DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa is branded as the world capital of trails, and those trails support a robust cycling community with more than 900,000 recreational riders. Yet, bike shops are seeing a shift in demand for electric bikes.

“It’s most of our business. Three of the bikes that went out at the end of the week last week were electric bikes out of the six [that were sold], and considerably more money,” said Kevin Longcor, Ankeny Team Leader at Kyle’s Bikes.

As the market grows, Iowa still lacks in e-bike mechanics to handle the rate of needed maintenance and repairs. Even those who can fix them still struggle to keep up,
as most e-bikes use specialized computers. Depending on the brand, repairs might not be an option for cheaper bikes bought overseas, as software and parts are harder to source.

“We see ten e-bikes in the shop, about six or seven of them are going to be from online retailers that we’ve never seen the e-bike computer system before, and we just don’t have the diagnostic tools, and sometimes the mechanical tools to work on some of those bikes. So, we are limited in what we can do with those,” said Ryan Blane, owner of RynoVelo Bike Shop in Ankeny.

“We probably turn someone away every day. Mechanically, as far as the workings of the bike go I can fix anything. If you need me to adjust your brakes, I can do that. If you need the gears adjusted I can do that, but if it’s an electronic issue… I can check those things but I can always do anything about it,” said Longcor.

Both shops agree that when it comes to e-bikes, it’s a get-what-you-pay-for investment when it comes to repairs. So, buying a bike in-store ensures that the store will have the proper equipment to fix those e-bikes.

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