GorillaKilla Grooming Hacks 101, How an Electric Bike Can Help with Grooming

It seems improbable, right? That electric bikes can help you be a well-groomed man? What the hell are we smoking?

Well, being a well-groomed man is more than just how you look. It’s also how you carry yourself. A tremendous advantage to utilizing an e-bike is getting to places on time. There is no faster way to get around a city than an electric bike. It’s faster than public transit. Subways, trains, light rails, cabs, Ubers, Lyfts. It’s faster than them all. Now, that’s not to say you won’t get somewhere on time (or faster) riding a regular bike. There’s just a pretty big difference between the two bikes.

And that difference? You can get there on time without worrying about being sweaty and smelling foul. I didn’t even think about it until it happened to me when I get on an e-bike – I didn’t sweat! I used to go to business meetings on my regular bicycle and I’d have to take a towel with me to try and make myself presentable. On an electric bike you can show up to meetings (or a date!) and not appear as if you just completed the Tour de’NYC. It’s easily the biggest pro to riding an e-bike.

Wear what you want

Another advantage of being more environmentally responsible with an e-bike is that you can wear nice clothes – even fine clothes – when riding an electric bicycle. That’s not to say you can’t do the same thing on a regular pedal bicycle. However, it’s a lot more difficult because the exertion is completely different (remember how you’re not sweating anymore?). The clothes don’t need to be fitted the same way. You can wear formal clothes that aren’t really conducive to a normal bike.

You’re not going to run in a suit but you can on an e-bike. You can take an e-bike on a date and show up worry-free about being gross by the time you show up. Just the fact that you can get on one of these bikes and wear better clothes is amazing. And not only wear the clothes you want to wear for a date to give that best first impression but you’re also going to be on time, sweat-free.

And all of that is without discussing how you’re reducing your carbon footprint and being greener. You’re not being part of the problem of overcrowded public transit or roads/traffic with cars. You’re being part of the solution.

Ditch the car

We use a cargo bike here at Gorilla Killa. It’s basically a car replacement. In many cases, an e-bike can be an effort to go either car free or car ‘light’ (as in maybe you own a car but only drive it out when you travel outside of the city). For me, anything in the city – shopping, meetings, business, dates – I handle on the e-bike. If I leave the city then I get into a car via one of the many car sharing services or I use some form of public transit.

A pro to the bigger, cargo e-bike? You can show up to pick-up your date with an extra helmet, and bam! It’s a whole added level to your date. Worst case, if she’s not into it, you don’t ride. Remember it’s the thought that counts.

Getting around on a bike says a lot about you. Getting around on an e-bike says even more. You show up looking good, sweat free, and having fun.

Looking forward

Owning an e-bike shows you’re a little more flexible. A little more forward thinking. Now, look, we aren’t trying to be political but it shows you’re a caring person. Anyone who rides an e-bike – no matter which side of the political spectrum they’re on – shows what they care about. It shows that they’re part of the solution. It doesn’t make someone a tree hugger or granola cruncher or any other stereotypical term for someone who cares about the environment.

Quick caveat: An e-bike isn’t as environmentally friendly as a regular bike because you have to charge the battery. Also, it’s about 80 cents per 50 miles. The bottom line though is that it’s been proven that people who ride e-bikes ride their bikes 3-4 times more frequently than normal bike riders. They also go 3-4 times the distance because it’s that much easier to get out.

In the first two months I put 2,000 miles on mine. The frequency with which you use it makes a big impact on the surrounding community when compared to other forms of transit that stress the infrastructure.

Exercise? Yes!

Listen, at this point you’re probably thinking, but Ken, what about the exercise you get from a pedal bike? Well guess what, you can turn off the motor and still get that in without going too over the top. For instance, the places you really burn the calories and get the cardio going are completely free of stress on an e-bike. If you’ve got a hill that’s a quarter of a mile long, you’re pumping hard. On an e-bike there’s no stress because on that hill you’re doing nothing on it. It’s great! AND there are actually health benefits from e-bikes!

There’s no real comparison if your goal is exercise on a regular bicycle but if you’re commuting you might not want to exercise all the time and you might not want the level of intensity that comes with a typical bicycle. However, some say the exercise of an e-bike vs bike is actually comparable.

It’s a game changer the way people talk to you. You do get some haters. One guy said to me, “Oh, you’re cheating.” Cheating? I didn’t know we were racing. He laughed it off and said, “Good point man.”

Sure, you’re not ‘hardcore’ riding an e-bike. You’re putting cream in your coffee. But I don’t have time for that bullshit. I’ve got a meeting to get to and I can’t afford to show up like I came straight from the gym.