First electric bike shop opens its doors in South Boston

A new electric bike shop “powered on” in South Boston Monday, and claims to be the only store in the city to cater exclusively to the electric bike crowd.

“We’re the first brick and mortar shop in Boston,” Elias Moe, 34, an operations engineer at NexGen Bicycles at 121 Boston Street,  said. Moe partnered with Bill Stevens, another Boston resident and NexGen’s owner, to start the store.

A life-long bicycle enthusiast, Moe says he owns 10 regular bicycles and three electric ones, and builds still more at the Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville. For the last five years, this Washington state native has worked as a full-time pedi cab driver in Boston and other cities.

Purists have pooh-poohed electric bicycles as undermining the spirit of the activity. But Moe doesn’t share their concerns. “I’m a bike nut! For me it’s not about replacing bicycles,” he said. Instead he believes they are an alternative to cars, for example, to bring home a load of groceries after a long day of work.

Electric bikes today aren’t perfect. They’re expensive for one, and heavy. Groups like MIT’s SENSEable City lab are working on designing better bikes, like this Copenhagen Wheel that converts pedal-power into juice for the battery. According to one report, electric bike sales will rise to 400,000 electric bikes in the US by 2016, CityLab reports.

In Boston, the fact that most existing bike shops cater to non-motorized bicycles posed an opportunity for Moe and Stevens. “There’s a vacuum—there’s not many options for people who are interested in electric bicycles,” Moe said.

Electric bike owners can come to NexGen to get their vehicles repaired. NexGen will also convert regular bikes to electric ones, or provide the parts for folks who want to take the DIY path. NextGen also sells a range of electric and foldable bikes (which, unlike regular bikes, can be packed up and carted into the subway during rush hour).

Image of bike gears via Shutterstock