Joe's Ebike Saga starting in 2012, first bike

When I grew up in Germany before, during and after WWII, bicycles were an important part of my life, until I immigrated to America in 1952. In 2011, at age 83, I decided that e-bikes could help me deal with my diminishing feeling of both physical and mental well being.

There were only 2 dealers in SF seriously committed to he sale of e-bikes. NEW WHEEL on Cortland Avenue offered high quality e-bikes, mostly German imports, but the prices started at about 4k, too expensive for a first bike for me. The other dealer LEN offered a wider range of bikes including used ones and I decided to risk 1k on the Pedego Umbrella shown in this illustration. It is a very well built bike that folds to fit in the trunk of a car. At 60 lb it is a bit hefty, but not unusually so. The 16 inch wheels sport fairly fat tires and the hub motor is pretty peppy, so scooting up to the top of Twin Peaks in SF was delightfully exhilarating. Len had advised me that the battery would probably need replacing or rebuilding very soon, but half a year later I found that was easier said than done. Replacements were not available and after spending $ 500 to rebuild it, I found that the drum brakes could not be rebuilt. So at this point it became a 60 pound doorstop with a brand new battery. That was my first 1500 dollar lesson. Most e-bikes available are designed as complex units with all the components interdependent, so when after a couple of years one component needs a replacement, you find the company that made it went out of business and the whole bike becomes useless.

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