That’s a great sentiment. I wonder what we could accomplish if everyone who bikes regularly could just try to get one more person on at least one ride this year.

I know what you mean about unrealiable electricity. The electricity was only recently privitized in El Salvador a few years ago, and has greatly improved since then, but I have still seen some sketchy bills. I personally (well, actually, my wife… as a non-citizen I can’t own property) have seen a bill one month at $7 for 85 kWh jump to $35 for 79 kWh for no reason at all. Not to mention the meter is situated atop a 25 foot pole and takes binoculars to read!

However, despite the apparent unreliability in billing, the actual electrical supply is extremely reliable. This country has geo and hydrothermal electricity out the wazoo and as far as I can tell, unless you are out in the boondocks, produces a steady 120 volts with about the same fluctuation we find in the states (+/- 5 volts, maybe). Blackouts and brownouts seems pretty rare, as long as you’re in the city.

The most important factor in this country is cost, and it is by far cheaper to put a ICE on a bike in this country than it is to import an electric bicycle. Even if long-term costs outway the initial investment, people here would never even consider buying an electric bike. The most expensive bicycle I’ve found (not counting the specialty shops in the capital) runs for around $120. That includes fenders, a rear rack, and a front dynamo headlight. It’s a heavy one, but people here could care less about weight, considering they use bicycles to haul everything from sugar cane to scrap metal.

But why am I blabbering on about Central America? Let’s focus on what electric bicycles can do for the good old U S of A.

A scooter or moped would certainly be better as a reliable commuter, faster too, but where you can buy a cheap engine kit and MalWart Cruiser for less than $300, even a used scooter will cost more than twice as much.

Plus, in our state, no license required for “motor powered bicycles” of less than 50cc. I think the only thing keeping hordes of pre-license teens from being early and ardent adopters are computers and console games.

My international experience, as I said in my post, is in Africa; most of that in Cameroon. My friends in Cameroon go without many electric appliances such as a refrigerator, dishwasher, washing machine, etc. not because the appliances are unavailable, and not necessarily because my friends can’t afford them. A major factor is that the state-run power company is extremely unreliable. Conversely, the gas stations rarely run dry. (And if they do, there are always opportunists who smuggle Nigerian gas over the border and set up by the side of the road to sell it by the liter.)

There are many reasons that we use gasoline in this world. It stores a lot of energy per pound, and it’s not particularly volatile compared to other combustible materials with the same or greater energy density.

I don’t imagine e-bikes taking off anywhere there is an unreliable source of electricity.

I’ve been living off and on in El Salvador for around a year and when I’m here, I always see a lot of these converted bicycles. I see a lot of people pushing broken down motorcycles and scooters too, and my guess is that Ted is on the right track when he notes that there is security knowing that you can pedal your way home in the event the motor breaks down. I guess those people riding motorized bicycles just got tired of pushing around their motorcycles.

I wonder if the electric bike would ever do well down here. But for some reason people down here are scared to death of paying electricity bills, but pay high prices for gas all day long.

I’m considering a electric-assist bike sometime in my future, but there are two things holding me back: (1) The cost, and (2) the exoticness of the technology.

If the noise, smell, mess, and proximate pollution of the engine kit weren’t factors, I would easily find myself considering a motor kit (or a Whizzer-style moped). I like the option of pedaling when the engine breaks down or runs out of gas. Pushing a motorcycle or a scooter sucks.

I’m not a small engine mechanic, but I’ve maintained small internal combustion engines before, and I know I could learn how to maintain my bike’s motor.

If there is any broader pattern to your anecdotal observations on the demographics, then I can imagine that these are guys who aren’t intimidated by small internal combustion engines, because they’ve been around them their entire lives.

But noise, smell, mess, and proximate pollution are factors for me, so I find myself priced out of my other options now, and intimidated by the technology.