In late summer and fall last year it quickly became obvious that e-bikes were becoming more and more popular. Rushford saw swarms of e-bikes parked on the city streets; riders were strolling the streets and enjoying meals in the local restaurants. While the Root River Trail often sees an increase of bikers during the peak fall season, this was different – lots of the bikes were e-bikes. What caused this influx of e-bikes – had other towns seen the same? Have the local bike shops noticed an increase in e-bike use?
Decorah Bicycles located at 101 College Drive in Decorah, Iowa has been seeing an increase in the number of people using e-bikes ever since it added e-bikes seven years ago. Owners Travis Greentree and Josie Smith run the store as a team. They have been seeing “tons and tons” of people on e-bikes. The first year they added e-bikes in their bike store, Greentree was hesitant as he wondered if they’d sell 10 bikes. They actually sold 40 e-bikes that year and within three years were up to a hundred. Now Decorah Bicycles sells a couple hundred a year.
Now more often than not, shoppers are coming into the store looking to buy e-bikes. Travis feels that there is more acceptance of the e-bikes now and more e-bikes are available.
Unlike the relatively easy Root River Trail with its slight, gradual elevation changes, the 12-mile Trout Run Trail in Decorah is super hilly; the flats on the trail usually have headwinds. When people rented traditional bikes to ride the trail, they often weren’t physically prepared for the ride. They’d come back exhausted after riding up and down several hills.
Now Decorah Bicycles only rents pedal assist bicycles; they have over 50 e-bikes to rent now. In addition, they offer 24” bikes for smaller adults as well as kid versions. According to Travis, they’ve never had so much positivity about rentals before this. Customers are jazzed about their experience on the e-bikes and are spreading the word! Travis declared, “We force you to have a wonderful time!”
Rentals are charged by the hour or day; 1-4 hours is $49, 4-24 hours is $69, 24-48 is $119. Cargo e-bikes are also available at a somewhat higher rate. The cargo e-bikes can be used to haul trailers or be outfitted to carry children and are longer than traditional bikes with smaller wheels. Decorah Bicycles does not offer reservations for e-bikes rentals.
Decorah Bicycles has a unique offering; customers considering purchasing an e-bike can rent for an extended period of time (up to two weeks) with the full rental applied to the purchase price after that. They encourage customers to try out e-bikes on the nearby Trout Run Trail so they can ensure that they choose the e-bike best suited to them.
The store has other bikes for sale; Travis and Josie feel its important to offer both. Travis noted they use the bikes for comparison purposes. The traditional bikes are lighter and less expensive than e-bikes.
Calling e-bikes the “chocolate of the bicycling world!” Travis declared that e-bikes are more appropriate for most people. Once they own an e-bike they ride their bikes more.
Both Owl City Cycles in Houston and Little River General Store in Lanesboro are currently closed for the season. Owl City Cycles located at 111 East Cedar, Houston, Minn., will be opening March 15; Little River General Store located at 105 Coffee Street in Lanesboro will open around April 15 depending on the weather.
Owl City offers Reid 1.0 e-bikes for rental and sells both Reid 1.0 and Reid 2.0 pedal assist bikes. The Reid 2.0 is a cross country bike suitable for hunters. The rental rates at Owl City are $50 for 1-4 hours and $75 for 4-24 hours. They also offer rental equipment for transporting the kids as adults e-bike.
Last year was the first year for Owl City Cycles so owner Derek Wallace was not able to compare e-bike use to previous years, but he did notice that many campers from the nearby Cushon’s Peak Campground would make trips on their e-bikes into Houston for drinks, meals and entertainment on a nightly basis. Houston is located at one end of the Root River Trail; often riders used to turn around before actually reaching Houston because there is a hill on the trail. With e-bikes, more people go up that hill and ride the entire trail.
Lanesboro’s Little River General Store has been in business for 39 years, both renting and selling bicycles. E-bikes were added in 2017. Beginning in 2023 and 2024, the e-bike rentals doubled in number. Little River rents traditional bikes, tandems, regular recumbents and tandem recumbents in addition to e-bikes.
According to Little River’s Kurt Knollmaier, the store does not sell many bikes since most customers are tourists, but they rent many. This year Little River will be piloting an online reservation system for rentals.
Denagos are the newest e-bikes at Little River; they also have some Reid electric assist bikes available for rental. Both class 1 Denagos which are strictly pedal assist bikes and class 2 Denagos which can be used as either pedal assist or throttle bikes are offered. Rentals for basic e-bikes are $60 for the first hour and $5 each additional hour with a maximum fee of $85 per day. They also rent higher end e-bikes with racks, cupholders and longer range batteries for a higher rate. Little River General Store has a total of 32 rental e-bikes available.
Customers who rent e-bikes range from 16 years old to 85. Knollmaier shared that he will be going to Las Vegas in a few weeks to check out new offerings in the bike industry. Little River has been considering purchasing some E-trikes which would be sturdier for people with balance issues who want to ride with the rest of their family.
Knollmaier feels people who rent e-bikes want to get some exercise, but also want to see all they can on the Root River Trail. With an e-bike, they can enjoy the entire trail and ride further.
Bike rides such as BAM (Bicycling Around Minnesota) and RAGBRAI (The Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa) now provide accommodations for e-bikes. E-bikes are now accepted as simply another way to help more people enjoy biking. Assorted E-biking groups have formed on Facebook. E-bikes will inevitably be seen even more in the area. If you haven’t checked them out yet, maybe it’s time!
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