by Phone:
Toll free in the US (800) 692 3943
Local & International: (212) 737 3078
Direct email: info@NYCeWheels.com
via the below form: (We will respond within a few business hours)
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NYCeWheels specializes in alternative transportation. That means folding bikes, electric bikes, and kick scooters. You may enjoy gliding from point A to B in new ways, using means that are environmentally friendly, healthy, efficient, and affordable. Electric and folding bikes, motorized and kick scooters can expand your mobility and save time and money. Where storage space, portability, steep inclines and distance were once discouraging factors, our innovative and proven products open up new possibilities for getting around.
We invite you to transform the way you move around and perhaps in the process also your life, others and your communities.
NYCeWheels is a retail shop in the Yorkville section of Manhattan's Upper East Side, founded by Bert Cebular in October of 2001.
Over the years NYCeWheels has become as a leader in alternative transportation specializing in portable, healthy and fun products. We began with just electric scooters and now have expanded our stock to a large selection of unique electric and human powered bikes, folding bikes and kick scooters.
We carry high quality products, which have been thoroughly tested and carefully selected by the NYCeWheels staff. We strive to continuously learn what is reliable, practical, and effective for commuters and recreational riders alike. Whether you'll be traveling through bustling city streets, sprawling suburbs or rural areas, we may have the product for you.
NYCeWheels' customers have found that folding bikes, kick scooters, electric scooters and electric bicycles are viable forms of transportation.
NYCeWheels exhibits in green and mainstream transportation festivals throughout the Northeast and is an active member of Transportation Alternatives and The National Bike Dealers Association. We participate in many local and regional rides and events, and ride what we sell.
We envision a bright future through alternative transportation, particularly in dense urban centers. Improved air quality, reduced traffic, easier parking and improved personal health and enjoyment will be some of numerous benefits.
We are open Monday through Saturday from 11am - 7pm
We are CLOSED on Sunday so we can ride our bikes.
In 2012 we will be closed on:
January 1st to January 8th; New Year's Break
January 16th; Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
May 28th; Memorial Day
July 4th; Independence Day
September 3rd; Labor Day
October 8th; Columbus Day
November 22nd; Thanksgiving Day
December 25th to December 31st; X-mas Holidays
In 2013 we will be closed on:
January 1st to January 8th; New Year's Break
NYCeWheels is located on New York City's Upper East Side at 1603 York avenue (between 84th and 85th street) New York, NY 10028.
York avenue is a quick walk from the Subway Stop at 86th and Lexington (take the 4,5, or 6 train to get there). We are also a 30 second ride from the best Park in NYC: Carl Schurz Park. This is the perfect place to test ride our electric bikes and folding bikes.
4,5 and 6 trains stop at 86th street and Lexington avenue. Walk 3 blocks east and 1.5 blocks south to visit our store. If you don't want to walk you can take the bus across one last time before getting on your new, shiny ride.
We are only 10 blocks south of the FDR Drive's 96th street exit. When heading south on FDR drive, take the 96th street exit and go straight to 86th Street. Make a left and proceed to York ave. Turn right and we are just 1 block up on the right. See you soon!
Drag the bicycle icon to your starting point to see the best route to NYCeWheels via bicycle (cool huh?).
NYCewheels will repair and service any of the Electric Bikes and Folding bikes that we sell.
Since we have a very small repair shop we are limited to do work for our customers only, we just don't have room for more mechanics and the poor guys are already working 75 hours a week.
We are now offering loaner bikes to our customers who just cannot bear to be without a bike or scooter for a few days. This applies to repairs that will be finished in 1-4 days. We have the following models available to borrow while you wait:
Brompton M3L Folding Bike
Ezee Sprint Electric Bike
Ezee Forza Sport Electric Bike
Xootr MG Kick Scooter
Xootr Roma Kick Scooter
Unfortunately we cannot work on product that we do not sell.
(We have tried but it never works out, if a Electric Bike or Folding bike is worth repairing, it would be worth for us to sell it)
We recomend contacting the dealer that has sold you the product, they are commited to servicing the product and provide direct support as part of their selling price.
Please use the Bike shop locator if you are trying to find a shop in your neigborhood.
(just enter your Zip code)
Q: Why would someone want an electric bike?
A: For many reasons! Some people use them to commute, as an alternative to a car or public transportation. "Then why not use a regular bike?", you ask? Well, not everyone wants to get to work dripping in sweat, and other people travel distances that are unrealistic to travel by bike without assistance. Some people use electric bikes because they live in areas that are particularly hilly, making regular biking a bit too strenuous. Some people use them for light exercise. There are plenty of reasons.
For more details, read our article on electric bikes here: Electric Bicycles!
Q: These electric bikes are basically just electric-powered motorcycles, right? I mean, James Dean would have raced these babies if they'd been around in his time, correct? They kick up a cloud of dust, leave tire streaks, and easily reach top speeds that'll get my adrenaline pumping... right? Right?
A: An emphatic no. None of our electric bikes surpass 20 miles per hour when riding solely with electric assistance. If you're looking for high speeds and raw power, your best bet would be to look elsewhere. Electric bikes are meant to augment human power, not to completely replace it. Do you want some extra help climbing hills? Then get an electric bike. Do you want to commute to work without breaking a sweat? Then get an electric bike. Do you want pedaling to become largely effortless? Then get an electric bicycle. But if you're looking for something that'll feed your need for speed, just pop in any action movie that came out in the 70's or 80's and receive vicarious enjoyment from the myriad of car chase scenes. We recommend The French Connection, as it has one of the penultimate chase scenes. Plus, young Gene Hackman!
Q: Do electric bikes require a license or registration?
A: No. Federal law is legally treating electric bikes like standard bicycles, with all of the laws surrounding standard bicycles applying to them. Local state laws can have different interpretations, so check your states DMV for details. We wouldn't recommend them for anyone under 16 years of age, however.
Q: Can electric bikes be ridden with the electric assistance off?
A: Yes! Electric bikes come in different models and styles. Some weigh more, some weigh less. The lighter models (see the Giant Lite, the Giant Suede E, and the eZee Torq) can be ridden just like a regular bike when the power is off. Not to say that the heavier models can't be ridden without power... just expect to be doing a little bit more work than you would with a standard bike.
Q: Batteries. I hear there are different types. What gives?
A: Electric bikes and electric scooters use one of three types of batteries: Lead Acid (SLA), Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH), and Lithium Ion (Li Ion.) The current generation of electric bikes use mainly NiMH and Lithium batteries, with the heavier SLA batteries having been largely phased out (the exception would be electric scooters, which still predominantly use SLA batteries.) Here's the breakdown:
Lead Acid (SLA) batteries:
They're the heaviest of the three with the shortest overall lifetime. A Lead Acid battery will last about 300 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced. Their only advantage is the fact that they're relatively commonplace and the least expensive to replace.
Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries:
A big jump up from SLA batteries, they're much lighter and have a better overall lifetime. A NiMH battery will last about 500 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced.
Lithium Ion (Li Ion) batteries:
The newest technology in batteries. They're pretty comparable to NiMH batteries, with the exception of these two differences: Lithium Ion batteries are a little bit lighter, and a Lithium Ion battery will last about 800 full charge cycles before it needs to be replaced. Lithium Ion batteries are the most expensive of the three.
Q: How far will an electric bike go on a single charge?
A: That depends on a lot of things, including rider weight, how much pedaling you're doing, how much of the ride occurs on an incline and the severity of the aforementioned incline, so on and so forth. On flat ground, a rider of average weight can travel about 10 to 15 miles per charge on a throttle-based bike (with little to no pedaling), and on a pedal assisted bike that same rider can travel up to 30 miles per charge.
Q: Are electric bikes affected by adverse weather?
A: They'll handle the rain just fine, but you'll experience a decrease in range when riding in severely cold weather.
Q: I don't live in the United States. Will the bike's charger work with my voltage? Will I need an adaptor?
A: Most chargers are set to handle either 120 or 240 volts, with a switch on the back to select between the two. Before you plug it in, make sure it's set to the right one! 120 is usually the default.
Q: Are electric bikes awesome?
A: Totally awesome. Some would even say righteous.
Q: Why would I want a folding bike?
A: For ease of storage, so that you can take them with you wherever you go without having to lock them up outside, so you can integrate your bike riding with other forms of transportation, and so you can impress members of the opposite sex. Dude, come on, we wrote those articles for a reason. For the full scoop, click here: Folding Bikes!
Q: How long does it take to fold a folding bike? Is it hard? Is it going to make me look like an idiot?
A: That depends on the folding bike, but generally they're simple and quick to fold. Take the Brompton, for instance. It can be completely folded in ten seconds and with such great ease that each public display of its folding will sell at least another two Bromptons. As such, we encourage you to fold them in front of friends and family, on busy street corners, at the entrances of train stations, and in town squares.
Q: Are folding bicycles safe?
A: Completely. 100%. The integrity of a folding bike is the same as that of a standard bike.
Q: Dude. Dude. Dude!
A: We know! We get to work in a shop full of these bikes, so trust us, we know. Please feel free to stop by and share high fives (both up high and down low) and tears of joy with us.
Giant. You think it'd be pretty straight forward, right? It's just the word 'giant.' But no. We get the occassional customer that tries to pin a more cultured sound on the name, pronouncing it with a hard 'G' as such: Gee-aunt. Francophiles, perhaps?
BionX. It's pronounced like "Bionics." This one is a bit more understanding. Our favorite mispronunciation is still "Boinks."
eZee, the easy bike. Pronounced as "easy." That was eZee enough, right? Oh, how we love bad puns here at NYCEWheels! (Note: Our relationship with bad puns is strictly one-way. We enjoy making bad puns, but we do not enjoy hearing them. Please don't offer any of your own, or we'll have to document them on our website to shame future customers out of undertaking the act in the future.)
Xootr. Pronounced as "Zooter." We've gotten everything from "X-Ooter," "X-Zooter," and "X-Scooter" to just blank stares and awkward silence.
NYCeWheels is growing at a fast pace and is looking for some more help. With so many things to do at the shop and for our website, we welcome a wide variety of skills and are interested in both full-time and part-time help.
Please use the forms below to let us know what your unique skills and interests are.
Please note that only one (the highest value) promo will be applied against your order. All discounts below are web-only specials and might not be available in our retail shop.
Fixing electric bikes is no walk in the park, especially if you've only got one electrically-trained mechanic. We often find ourselves up to our necks in battery testers, soldering irons, and voltage controllers before we can determine the problem, and there are many instances where we must order parts before we can return a bike to you. Therefore, we've laid out this set of guidelines so you understand which bikes we are able to work on, and which ones give us headaches.
This goes without saying. Anyone who purchased a bike from us gets top priority. We'll do whatever it takes to get you back on the road. You're from out of state you say? No problem. Let us work with a local bike shop. Electric bikes are tricky, and we're the experts. Drop it off with us for a few days and let us really examine everything.
"But I can't live without my bike! Not even for one day!" We know. Life is brutal without wheels. Luckily, we have loaners for all of our Brompton and Xootr customers. For a repair or tune up that we can get done quickly, you're welcome to keep on riding on one of our loaners. Just be sure to take care of it so the next rider can use it.
Let's say you found this awesome electric bike on the internet, rode it for a while, and now it needs a tune up. You found us on the web, and decided to drop in with your bike. We have to work on it right? I mean, we have all the parts.
Well, technically no. Even if we have the bike in our store, we don't work on bikes that weren't purchased here. There are many reasons for this policy, but the main one is our mechanic's sanity. He's already repairing twenty electric bikes a day in the summer. Can you imagine how long you'd have to wait if we decided to just fix any old bike?
When you buy an electric bike, you begin a long relationship with your dealer that sometimes results in group bike rides, small parties at the shop, Swiss Chocolate, and wine. At least those are the kinds of things we see at our shop. You should let your original dealer help with service, since they can help with warranty, parts, and any other sorts of social stimulation.
Why yes, in fact we do. If you have a mountain bike or a road bike, we will do a full tune-up. This includes derailleur and brake adjustments, bolt tightening, spoke tightening, chain and pulley lubrication, and tire inflation. It's all or nothing. Why? Well we want to cover every possible problem area. If you just want a seat adjusted, and your handlebars fall off afterward, we don't want to be responsible because we're still holding the wrench. Let us inspect the bike entirely, and make sure the whole thing is safe to ride, not just part of it. Traditional bike shops in the area might do partial repairs, feel free to check them out.
In the busy season (April to September), we tend to have a very long wait with our own customers. If you're not in a hurry to get a regular tune-up, that's fine with us. If you're a daily commuter, you might have better luck looking for a traditional bike shop for service.
