Opened in October 2009, Philly Electric Wheels is the first store in the tri-State region to sell and service electric bicycles exclusively. Owner Afshin Kaighobady brings a long-time personal study of bicycles and busy practice of hands-on handiwork for neighbors seeking to make their homes more energy efficient.

Born in Iran, Afshin came to the U.S. to study engineering in the 1970s. He met his wife here, and she met her first e-bike earlier this year. Noting her enthusiasm for this mode of transportation (she commutes to work daily), he spent months researching the electric bicycle field before deciding to open the store at the corner of Greene & Carpenter Lane in Philadelphia’s famously green Mt. Airy Village neighborhood.

While Afshin has been involved in a half dozen successful eco-ventures, this is his first experience in retailing.

He confesses that attending the national bicycle retailers convention in Las Vegas required getting on an airplane, an act he found extremely painful, given the low-carbon diet he began after seeing An Inconvenient Truth in '06.  This is a man whose household energy use has been pared to the minimum without sacrificing comfort.

Afshin lives up the block from the store which is at the intersection of Greene St and Carpenter Lane in vibrant Mt. Airy Village. He is a regular at the nearby High Point Café, Big Blue Marble Bookstore and Weavers Way food co-op. He has tango-ed at the Moving Arts studio where his mother-in-law practices yoga. And can frequently be found walking in Carpenter Woods, three blocks up the hill.

The PHEW Crew

Afshin Kaighobady - store founder and owner
Afshin’s fondest boyhood memories include a frequent chore--carrying home a loaf of hot bread in one hand while guiding the handlebars of his bicycle with the other.

Meenal Raval - investor and muse
Born in India, Meenal learned to drive a car well before she tackled a bicycle. She is now years into a low-carbon diet.

Marie Dilsizian - sales
Paris-born, Marie recently learned that her sister and brother-in-law, living in a small Italian village, have actively used an electric bicycle for a decade.

Anthony Locicero - mechanic extraordinaire
Hailing from Vermont, Anthony is gifted with a special touch for bicycles.
 

Philly Electric Wheels is a member of

Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia

Mt Airy Business Association

Weavers Way Food Co-op

Mt Airy / Rutabaga Bike Collective

National Bicycle Dealers Association