Introducing Third Rail Ebikes, Tempo’s first bike shop partner. Third Rail recommends Tempo Protection with every new bike they sell.
Third Rail Ebikes in San Francisco
Third Rail is one of the top ebike shops in the Bay Area. Best known for their experienced service team, they are the go-to service center for some of San Francisco’s most demanding riders, including food delivery riders and commuters. They also stock a range of innovative, high-quality bikes from Civilized, Velotric, Tenways, and their own house brand. They are centrally located in the Mission on Harrison at 18th and online at www.thirdrailebikes.com
Third Rail opened in 2020 amid the surge in demand for bikes and ebikes, but that good timing wasn’t an accident. Owner Eugene Dickey’s experience with bike shops goes back decades.
Eugene Dickey, owner of Third Rail
Eugene grew up in New York City, and spent his summers on Fire Island, an iconic beach community with almost no cars, and where everyone gets around by bicycle or on foot. Despite the importance of bikes to life on Fire Island, there was only one bike shop on the island in the 1970s. Teenage Eugene would hang out there pestering the elderly owner to teach him everything about bikes. When the owner passed away the following summer, Eugene and a friend went into the bike repair business.
But first they needed parts. Fortunately for their teenage budgets, there was a gated community on Fire Island where the residents were so wealthy they often threw away perfectly good bikes over something as simple as a flat tire. Eugene and his buddy borrowed a row boat (to circumvent the community’s gate), rowed over to the community’s dump, loaded up with discarded bikes, and rowed back. They set up shop on a neighbor’s pier, with a tarp over the decking to prevent small parts from falling through into the water. When the surf was up, they hung out a sign, and closed for a couple of hours. Yvon Chouinard would be proud.
The decades between that first Fire Island bike repair shop and Third Rail saw Eugene move to San Francisco, start several other businesses (ranging from construction to IT) and start a family. He kept riding bikes, and kept surfing. Then, when the pandemic hit, he knew it was time to get back to the bike business that he loved, and Third Rail (named for the high-voltage rail under a New York City Subway train that carries the electricity to the train) was born.
“Tempo is a great product,” says Eugene. “I talk to people all the time whose bikes have been stolen. Usually their homeowners insurance doesn’t cover the loss, and bike insurance is too expensive so no one will buy it. $199 for three years is a GREAT deal.”
Eugene recommends Tempo to everyone who buys a bike from him. It’s still early days for Tempo and Third Rail, but so far, about one in five of the people who buy a bike from Third Rail buy Tempo Protection for it. That’s a nice boost in sales for Third Rail, and many more Third Rail customers who are protected.
When our family bought an electric cargo bike earlier this year, one of my biggest fears was that this lovely and expensive new machine was going to get stolen. So I got the best lock money could buy, and I started to investigate: did I need ebike insurance?
First, I called my homeowners insurance provider to see if they would cover the bike if it were stolen. To my surprise, because it’s an electric bike, not only did my policy not cover it, they wouldn’t even add it for an additional fee or sell me a separate policy for it, the way they did for our family car.
Instead they referred me to an insurance company that specializes in bikes and ebikes. I bought a policy from them and sleep a little better for it.
I’ve heard similar stories from other ebike owners. And I’ve heard worse.
What can happen without ebike insurance
The saddest stories are the ones where someone assumed their homeowners or renters or car insurance covered their ebike, and after it was stolen or seriously damaged, it turned out it wasn’t covered.
And then there are the stories about people whose ebikes were covered by their homeowners policy, but their premium went way up when they made a claim for a stolen ebike.
Why it’s hard to insure an ebike
When it comes to insurance, ebikes land in a gray area outside standard homeowners insurance and auto insurance. Here’s why:
Ebikes are new in terms of the insurance industry. Most of the several million ebikes in the U.S. were purchased in the last two years. Insurers aren’t familiar with them, and insurers don’t like to be surprised by unfamiliar products.
Ebikes are more expensive than regular bikes. Policies that cover bikes, like most homeowners or renters policies, might have also covered ebikes until the insurer had to pay much larger claims than they expected to replace a damaged or stolen ebike. See above about insurers and surprise. So some policy terms got changed.
Finally, ebikes get stolen a lot, and not only from people’s homes. They are ridden and locked up outside all over the place, which makes them more vulnerable than other valuable household items.
Steps to take to properly insure your ebike
The odds that your ebike is covered by your existing insurance is lower than you may think. Here’s what to do to find out if you need ebike insurance:
Call your insurance company and find out what they cover. Things to bring up: coverage of accidental damage, theft, and travel (like what would happen if you flew somewhere with your bike and the airline did a number on it). Does the insurance company consider your ebike a “luxury item”? If you’re happy with the coverage, great! You’re good to go.
Consider bike-specific coverage. If you aren’t covered, or feel like the coverage you do have isn’t enough, here are some things to think about.
Bike insurance covers all kinds of bike specific things, not just theft. Think damage to the bike from a collision, medical payments if you are injured in a collision, insurance for the bike if you are traveling with it or racing it, or a bike rental while your bike is being repaired. Some policies even cover things like accessories (like bike lights and panniers) and riding clothes.
Bike claims won’t affect your other insurance premium. Should you need to make a claim on your ebike, your home insurance premium won’t change or get canceled.
We can help
Want to learn more about ebike insurance? Join Tempo and get easy access to insurance quotes, and other ways to protect your ebike right inside the app.
