Couple's Entrepreneurial Vision Highlights the Transformational Nature of E-bikes for Experiencing the Richness of Local Life
OAKLAND, CA; May 18, 2022...The New Wheel, the Bay Area's earliest shops dedicated to e-bikes, today opened its third location, the business's first store in Oakland.
"We are very pleased to open a new shop in Oakland and serve the community," said Karen Weiner, co-owner, The New Wheel. "It's inspiring to help bring positive change to so many individuals and families throughout the Bay Area, including an improved quality of life. It's also gratifying to know that we are helping to better the environment and spur public policy decisions that support e-bikes as a highly-beneficial means of transportation."
The New Wheel's owners, married couple Brett Thurber and Karen Wiener, started their journey together when they met at UC Berkeley. They opened the first shop in the Bernal Heights neighborhood of San Francisco in 2012 and a second location in Larkspur in 2016. The Oakland store is located at 1446 Leimert Boulevard in the Oakmore neighborhood.
According to University of Tennessee Professor Chris Cherry, whose research focuses on e-bikes and other sustainable modes of transportation, the average cost of ownership, maintenance, and fuel for a car is about $8,000 per year. The average e-bike owner may spend $400 a year on those same expenses. An e-bike is a great way to reduce travel expenses and still have a lot of mobility. For the environment, cars, even EVs, emit 10-30 times more greenhouse gas emissions than e-bikes.
"The electric bike has become a crowd-pleaser among cyclists and mobility and urban planning advocates who see it as a catalyst for building more bike infrastructure and addressing issues like traffic congestion," said Professor Cherry. "It's taking bicycling out of this very niche group of riders that are either Sunday riders or hard-core commuters, and expanding it a lot more across the board."
The New Wheel's mission is based on a labor of love that started with a fledgling idea more than a decade ago, and a tremendous amount of fortitude in the intervening years. In addition to supporting The New Wheel's customers, Brett and Karen are proud to have created a positive, family-oriented work environment for bike professionals in service, sales and administration.
