With an ailing economy and concerns about oil dependency, many people are becoming interested again in the venerable bicycle for every day transportation. A bike can save thousands of dollars per year in transportation costs, while providing exercise and reducing pollution at the same time. Cycle9.com was first established as an online business in 2007 to provide equipment that makes using a bicycle as part of everyday life easier, like clean, quiet electric assist motor kits that flatten the hills. After opening their first retail store in May 2008 in White Cross, NC, customers came from around the Southeastern US to try out electric bikes, cargo bikes, and electric hub motor conversion kits. In the late Fall of 2008, Cycle 9 decided to move the retail operation to Carrboro, NC, a town awarded a Bronze award from the League of American Bicyclists for bicycle friendliness.
On Saturday, March 7, Cycle 9 will have a grand re-opening celebration at their new store at 601 W. Main St in Carrboro, NC. In preparation for the event, Cycle 9 has brought in a slew of new products, including Electric bikes from Powabyke and Ecobike, cargo bikes from Xtracycle, Surly, Yuba, and Madsen, commuter bikes from Breezer, Marin, and Surly, and electric motor kits from eZee, BMC, and NineContinents. With all of these new developments in bicycles, there is little reason not to use a bike for tasks like grocery runs, getting to work, and transporting the family.
"Win a full suspension mountain bike!" The grand opening event will feature a fund raising raffle for the ReCYCLEry, a Carrboro-based nonprofit organization that promotes the (re)use of bicycles and the development of skills to fix bicycles. All proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets will go directly to support the ReCYCLEry.
During the grand opening, customers can save money on bikes and accessories, and give to the ReCYCLEry at the same time! All accessories, tubes, and tires will be on sale, with 7% off the retail price, and 7% of proceeds going to the ReCYCLEry, totaling a 14% mark-down. Powabyke electric bikes (Powabyke.com)
“People have used bikes to transport themselves around since their invention, but bikes have traditionally had two limitations:
"If 1/3 of the USA population replaced only 2 car trips per week with a bike trip using an electric assist bike [we] would save 5.5 billion gallons of gas, prevent the release of 59 million tons of CO2 and save $17 billion dollars. Our goal is to help people do this,” said Dr. Morgan Giddings, co-founder of Cycle 9. Recent innovations in battery technology, like Lithium Iron Phosphate cells invented in the US, provide greater riding distance in a a small, light weight package. “I’ve regularly monitored electricity usage on my bicycle for thousands of miles of every day use. On average, I am achieving the equivalent of over 2,000 miles per gallon, at about $0.03 per charge. The electric bicycle is far and away the most efficient human transportation on the planet. It is even more efficient than a pedal-powered bike, since the food that people burn to power their bikes is usually transported by trucks which consume oil. Best estimates for human pedal power put the efficiency around 200 to 400 miles per gallon. A friend of ours rode across Canada, over 4,000 miles on his electric bike, and used under $10 of electricity - less than it takes to heat our hot water for one month.”
A bike is a great way to save money in a tight economy. The American Automobile Association estimates that in 2005, the average cost of owning and operating an automobile was $0.52/mile, or $7,800 per year for 15,000 miles. With no insurance bills, property tax bills, registration bills, parking bills, or gas bills, a bicycle is far less expensive to own and operate. “We figure that with regular maintenance and occasional battery replacement, the typical cost of ownership for an electric bike comes in well under $700 per year, only about 1/10th of the cost of car ownership, at under 5 cents per mile,” said Dr. Giddings. “If 1/3 of Americans switched to using bikes just two days per week, we would save $17 billion dollars in oil alone.” Cycle 9 was established to make that much easier to do.
Cycle 9’s store is located at 601 W. Main St. in Carrboro, just west of the Farmer’s market and downtown. The Grand opening will be from 10am-5pm Saturday March 7th, and will feature free coffee and pastries in the morning, a bike raffle, and sale. Inner tubes will be on sale for $2, limit 5 per customer. http://www.cycle9.com
