For David Mickelsen, opening an e-bike store is much more than a mere business decision. It’s personal. He knows first-hand how electric bikes can change people’s lives.
Long years of working in butcher shops and as a firefighter in his native town of Ipswich in Suffolk County, England, left Mickelsen with severe back problems, ultimately resulting in five back surgeries during the past decade.
“My first doctor told me if I didn’t do something, I’d be in a wheelchair permanently by 60 because of the condition in my back,” Mickelsen said.
“I had an eight-year period when I was struggling to walk, move, or sit down. I couldn’t really hardly do anything, apart from riding a bicycle. I love to ride a bike, but it became hard for me with my back problems.”
E-bikes Changed His Life
His life began to change for the better about eight years ago when he met a neighbor with an e-bike.
“I discovered that one of my neighbors was riding around, and he was 75 years old,” Mickelsen said. “Here I was at age 53 and struggling to walk, and this 75-year-old comes whizzing by me at 20 miles per hour. I whistled at him and called him back. I asked him if that was an electric bike and he said yes, do you want to ride it? I said yes. From that moment on, it changed my life. I had one within a couple of weeks. I started riding everywhere. I couldn’t hardly walk, but I could ride my bike everywhere, 20 to 30 miles a day. It was great. It gave me hope.”
“I started riding everywhere. I couldn’t hardly walk, but I could ride my bike everywhere, 20 to 30 miles a day. It was great. It gave me hope.”
Even though he still struggles with back pain, he credits riding his e-bike with much of his recovery.
“That bike gave me the incentive to get out even when I was feeling bad and didn’t want to get out, when I was hurting,” Mickelsen said. “The surgeon said to me that if I hadn’t been riding that bike through all of that time, if I had just given up and laid in bed, I wouldn’t be where I am now.”
“I really believe that e-bike changed my life.”
Opening His Own E-bike Store
Now Mickelsen is hoping to share his love and knowledge about electric bikes with customers at his newly opened independent e-bike store, New Life Ebike Co., in Winter Springs, Florida, outside of Orlando.
Given his own history and health issues, Mickelsen said his motivation for opening the store isn’t primarily financial.
“My reward is helping people to feel better and live a better, healthy life,” Mickelsen said.
“My reward is helping people to feel better and live a better, healthy life.”
New Life Ebike Co. offers several brands of e-bikes including Magnum Bikes and Bintelli Bicycles. The store is one of the first in Central Florida to sell the popular American-made cruiser-style e-bikes from the Electric Bike Company. EBC’s bikes are fully customizable by customers, including colors and accessories, and are made-to-order. Customers at the New Life Ebike Co. order their EBC bikes from a 70-inch touch-screen monitor in the store. The bikes are then assembled and shipped to the store or to the customer.
Customers can order custom-designed e-bikes like these to fit their riding style and personal interests.
A Background of Serving Customers
Mickelsen grew up working in his dad’s butcher shop in England. He credits that experience with teaching him a lot about working with customers.
“I was very shy when I was in school, but working in the butcher shop with my dad, who was also a preacher, taught me how to talk to people and what to do that’s right. My dad always instilled in me a high quality of service. Everything I did, I always tried to do better or as good as I possibly could.
“By the age of 19, I opened my first store. I talked my dad into buying another butcher shop. I literally within a few weeks turned it from a 400 pounds a week income to 4,000 pounds. From that moment on, it grew and grew. I eventually owned six butcher shops.”
As supermarkets began encroaching on the business of local butcher shops, Mickelsen diversified. He became a firefighter and bought a preschool, which he grew from 27 to 84 children and still owns today, even after moving to the United States.
Moving to America
Mickelsen and his family frequently took holidays to Florida and eventually bought a home in the Orlando area and moved there. He said the warm climate was better for his back pains.
“I came over partly for the weather,” Mickelsen said. “I love the warm weather. I had a lot of aches and pains in my body.”
He purchased and ran a preschool in Longwood, Florida, for 10 years, but for the past several years has been unable to work due to his disabilities.
A chance visit last year to an e-bike store with a friend changed the course of his life again. He visited West Orange Electric Bikes and struck up a conversation with the owner that led to his first job in several years.
“I ended up talking to the young man who owned this electric bike shop and he heard my story and offered me a job selling electric bikes. It was amazing.”
Mickelsen worked there for six months, but sadly the store closed because the owner contracted cancer and needed to concentrate on his treatments and recovery. Still, the experience of working there convinced Mickelsen that owning his own e-bike store could be his next career opportunity.
“I kind of found my old self again,” Mickelsen said. “To have this business here now is a miracle for me. I never thought I’d work again. I never thought I’d get out of pain.”
At his new store, New Life Ebike Co., Mickelsen said he is seeing people from all walks of life showing interest in electric bikes, rather than the typical avid cycling enthusiasts who often frequent other bike stores.
“The people coming here are more the everyday family people. If you are an avid mountain biker, we can get you a $10,000 mountain bike if you want it, but normally we’re going to get the everyday kind of riders, many of whom haven’t ridden in 20 or 30 or even 40 years. I sold a three-wheeler (e-trike) last year to a 92-year-old man who hadn’t ridden in 50 years. Now he’s 92 years old and rides five miles a day. His daughter says it’s changed his life.”
“I sold a three-wheeler (e-trike) last year to a 92-year-old man who hadn’t ridden in 50 years. Now he’s 92 years old and rides five miles a day. His daughter says it’s changed his life.”
Customers order e-bikes made by Electric Bike Company using this 70-inch, touch-screen monitor at New Life Ebike Co.
While senior adults have so far been the most common customers for buying e-bikes, Mickelsen said the market is expanding. He said he’s seen everyone from school children to small businesses showing interest in e-bikes. E-bikes are also increasingly being used for commuting to jobs in urban areas.
Despite what some critics say, Mickelsen said e-bikes can be an excellent source of exercise, a claim that is backed up by several recent scientific studies.
“You can work hard on an e-bike,” Mickelsen said. “You can use it for as much exercise or as little, to cruise or to work hard. It’s completely up to you.”
Friends Help With Store Opening
Mickelsen said opening the store wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many friends and neighbors. Chief among them is Jason Eans, who is Mickelsen’s massage therapist and has now become the store manager for New Life Ebike Co. Eans also worked with Mickelsen last year at West Orange Electric Bikes and has done considerable research into selecting the best models and brands of bikes for selling at the store. Dan Burns, a neighbor and friend, spent countless hours on renovating the store and preparing it for opening.
New Life Ebike Co. is located at 276 E. State Road 434 in the Venetian Square Shopping Center in Winter Springs, near the newly opened Planet Fitness. You may reach the store by calling 407-542-5363, online at www.NewLifeEBC.com, or on Facebook.
