What could condo developers do to plug into e-bike owners' needs?

Adam Hatcher is uniquely positioned to watch as world events and trends collide to push up demand for electric bicycles — and he has some advice on accommodating them in multi-family housing.

“There’s an insane demand for e-bikes right now,” says Hatcher, the store manager of Bow Cycle E-Bikes, located right on the Bow River Pathway in Calgary’s condo-rich East Village.

He estimates that about half of the shop’s clients come from the neighbourhood and surrounding inner-city communities. The other half are from “everywhere,” including desperate buyers calling from across Canada, hunting for e-bikes.

What’s driving e-bike demand

Hatcher says he’s seen “a bunch of inner-city families dropping their vehicles.” Partly it’s because of painful prices at the gas pump due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Auto insurance rates in Alberta play a role, too, having risen more than 30 per cent since 2019.

Plus, an e-bike eliminates car parking fees and the maintenance costs are lower, a boon to young professionals wanting to save money and “cut down on the time they spend sitting in a vehicle,” says Hatcher. In rush hour and on short trips it can be faster to get around by e-bike than by car, and having pedal-assist helps conquer both hills and distance.

With these advantages, some of his customers use e-bikes to run their small businesses. Others buy them for a fun ride or as a way to keep up with friends and family if they’ve been slowed by age or injury. Even high-performance athletes are getting in on the trend, using them “to enable a swift recovery,” notes Hatcher.

For some, using an e-bike is a healthier option, for themselves and the environment. E-bikes emit zero emissions, making them a greener way to get around than by car or even transit.

About 50 per cent of the Bow Cycle E-Bike’s allotment of e-bikes for 2022 was already pre-sold by mid-March, with customers placing deposits on incoming stock. Some have been waiting since last year for their new bikes to arrive, says Hatcher.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, as cooped-up people hunted for things to do, many sought bicycles, increasing demand and putting more pressure on supply. The pandemic continues to disrupt supply chains, contributing to increases in the prices of shipping and raw materials. Like other types of electronics, e-bikes and the components for them are typically made overseas. As a result, they cost more and take longer to get here.

E-bikes and multi-family housing — some considerations

If consumers can get their hands on an e-bike, they’ll need to take extra precautions to protect what is now a hot commodity as bicycle thieves are also cashing in on the trend.

“Everything gets stolen: bikes, seat, tires, other items,” says Hatcher. Theft is a big concern for owners of all types of bicycles but e-bikes are particularly expensive. They start at a minimum of $1,200, with mid-range offerings going for $2,500 to $3,000 and more powerful high-end ones selling for $5,000 to $7,000 and up.

Bike security is an issue in a single-family house with controlled access to the garage. It’s even trickier owning a pricey e-bike in a multi-family dwelling with lots of people coming and going. Unsecured condo garages are notorious for theft.
Hatcher uses two locks to lock his own e-bike and also recommends owners protect their investments by looking into the Anti-Theft Protection Offer, a program from lock company Kryptonite. It reimburses registered customers if their bicycle is stolen because the lock is opened or broken by force.

As e-bikes continue to grow in popularity, condo associations and building developers will need to find solutions to accommodate them, now and in future.

Hatcher has some ideas: Even though most e-bikes have removable (lockable) batteries that can be recharged inside, e-bikes are heavier than regular bikes and more awkward to hoist onto wall- and ceiling-mounted hooks. That makes secure storage a must. Hatcher would like to see bike lockups in multi-family housing locked down not just with a key, but with an RFID card that allows access only to bike owners.

“There’d be security cameras, ideally with 24/7 security, and as many locking and mounting points as possible.”
To make the e-bike lifestyle even more manageable, he’d like to see provision for a small repair area, with tools and a compressor and pump. And if the bike lockup is located in underground parking, a wash bay for bikes — even just a hose with a hookup — would be valuable. (It would also go a long way to preventing wet, muddy tire tracks on carpeted corridors.)

Hatcher knows the lifestyle well. After all, he got rid of his car two years ago and paid off the $5,500 cost of his e-bike in one year.