Bicycle Shop Owner Sees Boom With Electric, Gas Power

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (AP) -- You used to see him in his yard on Highway 80 just past the traffic circle repairing and selling bikes.

Then the yard was empty, and people wondered where he went.

Thanks to the support of the local biking community and brisk Internet sales, Roland Bosma, owner of Spooky Tooth Cycles, which is in its fifth year of business, now calls an old warehouse on Cochise Row in Bisbee home. It houses his bike showroom, a waiting room, offices, warehouse space and a repair shop.

Bosma, a transplanted Tucsonan, has experienced steady growth in sales as the desire for alternative modes of travel increases. With Bisbee's environmentally- and health-conscience community, he is seeing a surge in requests for electric bikes and for conversions of residents' manpower bicycles.

Spooky Tooth had humble beginnings in Tucson in a converted bedroom of an apartment. He made one bike there and sold it. The customer was a happy camper and soon, through word-of-mouth, he had a viable business operation.

Bosma then discovered Bisbee and moved the major operation just two years ago. He still maintains a Spooky Tooth bike repair shop in Tucson.

"We are a full service bike shop and we can do anything. We are the only gas and electric conversion shop in the area. We also do fabrication and all repairs," Bosma said. "This new technology is beyond the comprehension of most bike shops."

He has found a niche and is maximizing on that desire to reduce one's carbon footprint. In Bisbee, more cyclist are converting their standard bikes to electric or gas or even buying the latest models. On the Internet, Spooky Tooth boasts steady sales in gas-powered bicycles, he said.

Back in the summer when gas was $4 a gallon, 120 bikes a month were being shipped to eager customers. Now that fuel costs are down, that figure has dropped to 60.

"The notion of sustainable transportation has been growing locally in southern Arizona and Spooky Tooth has been there fanning the flames ... Thousands of Arizonans have been able to realize the benefits of daily commuting through electric bicycle or gas-powered bike motor. At 150-plus miles per gallon for gas and zero emissions for electric, the environmental impacts are minimal and the cost savings huge," he added.

Thanks to an Arizona law he helped create, titles, registrations or license taxes are not required of bike riders whether powered by two feet, electricity or gas. It also allows the gas and electric bikes the right to use bike lanes as long as a speed of 20 mph or less is maintained. He prefers to talk a potential buyer through the different options and asks questions to see what bike would be the best suited for the need. "I like to know a bit about the person and what they are looking for. Choosing a bike isn't just a low cost versus high cost decision. The right bike for you is the one you are going to ride," Bosma said. "There's not a high likelihood that we will be able to get most people on a bicycle. But when they can have the added boost of a gas-powered or electric-powered bike, it may open the possibilities."

His stock includes a Trailz electric for $650 that comes with two battery packs for a 40-mile range to the Greenline Lithium Ion Electric that costs $1,000 that gets 20 to 25 miles on a charge.

The electric bike is powered by a battery pack mounted on the rear wheel or in a more innovative fashion inside the frame itself. An average battery charge can get a rider 20 or more miles on a single charge that costs just pennies. The battery charger plugs in to any 110-volt wall outlet. If used on short trips for errands, it's possible to cut back fuel costs considerably. The nickel metal hydride battery can be charged up to a 1,000 times at around 10 cents per charge.

Some of the bikes have governing systems, like those on electric golf carts, that prevent the bike from going over 15 or 16 mph. Others have none and that means a rider can get above 30 mph, Bosma said.

Even the gas-powered bikes are being revamped with quieter, cleaner engines that get 150 miles per gallon.

Bosma is an adherent to the alternative energy use program.

"It's a philosophy that is leading us in this direction. It's creating a culture around powered bicycles," Bosma said. "I know of no better way to make meaningful change than in the field of transportation."