Many an owner-operator through the years has brought ingenuity to the problems fitness and mobility equipment for downtime over-the-road can present. Need a good workout? Look no farther than 2024 Trucker of the Year Alan Kitzhaber's minimal mods to turn his standard-size KW T600 sleeper into a gym for full-body workouts in adverse weather, out of the elements.
For mobility, owner-ops have devised trailer-mount racks and parking spots on the deck for motorcycles, back-of-cab hangers and other ways of carrying bikes, even special compartments within a larger sleeper.
In recent years, the rise of elecric-motor-assisted hybrid bicycles has delivered potential for both -- greater mobility with range in some cases up to 100 miles on a charge, and options to ride under mostly the power of your legs, too, to work the cardio.
The Heybike brand caught our eye this week with a line of folding ebikes that could simplify storage, and the company's got a sale ongoing to mark our country's 250th birthday, with many models steeply discounted.
Follow this link to access Heybike company's collection of folding ebikes, perhaps ideal for truckers with storage space limitations for alternative mobility, fitness during downtime OTR.
Ebikes aren't exactly cheap, given the electric-motor-assist tech and the engineering that goes into them. Folding models in Heybike's lineup come with list-price tags from roughly $1.5K to more than $2K. Right now, as the company's sale ad above shows, many are marked down hundreds of dollars.
Weight of the bikes among more easily stored folding models ranges from the lightest (and most expensive) 40-lb. Helio F model and up.
Pictured here is the Mars 3.0 model, with a full suspension and cargo rack. The bike's max load is rated at 440 lbs., with electric range up to 65 miles. Listed at $1,800, the July 4 sales puts it at $1,200 as of this writing.
Riders can dial the electric assist up or down with the Heybike smartphone application, and variations among the bikes are many.
If you're carrying an ebike or standard human-power-only two-wheeled transporter OTR today, share tips and tricks for storage, safety and utility with Overdrive Editor Todd Dills via email.
Catch a review from EBR (Electric Bike Review) of one of Heybike's non-folding ebikes via this link.
Heybike's full line of folding models and others you can peruse here.
[Related: Alternative two-wheeled transport and fitness on the long road]
