 |
 |
|
Want a ride? Plug it in!
Homer Glen resident selling area's first electric bikes
|
| | by Jennie Korb | |  |
June 20, 2007 | 04:05 PM
With gas prices hovering in the mid $3 range, alternative modes of transportation are starting to catch on.
And as of about a month ago, Homer Glen resident Tracy Talley is offering a local option. On May 14, Talley became the first Chicago-area distributor of Liberty electric bikes, or e-bikes.
Running on a battery and as much pedaling power as the rider wants to provide, the bikes can get up to about 20 miles per hour; one round of battery life can give between 20 and 30 miles of steady riding.
Talley got on the path to selling Liberty bikes when he decided about two years ago to outfit his own recumbent trike with electric power.
| 
|  | |
|  | | 
| | | | Tracy and Mary’s grandchildren, Sierra and Dylan, got a big kick out of the electric trike when they came for a visit the other day. photo: Tracy Talley. | | |
He very much enjoyed riding his trike as it was, but because of its reclining position, it could be damaging to the knees when going uphill. Changing gears didn't help—so enter the assistance of electric power, which Talley learned about on an Internet forum for trikes.
Between the battery, the controller, the specialized front wheel and the throttle, it set Talley back some $500—but it's been more than worth it.
He takes his trike to the Old Plank Trail Forest Preserve in Frankfort or Waterfall Glen in Darien, sets his hand to the throttle and his feet on the pedals, and enjoys the feeling of getting up to 20 miles per hour, out in nature.
"I compare it to sailing," he said of his e-bike, which he'll ride for 20 to 25 miles.
What he means is, electric bikes are to motorcycles—which he used to ride all the time—as sailboats are to speedboats. Sailboats don't go very fast—maybe 12 knots if they're cruising with some good winds—so it's a whole different mindset, Talley said.
"You can sit back and relax, and let the bike do everything," he said.
Talley and his wife, Marysia (pronounced Maryshia) run a full-time photography business, Talleyrand Photography, out of their Homer Glen home, shooting primarily weddings. When Talley started looking for a kind of "sideline" to carry them through retirement--they're backing off on the photography, not closing up shop entirely—selling electric bikes seemed like a natural fit.
"It's something that I love, and it's brand-new technology—I wanted to be the first in the area to sell it," Talley said.
Talley also loves the Liberty brand, which he happened to find through a YouTube video someone sent him. He called the number, and "before I knew it, I was on my way out" to Pennsylvania, which is where Liberty ships their bikes.
The electric bikes Talley sells are manufactured by a Chinese company called Hong Du, which also makes jet airplanes.
"They know what they're doing with quality control," Talley said.
The electric bikes, all but one of which run on a 36-volt battery, give off no pollution, use no gas, and make virtually no noise. Not only that, they're simple to ride; anyone who's ever ridden a bike can ride one of the e-bikes, Talley said.
They're also road-legal; because they only get up to 20 miles per hour, the same laws apply to the e-bikes that apply to regular bikes.
Through his company, called TMT E-Motion, the Talleys sell eight varieties of e-bikes (see sidebar), and there's really something for everyone.
The mountain bike is "a brute"—it's very strongly built, it has disc brakes, and it can go off-road, Talley said.
| | 
| |
| | | |
| | | Tracy and Marysia Talley proudly display the Liberty merchandise now available from TMT E-Motion in Homer Glen. photo: Tracy Talley. | |
"It has such good suspension, you can go over a curb and hardly even feel it," he said.
The city bike and the street bike, designed for more "sedate riding" through neighborhoods or back and forth to work, can hold two people, and the trike has a heavy-duty basket in back that can hold groceries, library books—even the Talleys' three-year-old grandson, Dylan, who clambered in when his 13-year-old sister Sierra rode it around their neighborhood recently.
Talley has five demonstrator bikes at his home, and although he doesn't keep inventory, the bikes ship within a day. He also will deliver bikes to customers and help set them up, he said.
The Liberty bikes are purposely built to be electric; they're not something from Target or K-Mart that happens to have a battery. The batteries on the Liberty bikes are down low in front of the back wheel, where "the weight distribution is perfect," he said.
A perfect example of the convenience afforded by the e-bikes came for Talley when he was called to jury duty recently.
Everyone had to park in the garage adjacent to the courthouse in Joliet, and it was jammed. When they got to break for lunch, Talley was worried that he would lose his parking spot if he drove the mile and a half down the street to Burger King.
So he didn't. Instead, he slung his trike out of the back of his mini-van, hopped on, cruised down six levels to the street, and grabbed lunch. On the way back, remembering that water was $1.50 a bottle at the courthouse, he stopped at Walgreen's, bought a case, and threw it in the electric trike basket before going back to the garage and his mini-van.
| 
| | |
| | |
| | | | Tracy has some beautiful scenery behind him as he pauses for a photo with the electric mountain bike. | | |
He stowed the trike safely away, and returned to the jury room 45 minutes before the judge had asked them to be back.
Talley said he wants to sell electric bikes because he believes in the technology, and its ability to provide a fuel-free, environmentally-friendly alternative.
"Liberty's philosophy is, we're not in it to get rich, we're in it to help people. That's my philosophy for the whole thing," Talley said. "It's a wonderful mode of transportation, and it's great to be involved."
For more information about Liberty bikes and trikes, call TMT E-Motion at (708) 655-6313, Source - Visit the Homer Horizon Online COME ON AND RIDE…
Available models
Folding bike
Price: $692, nickel metal hydride battery
Colors: Silver
Mountain bike
Price: $699, lead acid battery; $869, NI-MH battery
Colors: Black
City bike
Price: $799, lead acid battery
Colors: Blue, light blue, silver, light green, rose, purple
Electric trike
Price: $1,130, lithium battery
Colors: Silver
Street bike
Price: $623, lead acid battery
Colors: Blue, silver
Town and country cruiser
Price: $985, lead acid battery
Colors: Black, red, silver, blue | |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
