Bob Bandhauer was a tirelessly enthusiastic promoter of electric bikes who lived in San Diego, southern California.
Bob noticed that there were a lot of business buildings with large parking lots that were empty on the weekends. He also knew that whenever he convinced someone to test-ride one of his ebikes, they often bought one for themselves. He decided that he needed to organize weekend meets so that ebike sellers and potential customers can take test rides on a variety of ebikes. Here is a link to one of the events (click here).
If you start a festival, the first one may not have many ebike shops show up with samples to ride, and people who are curious about ebikes might stop by and be disappointed that there isn’t much of a selection. However, if you stick with it, it will grow every time you hold an event.
Bob’s events in San Diego became very popular, and he was even working on starting events in other cities. His events welcomed all ebike brands, and they were a great promotional tool in order to reach a lot of potential customers who may have been reluctant to visit a particular ebike store. These events also cleared up a lot of myths about ebikes for the general public, and we hope someone picks up the torch that Turbo Bob has lit, and continues on by following his example. His Facebook page can be found here, and you can read “Turbo Bobs Bicycle Blog” by clicking here
For a short while, Turbo Bob wrote a bit for electricbike.com, and Bob even made our list of the ten most influential ebike people in 2017 (click here). We are sad to hear about his passing, after a long struggle with cancer.
Turbo Bob
Here is a paragraph from a biography I found:
“Turbo” Bob Bandhauer, a SoCal native, is a life long mechanic. His youth included bikes, kit built hifi equipment, and countless Rube Goldberg type creations. Years of building hot rods and motorcycles, including some wild turbocharged econo cars followed.
Nicknamed by his friends, career paths include aircraft electrical mechanic in the 82nd Airborne, BMW specialist, and more recently, sewing machine technician. Turbo and his wife have been E-biking close to 10 years.
His bike blog (Turbo Bob’s Bicycle Blog) draws a world-wide audience. He also created and hosts a twice-a-year E-bike event here in San Diego that draws 200 people, and 60+ E-bikes
Turbo Bob Bandhauer
If you want to see any of his ebike reviews, here is a link to his youtube channel (click here)
Written May, 2019
