Food Deliveries on an Ebike

Image you have a superpower traveling around the streets of Chicago—flying down the streets, feeling the breeze on your face, watching the pavement rush past underneath, while making all the traffic lights, and not breaking a sweat.  If you are a food delivery person during this time of COVID-19, imagine experiencing all these benefits AND tripling the number of deliveries you can do in a day and your income?  All of this is possible on an ebike. 
 
Electric bikes (ebikes) have been popular in Europe for over 10 years, but they are now growing in popularity in the United States.  They have traditional bicycle components like wheels, chain, saddle, and a handlebar but they also have a motor, battery and display that provides a boost, also called pedal assist.  This assist can be a huge benefit then trying to haul goods, go long distances, or travel at a faster pace.   

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Benefits of an ebike include:

• Enables social distancing – just keep 6 feet apart from other cyclists and you can avoid the crowds on the train or bus
• Save money- swapping out trips by auto (with the required expense of gas, insurance, parking, and maintenance), car share trips (i.e. Uber or Lyft), and transit, especially when going on short trips around your neighborhood     
• Save time – speed by traffic and get where you want to go faster and with less effort
• Arrive refreshed – Less effort means less sweating
• Get exercise – while you use less effort than a traditional bike, you still get a workout.   A study showed ebike riders get the same level of physical activity due to covering greater distances and choosing their bike more frequently for some trips.  You are also more active than sitting in a car.  

 
If you are a food delivery person there is an added benefit of faster deliveries and greater earnings.     One food delivery person rented an ebike from Earth Rider on a Saturday, using it for both the lunch and dinner shifts and reported a 250% increase in the number of deliveries and a 700% increase in earnings on that day.  People tip better when their food arrives faster!  While he was previously making 30 deliveries per day on a traditional bike, he made 80 speeding around on the ebike and instead of earning $50 for the day he earned $420.  He is now hooked and renting the ebike by the week. 
 
We are all adjusting to what will be a new normal, and an ebike just might be part of your brave new world.  

Tip:  Come into Earth Rider to test ride an ebike and see what all the fuss is about.  We also rent ebikes by the day or week.