This week has been one of the most emotional weeks of my life with the passing of my beautiful mate Zoe. Today is a mixture of tears of sorrow and joy as I've just returned from a meeting at Plant 4 Bowden, so I'd like to share some of the joy.

PLANT 4 - BOWDEN

Since completion of the successful Plant 4, work has begun on the development of Plant 3 and MiCycles has been invited to set up a semi permanent stall to provide bikes for sale, hire & test rides. The space is amazing and this potential to expand the reach of the business without setting up a complete new shop has been on my mind for some time. The initial trial plan is to open Wednesday & Saturday arvo/eve to coincide with the Plant 4 markets.

PLANT 3 - BOWDEN

On the ride back along Gibson street and over the fantastic new Holland St pedestrian/cyclist bridge, I stopped to chat to some workers about the work being done on the Outer Harbour rail line. I knew something was underway, but thought only an underpass under Park Tce to free up traffic congestion turning right at the Entertainment Centre intersection. 'Underway' being the operative word, the work is part of the Torrens Junction Rail Project which not only goes under Park Tce, but includes a 1.4km stretch of lowered rail line with a brand new Bowden Station, pedestrian & cyclist paths and a freight train line crossover point to improve the flow of the Melbourne-Adelaide-Perth rail line. This put an immediate smile on my dial as I rode off.

I have always thought... to live in Adelaide you need patience. Progress is slow but steady. When things are done they will be state of the art in 'the state of the arts' (hahaa, see what I did there?). We are entering an era of unprecedented change in this world, with the end of our dependance on oil and coal and the re-emergence of electric vehicles that integrate seamlessly with homes to be charged from solar and other renewable energy sources. I digress, but now back to the story.

Lastly... Yesterday MiCycles was approached by a developer from Port Adelaide who has started an interesting housing development inside a dis-used warehouse. The plan has always been to become part of the scene in the Port and it looks like that may be about to happen. More on that as it progresses.

Love this City.

Eternal Love for Zoe. RIP Beautiful Sister xo

MiCycles - Electric Bikes Adelaide are now stockists (pre-order - overnight delivery) of Schwalbe tyres and Ergon hand grips. A few brands of eBikes in stock already have Schwalbe tyres fitted and now you have the option of fitting one of the safest and best quality brands in the world today. The same can be said when considering grips for your Electric Treadlie... Egon grips have a large range of comfortable high quality products for your Pedalec, or Treadelec! (We may lay claim to that term from here on in :)

Want to arrive at work after your bicycle commute feeling fresh? With an electric bike from MiCycles, this will be the case. Many customers over the years have mentioned this as their main priority when purchasing an eBike.

Hey friends, was just thinking during a quiet moment "what is the point of a blog without blogs?" So here's a quick one to remedy this.

It's a special week here at MiCycles - Adelaide Electric Bikes as it's MiC's birthday. The eBike market is growing steadily even through the winter months. Quieter moments have allowed us to catch up on odd jobs and install a beautiful retro combustion heater. It's getting harder to drag us away from the place.

There is one thing that will get us out and about though and that is our offer of Free Delivery and Test rides by appointment. If you're up in the hills and not sure an electric bike from MiCycles will be up to the task give us a buzz and arrange a test ride. Check out the range on offer and spread the word on your street. Let your neighbours or community group know we will be in the area on a certain date and let's get this happening. Sunday/Monday's are preferred as the shopfront is closed.

MiCycles is also available for sustainability fairs and events of this nature. Spring is almost in the air and what better a time to get out an' about on these freedom machine's!

Peace, Love & Chappiness!

A big hello from MiCycles! Electric bikes have now entered the market place in full swing with manufacturers supplying eBikes to suit everyone's needs from your 'Pop down the shops' to 'Urban Commuter' and even something to suit the 'Wanna be Hipster pretend Fixie' type eBike.

MiCycles prides itself on supplying and servicing quality brands of eBike and we have noticed an increase in disgruntled customers who have purchased online or purchased 2nd hand.

A few inherent problems arise from these kind of purchases;

Purchasing a bike online from an interstate supplier often means receiving your product in a box unassembled. The eBike can't be returned for any minor adjustments to suit the rider or to tension spokes, gear cables etc...

Any warranty issues means the bike will need to be shipped back to the supplier often at the customers expense.

Buying 2nd hand can turn out very costly. Unless you have evidence of how many cycles (full discharge and recharges) the battery pack has had you may be entering costly territory as replacement costs can be more than the purchase price of the bike (average $450-650).

Beware buying a bike without a charger or keys for obvious reasons.

MiCycles provides peace of mind on your investment and to me that means Happy Pedalling!

As part of our commitment to sustainability, here at MiCycles, care is taken to re-use or recycle as much of the packaging as possible that enters the shop. Pictured is an example of the amount of packaging that comes with a typical eBike. The little pile in the bottom left corner is the amount of waste that ends in in the bin. On the right shows a neat little trick to re-use cable ties. You just snip off the tail before the cable tie head and pull it through. The cut off tails i am collecting to eventually put through a shredder and then through a 3D printer. The bubble wrap will be collected for re-use or if unuseable taken to Coles for the soft plastic recycling program (i won't go there for anything else i might add :).

If anyone would like bubble wrap or cable ties let me know.

'MiCycles sells e-cycles by the city side... MiCycles recycles and does so with pride!'

Well... Micycles is off to an electric start this year. We hoped to be able to sit and write a blog post every few days but it's a bit like a mechanic and their car... It's always the one neglected as they're too busy repairing others.

Not too busy to sit down and apply for a Winston Churchill Fellowship Trust though. The application has been submitted and if approved I will embark on a whirlwind tour of Europe in 2016 to gain the most up to date knowledge on personal electric transportation and electric bikes in particular.

In the meantime, some paint has been purchased and the shopfront will get a fresh new coat of paint in coming weeks. Signwriting will follow shortly after.

Take care and happy pedalling,

MiCycles

MiCycles is a proud supplier of the Urban Mover range of electric bikes. Located in Thebarton, Adelaide, it was a pleasure to have a customer return after 2 1/2 years for a quick tune up.

Kathy rides 4 days a week approximately a 20-25km round trip. The Panasonic Li-ion battery pack still provides around 25kms on a charge (30km range when new). This little beauty gets ridden rain, hail or shine and apart from a dry chain and worn brake pads there was not much else wrong apart from the regular servicing.

MiCycles now has in stock the latest range of Urban Mover electric bikes boasting a range of up to 80km's, with more power from the 250W hub motor.

When it comes to purchasing eBikes it pays to go for a quality product from the start as this bike is a tried and true testament.

Ta ta for now,

MiC

Just like evolution of the species, there is evolution of the logo. The MiCycles logo has been around for 20yrs. This is the freshest one to date and i'd like to know how it rates.

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Well... The 20yr anniversary has come and gone... in a flash and the planned opening party is approaching this weekend. It seems though, that my ambitions far outweighed my abilities.

The side yard is a pile of rubble and bare dirt, not the best surface for dancing on. My executive decision therefore is to postpone parties until the dancfloor is ready.

On a lighter note though, i had a visit from one of my dearest customers Gil Pearson. Gil has a hard time hearing as he was a tank driver in the war, but he has no trouble riding his electric bike and he is 90 years old!! I have been looking after this fella's bikes for a few years now and he never ceases to amaze me with his stories. He was riding up Norton Summit road a few years ago passing the lycra clad racers on his way. He dropped his latest machine in for a service a month or so ago and when i rang for him to pick it up his wife said "oh, unfortunately he is in hospital and things don't look good" I arranged for his son to pick the eBike up and who turns up at my door yesterday, just for a visit to let me know he's ok? Gil 'the living legend' Pearson.

It doesn't matter your age. All that matters is getting on yer bike and riding!

Hello from MiCycles!

Just back from the first Sydney Electric Bike Festival. It was great to meet Jake from Sydney Electric Bikes in person and chat with like minded bike and eBike enthusiasts.

The festival was held at Sydney Park and there were plenty of paths and steep hills around to test out the latest greatest machines. I had the opportunity to test ride half a dozen different brands and all were up to the task of climbing even the steepest hill.

It's back to work though now and continue getting the shop ready for the grand opening on the 30th November.

The growing trend towards electric bikes in Adelaide covers a wide range of bicycle types, ranging from step through scooters, hybrid commuter bikes, High powered mountain bikes and an increasing number of custom electric choppers.

I have had the pleasure of working on a few friends 'Choppee's' recently, carrying out some custom modifications to get them ready for the 'eBike Show & Shine' coming up on Nov.30th.

The awesome 'White Lightning' beast in the photo's had too much power once it's wheels were electrified and the old pedal back brakes weren't up to scratch. There was no disc rotor mount on the hub motor and no mounts for v-brakes on the chrome forks, so a couple of custom v-brake mounts were made.

There is one thing awesome about the power of electric bikes but it's another kind of awesome knowing you can stop the thing in a hurry if need be!

My personal path to opening an electric bike store has been a long and enjoyable one. Part of my passion for electric transport in general is to persue cleaner methods of getting around. This sits alongside my passion for a cleaner more sustainable way of life which leads me to MiCycles "Commitment to Sustainability".

What this means is that all packaging that enters the building will be recycled wherever possible, including cardboard bike boxes, soft plastics including bubble wrap (local supermarkets have soft plastic recycling facilities), and hard plastics e.g. cable ties.

All depleted batteries will be taken care of responsibly (Battery World have battery recycling facilities)

In the case of items like cable ties, i don't know of any facilities that exist but i do know that 3D printing technology use a similar plastic and i believe they could be shredded and re-used in this process. Until i research this more i will collect all hard plastic items.

While hosting a bike tube repair workshop today it has been noted people would prefer to replace a punctured tube rather than repair them. This caused me some concern as the rubber industry is not a kind industry to workers across the world. The problem is similar to the tea and coffee industry where most of these industries exist in third world or developing countries.

So... i have decided to set up a bike tube collection facility and either repair the tube and re-use or find a responsible way to dispose of them.

Happy Days

MiC

There is a term passing around the electric vehicle scene called the 'EV grin' and this is what happens to people when they get to experience the silent rush of power you feel when trying out an electric vehicle for the first time. Whether it's an electric bike or an electric car, it doesn't make any difference. The grin is addictive and you find that it lasts well beyond your first experience.

When it comes to electric bikes the choice between driving your petrol powered vehicle or jumping on the electric treadlie is simple... you will go for the most convenient, quick and enjoyable ride every time.

A date has been set for the grand opening party and that date is November 30!

There will be Bands, DJ's, an Art & Craft market and an electric bike 'Show and Shine'.

Bring it!

Although it has been a wet and cold winter here in beautiful Adelaide, the electric bike momentum is still rolling along nicely. MiCycles is on target to complete the NEIS scheme (New Enterprise Incentive Scheme) around Oct-September and the 'Grand Opening' planned for mid to late November. Happy days ahead!