PORTLAND, Ore. -- Portland is known as Biketown USA and the numbers back that up.
About seven percent of all Portland workers commute by bike. That's higher than any major city. And more and more of those bikes are electric.
Gunther Nuissl should know. He owns PxCycle, a small shop in North Portland that specializes in converting normal bikes to electric bikes.
Nuissl started his business four years ago out of his garage. Business was so good he soon moved into his shop on North Interstate.
He said in just the last two years, he's experienced a tenfold increase in business. The majority of those converting their bikes to electric are commuters, but he said more and more people are coming in who weren't riding bicycles at all.
And all it takes to give them a little boost on their bike is a 750-watt motor.
"It doesn't add a whole lot to your bike, but if you were riding it five miles before, with the motor system you could ride 40 miles with the same amount of effort and get the same amount of exercise," said Nuissl. "It's the power of the pedal."
Electric bikes with motors under 1,000 watts are legal on streets and most bike paths in Oregon. They can go almost anywhere a non-motorized bike can go.
As for how much it will cost you to convert to electric? Nuissl charges anywhere from $800 to $1,600 depending on the size of the motor.