”, this is the date your bike will be ready to ship to you.

Don’t want to wait for summer delivery? We have bikes in stock for immediate delivery too (at special sale pricing through 2/28/13) Email Neal@optibike.com for inquiries.

The Optibike Weight Loss Program is ideal for people looking for a fun and easy way to exercise and lose weight. For information on Optibike 2013 Weight Loss Coaching Program including the 6 Month Bronze Coaching please visit www.electricbikefitness.com

Call Neal Topper with Questions at (303) 848 – 8381 or email Neal@optibike.com

For a complete list of the 8 bikes download the PDF file by clicking the link https://mn974.infusionsoft.com/app/linkClick/2891/84eef2eeca6dcc97/472965/91d4196f8c917933

Electric bikes give beginning riders a boost

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From the Columbia Daily Tribune

America is an aging nation, and about two-thirds of our population is overweight or obese. This makes it tough to sell the idea of using human power for transportation. For someone who hasn’t biked in 20 years, even a one-mile ride might seem overwhelming. Electric bikes, however, are one option for those willing to give bicycling another try.

A wide variety of people take our bicycle education courses, and some of them are new to bicycling, are not very physically fit or are older people who struggle with a hilly city like Columbia. These students find it difficult to ride a bicycle even short distances. I know that for every rider who is painfully taking those first steps toward fitness there also are people in our community who lack the fitness to ride a regular bicycle at all. Just the thought of bicycling up a hill seems like an impossible task. That is why I am really excited about an improved segment of the bicycle industry, the electric bicycle.

Read the full article here: http://www.columbiatribune.com/opinion/columnists/electric-bikes-give-beginning-riders-a-boost/article_22acbc89-c8ef-5392-89c2-75c639b2d0a0.html#.UQ7zpeieE5I

Share the Road: Jeb Bateman and his family ditched the minivan in favor of eco-friendly options

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From the Reno News & Review

“They often prefer their Optibike electric bicycles. The bikes have enough power to tow small trailers, and can be outfitted with studs to be winter-friendly. Bateman notes that, as avid cyclists, he and his wife enjoy the ride even when the weather is cold.”

Read the full article here: http://www.newsreview.com/reno/share-the-road/content?oid=8826493

Welcome to the first and only ebike fitness coaching website

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Welcome to electricbikefitness.com

The site is all about electric bike fitness using Optibike electric bikes. What? Electric bikes? Aren’t those for losers? Yes they are! People losing weight! Electric bikes are perfect for those who are out of shape but want to get fit. They’re way more fun than using a stationary bike and let you increase your effort level and your fitness level while you still get the sensation of speed. Nobody will work out on a long term basis if it’s not fun. And Optibikes are the most fun you can have on 2 wheels. With an Optibike, your commute time can become fitness time, thereby giving you more time in your day for other activities you love. Optibike is proud to sponsor it’s annual weight loss challenge. All the participants are exercising using Optibikes, improving their nutrition, having lots of fun getting lean.

Sign up to meet other e-bike riders, get fitness and weightloss tips, and to stay motivated! electricbikefitness.com

The Electric Bike Book is available for download

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In The Electric Bike Book author Jim Turner gives us an informative and entertaining look at the rapidly expanding world of electric bicycles. Forget the do-it-yourself garage projects with clunky motors mounted on heavy cruiser bikes. The reality is that hi-tech, modern electric bicycles have come of age in Western Europe and America, where quality manufacturers and some of the world’s best engineers are introducing amazing new technologies and design. The results are innovative and highly efficient electric bicycles that provide safe alternative transportation in such a fun, healthy and environmentally responsible manner as to make urban automobile use obsolete.

Watch the trailer here: http://youtu.be/3DRNKk8Bc5U

 

Optibike at the Steve Winwood Concert

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By Jim Turner
Last night my family and I were invited to the Steve Winwood concert  in Denver. Steve’s manger, James has been an Optibike rider for many years and they provided us some great tickets in the center, just 8 rows back.

The views and sound were great. After the show, we met up with James and Steve backstage and I gave them both Optibike shirts.

James and Jim

Steve and Jim Turner Back stage

James received his Optibike as a birthday present from Steve and  uses it to commute the 16 miles to the studio each day with 2000 feet of climbing. Lots of days of rain and drizzle as it is England.  It sounds like a great area in the north west of England.

I found Steve and I had several points in common. Steve lives on a 1000 acre farm, though mine is only ten acres, and our kids are about the same age.

What we don’t have in common is musical ability. I have none, and Steve is incredibly versatile. My music is designing electric bikes! James was talking about how great a  new 1100 would be.

Optibike riding at 80 (Years not MPH)

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By Marty Fried

This picture gives an idea of the area I ride, it is a huge area with hundreds of miles of single track and fire roads. It is very dry most of the year with lots of rock, gravel, sand, and soft dirt. Makes for some hairy riding at times. That is the Pacific Ocean in the background.

I am having a great time with my 1100 R, riding about four days a week, the bike is taking a beating as I am, hence the boots, levis and knee and shin guards. I’ve come unglued from the single tracks a few times.

The Optibike has been running great so far, dependable, fast, good handling and comfortable.

For this eighty year old body, 30 plus degree climbs is no problem !!!!!

We have had a very hot summer here this year with many days in the high 90′s and 100′s, I will be riding even more when this heat cools down.

Yes, it was expensive but worth the money. The value of being out on the bike and being able to ride is priceless.

A lot of guys ask me questions about the bike.  They all say it is good looking and seems to be well built. I don’t know what will last longer, my body or the Optibike . I plan on giving it hell until one or the other gives out!!!!

I am able to ride with the young guns with this bike . The picture above was taken yesterday on a 25 mile single track ride in 90 degree weather and I am ready to go again the next morning.

Keep on Riding!

Marty

Exert from “The Power of Electric Bikes”

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Exert from “The Power of Electric Bikes” by Jim Turner
BATTERIES
The Battery is The Gas Tank
The key to any electric vehicle is the battery and how much energy it can hold. The battery is the gas tank. The battery holds energy.  Power   accelerates the car, but the size of the gas tank (energy capacity) determines the distance. For a gas car, you buy energy in the form of gasoline. In an electric vehicle, you buy energy in the form of Kilowatt –hrs. This is the way you buy electricity in your house. Your house electricity bill charges you for the amount of kilowatt-hrs of energy you use in the month.

High Power With a Small Gas Tank Doesn’t’ Get you Far
If a high horsepower  Corvette has a small gas tank, the car doesn’t go very far. An electric vehicle needs a battery with a high energy capacity to go far. The amount of energy is measured in kilowatt-hrs. An electric vehicle’s range is constrained by batteries. Batteries don’t have the energy density of gasoline, meaning they provide less energy in terms of size and weight compared to gasoline.

Electric Vehicles Need High Energy Batteries, Not High Power
Energy is the amount of power used  over time.  An electric vehicle must be more efficient with the use of energy than a gas car. With an electric vehicle, a battery with high  energy, not high power is preferred. This gives the vehicle the ability to travel long distances.  Some batteries put out a large amount of power, but they don’t have very much energy. That means the vehicle will accelerate very quickly, like a high horsepower Corvette, but will not  go very far, because the size of the gas tank is small..

Humans Have Energy and Power Differences Too
In the Olympics, there are sprinters and marathoners. The sprinters who run the 100 meter dash have very large muscles. They can go really fast and have huge amounts of power, but they don’t have much energy left because they use it all up in 100 yards. The sprinter isn’t interested in energy density, he wants all-out horsepower.  In contrast, the marathon runner can run a marathon averaging 5-minute miles because he uses his energy so efficiently. The marathon runner wants a balance between power and energy. He needs power to have the speed and energy to go the distance.  This is the same with an electric vehicle. Electric vehicles need high energy density in their batteries to go the distance.

Optibike tops the list of the 10 Fastest Production Electric Bikes by Electricbike.com

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A few months back we did a list of the 10 fastest home built electric bikes. Now here is a list of the top-10 fastest commercially available ebikes for those who want to go out and spend the big money, and buy a speed machine. It is very hard to build and sell a fast electric bike to the public (read our article on the high cost of speed). Warranty support and reliability issues on a bike that goes over 40-MPH can be a nightmare, and technically none of these bikes are legal on USA or European roads.

This was a very hard and laborious list to compile. You cannot do it like the car industry does, and just get these ten electric bikes to show up at a runway in the desert, and do some shoot-out speed tests. Only 3 of these bikes for sure exist, and are for sale in the United States…the Optibike, the Stealth Bomber, and the FFR Trike.

After those 3, it starts to get foggy…especially when it comes to speed claims.

The electric bike industry is full of inflated numbers and vaporware, especially this high end part of the market, and this list attempts to sift through the BS and get to the straight beef. Many of the bikes on this list exist in a “we will build when you give us your money” status, meaning the company could go under and you never get your bike. So therefore we base this list on a bunch of criteria, not just pure speed, and rate the bikes accordingly.

This list is very speculative because of the mysterious nature of many of the bikes on this list. We have done our best to identify the critical factors which make these bikes viable speed machines. We reward these machines for being more like an e-bike than a motorcycle. Undoubtedly our estimates will create some controversy but we have done our best to honestly rate these machines.

You can see how we came up with our estimated rankings in each category at the end of this story.

There are 10 bikes in this list. Bikes are ranked 1-10 according to top speed, reliability, no vaporware,  sexiness, weight and price. The lower the ranking number  the better. Performance rankings are added together and the lowest numbers = our top rated fast bikes. (total rank score)

* = estimated performance number.

 

 

#1 Optibike 1100R (read review)

 

Optibike made it to the top of our list not because it is the fastest electric bike, but because it is a well rounded and balanced machine  that still looks and feels like a bike. This is a mid-drive electric bike that you can actually squeeze-in an extra 5-MPH by pedaling hard, where as most of the other bikes on this list are so big and heavy that pedaling will make little difference. The Optibike has a quality full-suspension frame, and can ride on rugged rough road.

It earned its #1 reliability ranking  by having over 20 bikes make it to the top of the Pikes Peak race (a 20 mile long, 8000 foot elevation climb), as well as selling 100′s of bikes to the public, with many satisfied customers.

Claimed speed : 40MPH (with pedaling)
EB estimated top speed: #9 *35-MPH
Reliability: #1 (dominated Pikes Peak bicycle race for 2 years)
No Vaporware: #1 (we know this bike is for real and has been in production for over 10 years)
Sexiness: #4
Weight: #4 60lbs (impressively light-weight, given its long battery range and full suspension)
Stealth: #2  (looks like a 90′s y frame mountain bike…..feels like a bike)
Price/affordability: #5 $14,500
EB Total Rank Score: 26

Read more here. http://www.electricbike.com/10-fastest-ebikes/