Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Power Booster
Charles McVean bets on a hybrid recumbent bicycle.
Posted by John Branston on Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 12:32 PM
When the Shelby Farms Greenline bike trail opens in October, don't be surprised to see a silver-haired septuagenarian cruising along on an electric-powered recumbent bicycle.
Memphis commodities trader Charles McVean is betting that the Aerobic Cruiser Hybrid Cycle will ride a wave of enthusiasm for the bike trail, going green, and alternative transportation.
The bicycles will be manufactured in Memphis and sold at a new bike shop in the High Point Terrace neighborhood where McVean grew up. The trail is about a quarter of a mile south of the store, which shares space in a small shopping center with a grocery store, pub, and dry cleaner.
The Aerobic Cruiser Hybrid Cycle is a rich ride. It will sell for $5,000, including $800 worth of lithium ion batteries, putting it in the price category of motorcycles and used cars. McVean plans to have them on sale before the Greenline opens October 9th. After the initial production of two-wheelers, he hopes to have a three-wheeler within a year.
"It's an alternative to a car if you have a safe place to ride," said McVean, founder of McVean Trading. "The biggest problem is the inability to get across I-240 safely. Now we go right under it on the bike trail."
Conventional recumbent bicycles have small wheels, a low profile, and an ample seat with a backrest to make pedaling easier on the knees. The electric hybrid can switch between pedal power and electric power and cruise at 15-20 miles an hour.
McVean got the bug a few summers ago when he was vacationing in northern Michigan. The countryside is hilly and windy. McVean was riding a high-tech semi-recumbent tricycle built in Montana and reading up on the lithium battery that will power General Motors hybrid cars.
"I was working out and along comes a guy in an electric car. He parks the car, goes inside the facility, and rides a stationary bicycle for 30 minutes, grimacing the whole time. Then he rides off in his electric car. It dawned on me that we could create a comfortable mobile exercise machine that gives the same workout while riding through the countryside at 20 miles an hour and making exercise fun."
McVean is always looking for useful ways to spend his money and energy. Six years ago, he decided that his college alma mater, Vanderbilt, had enough to say grace over and that his wealth would have a bigger impact at his old high school. He funded a foundation and peer-tutoring and cash-incentives program at East High that has helped many students graduate and go to college and graduate school. Other kids, however, hold up their end of the bargain and graduate but aren't college material and can't find a job.
McVean and his right-hand man, Bill Sehnert, are working with the vo-tech people at East and hope that eventually Aerobic Cruisers will provide some jobs and develop mechanical aptitude.
The High Point shop will have a service facility, food and beverages, "organized junkets" but not rentals, and high-end mountain bikes and road bikes as well as hybrids. The company is the title sponsor of the grand opening of the Greenline.
"The green wave is going to be a huge deal," said McVean, whose previous brainstorms included indoor horse racing with robot-mounted hackney ponies back in 1987 when Memphis had a serious flirtation with pari-mutuel betting.
Electric hybrid vehicles are getting serious attention from General Motors and FedEx, among others. Bicycles? Well, they led to bigger and better things for Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers. So if you're riding the Greenline this fall and get passed by an old guy on a rolling easy chair, remember he might be power-assisted.
Comments (8)
Showing 1-8 of 8
There is absolutely nothing wrong with capitalizing on kooks who are willing to buy into all these bizarre "fake green" contraptions.
By all means, buy this crap up. In 10 years this stuff will be collecters items selling in oddity shops.
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Most bicycle trails in this country (e.g., rails to trails, paths, etc.) prohibit motorized bicycles from being used on them, primarily for safety reasons. I hope/assume our greenline will do the same.
Sorry, Charlie! Feel free to ride your rich, lazy man's bike on the street, though.
Some thoughts on recumbents from Anthony Siracusa: The E-bike is growing in popularity across the world, to the point now where last year the Fietsberaad (the Dutch think tank and research body on bicycle policy and trends) reported that E-bikes outsold traditional push bikes in the Netherlands by a narrow margin. In this western capital for bicycle culture, the report that E-bike sales are on the rise is espeically significant. In Beijing, China--long-considered the bicycle kingdom (now in decline)--I saw dozens of E-bike stores and many thousands of people riding electric bikes. As an informal observation, I'd say there are as many E-bikes as push bikes in Beijing and Shanghai.
Ultimately, though, electric recumbents indicate that people are interested in pursuing forms of transportation that are more efficient than automobiles. While not solely human powered, the move towards electric bikes promises to push more people from the seat of a motor vehicle to the seat of a vehicle with the capacity to be propelled by human power.
John: I wasn't expressing any distaste for e-bikes (though, I think you suggested--correctly--that, given its price, this new McVean incarnation is for rich folks--I just added the "lazy" part, more tongue-in-cheek than anything).
I do think, however, that on a limited access pathway, where pedestrian and other human-powered means of locomotion will be the rule (as opposed to Dutch and Chinese roads where cars and other motorized vehicles are present in significant numbers), electric power may very well have no place, as it doesn't on many similar paths elsewhere. Of course, the greenway folks will have the last word on this.
Well, he is right about needing a way to get across I-240. It's difficult to find a safe way across if your vehicle's top speed is only 20 mph. Shady Grove, while acceptable, is not ideal. There is no bike lane on the overpass, and it has only a picture of a bike on a sign to make cyclists safe. Not even the words, "Share the Road."
Until Memphis improves cycling facilities, it would be unfair to ban electric bikes from the greenline.
I feel certain that as the title sponsor of the Greenline grand opening, the Aerobic Cruiser has already been given the "green light" on the trail.
Being a daily recumbent bicycle rider I too thought the Aerobic Cruiser was over priced till I actually took one for a spin last Saturday! Okay, I'm impressed. Full suspension, really well built, attention to detail, and not to mention looks great. I first saw Mr.McVean riding a Aerobic Cruiser last year and never ever thought I'd part with $5000 on a bicycle, but after the test ride I am ready to buy one!
No matter how much the lyrica clad snobs hate it, electric power bikes are necessary to expanding the role of bicycling as a transportation form. Electric power bikes should be allowed on trails - there should just be user guided speed limits and rules. You can weight 220 lbs and take a nonpowered bike 22 mph... the rules on ebikes are entirely arbitrary and hinder one of the best solutions to our problems.
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