You can always count on at least one interesting bike being walked around an outdoor trade show. From 36ers to hand built prototypes, it’s a good way to grab some attention even if you can’t afford a booth. This year that bike roaming about was an e-bike. Well, technically two e-bikes that are the work of mechanical wizzard, Jon Heim. As a former turbo charger engineer, inventor, and tinkerer, Jon has recently focused on electric vehicles as his latest challenge.
Why are the playfully named Heim-Bilt prototypes so interesting? As far as we know, they are the first e-bikes to offer major regenerative braking capabilities. We’re talking 30-50% of the battery capacity being recouped on any grade where the bike can coast. When e-bikes first started popping up years ago, one of the popular questions was always “when is someone going to figure out regenerative braking?” But the answer always seemed to be that bicycles were just too light for it to really work. Apparently no one told Jon that…