Why Do You Do This?

My goal is to help more people understand whether an e-bike is right for them, and help them find the one that will work right for them if so.

I bought my first e-bike in spring of 2021, and I found it to be a transformative experience. It immediately changed how I navigated the world: huge parts of my city were open to me that hadn’t been accessible before, and I was able to drastically drive down the amount that I used a car.

From watching the Charlottesville E-bike Lending Library, I knew that there was an opportunity to help people try out e-bikes to figure out if they would work for them. When I saw a terrific deal on a RadPowerBikes RadMission (their clearance sale for just $500), I bought one for myself… and also told all my friends to buy one. I expected to lend out a single bike to help people experience e-bikes for the first time.

But it turns out that I have a lot of friends.

Over the 3 days until RadPower sold out of RadMissions, I had more than 180 people follow my referral link to buy bikes. Rad eventually gave me referral bonuses for 90 of those people, meaning I had $4500 in RadPower Gift cards.

A question I asked myself at that point: What do I do with $4500 in gift cards to an e-bike retailer?

I did the only sensible thing: Buy two more RadPower bikes, buying different shapes and styles of bikes with the goal of helping people find the bike that’s right for them.

Since launching the library, I’ve had at least a half dozen different people try and then buy an e-bike. And based on my recommendations, I know I’ve helped dozens of people buy bikes that they love riding, and have resulted in thousands of miles of car trips reduced in favor of e-bikes.

It’s my hope that by helping people find out what works and doesn’t work for them, we can help even more people find their way to a great transportation tool that can change their life, like it has changed mine.