Hey Fabian Cancellara, wanna race? Some of you may recall the "electric bike scandal" where Mr. Cancellara was accused of using an electric assist to help him win the Paris-Roubaix.  There is no guessing whether Team Optibike uses performance inhancing electric motors- we are proud to design and build the Worlds Fastest Electric ...

How about the new Trek, at $6819.99 http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/mountain_full_suspension/remedy/remedy99/ What do you get for an extra $3175.50 on top of Treks pricing? 1) Custom fitting.  More on Optibike custom fitting HERE. 2) The electric motor and electronics part. (minor, but worth mentioning) :) 3) A bike that is made in America. 4) Integrated headlight and LED taillight. 5) The ...

Early Monday morning I packed my trailer with my tenor and alto saxes, clarinet, flute, laptop, clothes, and bike tools and hit the road to my Huntington Beach studio. The clouds looked a bit threatening, but no rain was forecast, so I hit it. It always amazes me how I can get on that ...

“ How do you justify spending $12000 on a bicycle?   You don’t.  How do you justify spending $12000 on a second car, local commuter vehicle and high-end mountain bike all wrapped into one?  Easy.  Its called anOptibike. My wife and I have ridden our 850R and 850R Helia Optibikes for six ...

  [caption align="alignright" width="300" caption="Phil commuting on his Optibike"] [/caption]   Dear Craig Taber and Optibike, The Twin Cities of Minnesota has a strong band of bicycle commuters, many of whom commute to work all year, despite the frigid winters.  I live north of the Twin Cities with a 68 mile round trip commute, and yearned ...

Optibike was started in Jim Turner’s Boulder, Colorado garage with a simple vision:  Make the World’s best electric bicycle, with no compromises in quality, performance or style.  Born from the Experience 1977 Jim Turner races moto-cross for the Suzuki Factory Team and wins the Canadian National Championship. Not without a quality mechanic, Jim traveled ...

The top ten reasons to own an ebike are counted down from ten to one. They are in no particular ranking order. You get to decide which is more important than another. 10. Good for the Environment. Since the electric bike uses no gasoline, it does not produce poisonous fumes like an ...

Make sure your electric bike helmet fits properly!   click here for a printable version DOT HS 810 600 September 2006 It’s not enough to simply buy a bicycle helmet – it should be properly fitted, adjusted, and worn each time you ride. The Proper Helmet Fit Helmets come in various sizes, just like hats. Size can ...

Here is the fix, pretty simple. 1) Under the "security" tab, UNselect the option "Ask before sending a non-secure form to a secure website." 2) log in and enjoy. Cheers,  Craig

Overview There are two different Boost Modes on Optibikes, FAST and SLOW. These are changed by toggling the MODE switch on the headlight. The FAST and SLOW Boost Modes affect the sensitivity of the Boost Mode.  Some riders find the normal, Fast Boost, is too active with their riding style, so ...

Optibike was started in Jim Turner’s Boulder, Colorado garage with a simple vision:  Make the World’s best electric bicycle, with no compromises in quality, performance or style.  Born from the Experience 1977 Jim Turner races moto-cross for the Suzuki Factory Team and wins the Canadian National Championship. Not without a quality mechanic, Jim traveled ...

This question came in from Aryeh: It does rain where I live. Do the fenders provide real protection from wheel splash, or are they more for style? Batteries are expensive. Are they contained in the frame in a way that they can't be stolen? Thanks, Aryeh Thanks for your questions.  The Optibike fenders were ...

Great Question.  A great electric bicycle is perfectly balanced, the Optibike has the lowest center of gravity of any electric bike. Balance and Performance based design Award winning electric bike designer and former National Motocross champion Jim Turner designed the patented Optibike monocoque frame from scratch to include 4 key elements: balance, ...

This question was most recently asked by Gary Ares, who writes for a blog about E-bikes at www.velochef.com: The answer: Maintaining an Optibike is much like maintaining a traditional bike, with a few exceptions.  Because the bike is heavier and you will go faster- the tires and brakes will wear out faster.  ...

This question comes up quite often, this week from Bill in Ontario: Electric bikes make cycling fun for a wide range of people.  For example, I know people who are VERY FIT who use the electric assist to make long distance commuting possible at higher speeds.  Because the Optibike is designed ...

It pains me to write this article. A quality product is so much more than the sum of the parts yet at the same time a quality product needs to be made from quality parts, so sometimes we have to break apart the whole to see what it is made ...

Riding an electric bike is about freedom (the real kind),exhilaration, fitness, fun, and a host of other emotions/sensations.  Where does range and distance fit into this experience? Having adequate range on an electric bike is about having NO LIMITS.  Whether you are cruising the open road, getting groceries, ...

There are four main types of batteries in use today on electric bikes: 1. Lead Acid (Old, large,heavy technology) 2. Nickel Metal Hydride (used in Optibike 2007) 3. Lithium Phosphate (A123 Style) 4. Lithium Cobalt (used in Tesla Electric car, Optibike) Battery capacity is are rated in amp –hrs (ah), but all capacity ...

In the next 2 weeks, the first Womens Specific Optibike Electric bike will be available for delivery.  What makes the womens bike good- for women? 1)  Lightweight.  The Optibike Helia is specifically designed to be as light as possible. Air filled suspension. The front and rear suspension are filled with air, not ...

Another great question.  Your answer: Jim Turner designed the Optibike to work as real transportation for people.  He wanted to overcome the limitations found in other electric bikes such as limited range (often caused by small batteries), limited speed, limited hill climbing ability, poor styling, and poor handling becuase of poor ...

I’m spending a few days at the beach in Destin, Florida and decided to rent a single speed beach cruiser from FantaSea. Rode for a couple of hours and cranked 18 miles to my 2010 total. 1,559 miles to go.  I’ll need to average 400 miles / month to get there. Anyone willing to bet I’ll [...]

Signed up yesterday to the Budweiser Century ride out of Cartersville, GA on September 18. It is also called the Beautiful Back Roads ride. Starts and ends at the Budweiser brewery and I noticed in small print that you must have an id to prove you’re over 21 – which means – brewery taste tour [...]

I’ve never named a bike – but this relationship to further develop must have a name. Any suggestions? Tormentor ? Flash? Mork from Boulder?

My bike just started its ride back from the Colorado mountains and I’m ready to get back to it. Hey baby Opti, make it back safely from where you were born your Daddy is waiting for you to ride your through rail trails all the way to ‘Bama and back to Duluth, your sweet home….   PS. Update 8/12/2010 – bike is back home [...]

Actually just shy of a year. The last months have been consumed by my volunteer activity and having to travel every week. In any case, two days ago I pulled out the trusty Optibike and cranked out (with the help of the MBB) 25 miles in an hour and five minutes with an average cadence [...]

Last Saturday – after a few weeks of vacationing in California – got back on the saddle for a pleasurable ride around Berkeley lake, Georgia. All systems go for 19 miles using the Fast setting. I’d play leaving each meeting point last and getting to the next point first. Oh, about 30 people wished they had [...]

Here is my proof on how far I’ve gone down my belt sizes. I  also have a few more pictures so you can see that both belts were put side by side. The brown belt was bought in Durango, Colorado on December 26, 2001. I think it has been 4 years since I was able to wear [...]

The wait was worth it.  Prepared Saturday night making sure I didn’t forget a thing. Bike, check! helmet, check! B vitamin liquid energy drink, check! Last minute bike charge with charger connected through window, check! GPS, check! Went to bed like a kid the night before Christmas.  5:30 am I was up before alarm clock [...]

Tomorrow will be my first electric century ride. Starts at 7 a.m. about an hour from my house. Leaving by 5:30 a.m. to make it on time. Hope it doesn’t rain too early. Will I lose 10 lbs in a day? Stay tuned….

My 2010 bike riding goals (other than mileage) 1. Accomplish my 10% body weight challenge with Opti before the deadline next September 2. Reach the Alabama -Georgia line on my bike riding the Silver Comet. June 2010 3. Learn to pedal using clip ons…. (before this year end). 4. Learn to layer warm clothes properly and conquer winter riding. 5. [...]