SF.Streetsblog.org captured some local Supervisors, including our own Eric Mar, as they checked out the new electric bikes from Trek, developed by bicycling pioneer Gary Fisher.
The 45-pound bikes, which don’t look at all like electric bikes, run on a lithium-ion battery, and can send you up some of San Francisco’s steepest hills at 14 miles an hour. Fisher said it’s the fastest way to get around the city, bar none.
“It uses the pedalic system from Panasonic and they’ve had that for over 20 years. It’s a really great, intuitive system for an electric bike because you still have to ride it. You know, you don’t get any energy out of it unless you put energy into the pedals, which is sort of a beautiful thing,” said Fisher. “In addition, the motor on this has the capability of developing energy too so it turns into a generator when you want it to.”
Fisher said the bikes on loan to [Supervisors] Chiu and Mirkarimi cost around $2,200 and Trek plans on rolling out a small inventory of them sometime in August. Both Chiu and Mirkarimi were thrilled, and said they are definitely thinking about purchasing them. They are not yet available in the U.S.
So Eric, how was the ride? 🙂
Sarah B.
[Photo courtesy of SFCitizen.com]