2 Wheels Maybe

So, there I was taking the Chuck (the lab mix) for an early morning walk in Fort Worth. We rounded the corner, and there it was - a real, live electric bike store ( Pedego Fort Worth ). If you live in my part of the world, seeing an e-bike store is only slightly less rare than seeing sasquatch riding a unicorn.  But there it was! Of course, it was closed, but we saw an e-bike store. (For some reason, I was more impressed than Chuck was, but he was glad to see the hydrant out front.) Cool building with built-in cargo container! Pedego is not a brand I write about a great deal. I've run across very few in person, and, to be honest, their prices are (usually) out of my budget and many of their designs have seemed a little dated for my taste. On the other hand, they are known for high quality bikes and excellent customer service. For several years they have been an industry leader here in the states. They even have around 120 bike stores in the US. They are definitely doing ...

I am excited! I looked on Electrek today and found a Radwagon article by one of my favorite e-bike journalists, Micah Toll. (You may also know Micah from e-Bike School , Vruzend Battery Kits, DIY Solar Power , and a plethora of other greenie projects.) In the Mesquite Hugger/2Wheel universe, no singular vehicle has appeared in print more than the Radwagon. Not even the Citicar comes close. And it makes sense - I have not run across another vehicle that embodies the quest for an enjoyable, inexpensive, low-carbon personal hauler more than the big orange bike from Seattle(ish). Micah Toll on the Radwagon (on Electrek.co) Indeed, the Radwagon has been my yardstick for green vehicles since it hit the market. $1500 (shipped) gets you a machine that'll haul close to 400 pounds and let you enjoy the world immensely while not making you feel like you're on display in your own little people aquarium. That guy looks familiar... Every time I look at a green vehicle...

Pedaled Every Day this Week! It's been a great week! Lots of things fell into place, and I pulled a 100% bike commute week. Yep, Monday-Friday I have been free to ride to work. (And I ran errands on the bike on Saturday and Sunday.) I've noticed that I've been in a steadily better mood over the last seven days. Yes, the car is  quicker and offers better weather protection, but it dulls the senses. When you spend your days in a windowless office, you don't have many senses left for dulling. I look forward to the ride when it's cold. I look forward to the ride when it's sweltering. I never look forward to the drive. From this morning's ride Okay, I know a 100% bike commute may not sound like much, but 60% is often a struggle. I've reached that point in life where the generation before and the generation after both need a fair amount of help. That means errands and doctor's appointments and stores and pharmacies and...well, the bike is of...

Love the Mongoose logo! This is not a drill, people - it's coming to the US! It's coming in hot! Unfortunately, it's not coming in cheap. (Is this another of those presidential tariff thingies?) Since our first Mongoose Envoy post , I keep swinging back by to check on the status of the first department-store longtail cargo bike. Today my perseverance was rewarded. The Canadian link referred me back to the USA. Man was I excited! So I clicked the link and was rewarded with a little less excitement. What had been $500-Canadian had become $750-US. (Which is still pretty inexpensive for a longtail cargo, but no longer vastly less expensive than the competition.) Check out the US Mongoose Envoy site here. Not much has changed since the our first posting about the Envoy. The bike looks the same. The site still links to the really great Chris Akrigg video . (Even if you're not a cargo-bike dork, it's a lot of fun to watch.)  In case you were wo...

Last weekend, Grizz, D, and I trekked all the way out to Slaton to check out the Caprock Classic Car Club's 24th annual car show on the square. I spent a fair part of my youth preparing for and hanging out at car shows. Old habits die hard. (And there's the Slaton Bakery's vanilla wafers over there for added incentive.) I have a weakness for greyhounds and hood ornaments. Lots of cool cars were parked around the square. My favorite oddballs were a gorgeous Morris Minor, a 1907 Buick, a hot-rod Studebaker Lark wagon, and a Triumph GT with right hand drive. Overall, it was an amazing collection of things that burn a lot of gasoline. Morris Minor Dodge Rat Rod Dodge Delivery There was a solid tie for the car-I'd-most-like-to-electrify award: a 1961 Beetle (with every possible accessory you could imagine) and a sweet little 1965 Ranchero (in basic white). I was thankful to see no hippie vans or Allstate Jetsweeps with for sale signs. I ...

[ Intrusive Narrator Sidebar 1 : Before you get too excited, this is another post about a bike you can buy in Canada but not in the US, snagit!] Cheap , Cargo , and Klunker - when you think of those words, I hope you think of 2Wheels Maybe . In my quest to make that happen, I scour the entire world North America to find cheap cargo bikes and klunkers. If you're going to ride a green machine, well, it might as well be odd and fun. So, I'm very excited to tell you that I found another cheap-ish klunker! Woohoo! I found it by bravely searching the wilds of youtube. It's the Columbia Rambler. Ironically, the Rambler is an updated version of a bike called the Columbia Klunker, but the Rambler is more of a klunker than the Klunker was. And it comes in three sizes. The Columbia Klunker was a multi-speed bike that was more of a comfort hybrid bike in a klunker-ish frame.  The new Columbia Rambler 24" (at Walmart Canada) But the Rambler, like most tra...