About

The Store

Glow Worm Bicycles opened its doors in Marrickville, Sydney’s inner west, making it one of the first retail electric bicycle stores in Sydney and is now open 7 days for e-bike test-riding, bike repairs, accessories sales or a chat. Located on the corner of Addison and Illawarra Road, the shop is conveniently near to the Addison Road Community Centre, well known for its Sunday Organic Markets and Reverse Garbage.

The shopfront takes a prominent corner location in one of Marrickville's historic buildings – the now derelict Dance Hall. The shop space was empty for many years since the Tony Ferraro barber closed its doors – and for those who remember the building as it was don’t worry – Tony Ferraro’s original red and white signage is just behind our new bike signs, untouched and unspoilt. Glow Worm Bicycles joins the garage sale shop (open weekends only) as the only tenants operating out of this building. Addison Road on the other hand, is anything but derelict and is a very lively place with friendly local residents, our favourite Newsagent cafe and the famous Chinese Takeaway with 1980 prices next to the Domo Diseno Gallery on one side and the new cafe and Tapas bar 2204 all warmly welcoming us when we moved in.

The bicycle mural on the Agar St side of the bike shop was painted by local bike-loving artists and good friends of ours when we moved in drawing the attention of local well-wishers and setting the scene for the newest and coolest bike store on the block.

Inside the shop you can browse the extensive range of bicycle parts and accessories, get your bike serviced, covet the beautiful electric bicycles or grab a test ride. Dogs, children and babies most welcome! Much of the shop fitout was hand built from timber saved from the waste stream by Dylan and Jeremy. Depending on the mood you might hear Tom Waits’s poetry coming out of Maurice and Kaitlin’s hand crafted solar powered wheelie bin sound system.

The bicycle store has already been venue to memorable cycling events such as the screening of Cycling Through the Centre, Mel and Be’s Port Augusta to Darwin cycling adventure and video shows from Guim’s electric bicycle world tour and Glow Worm and Sydney Electric Bike's Himalayan e-bike ride. If you have a bike-related event that you’d like to hold at Glow Worm Bicycles, please contact us. To see what's happening next check out our blog.

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The People

Abraham Wile

The most experienced electric bicycle technician this side of the tracks, Abraham graduated from the UNSW School of Photovoltaic and Solar Energy Engineering with an honours thesis in electric bicycle transport. Abraham loves to get inside the inner workings of electric motors, controllers, batteries, chargers, throttles and anything else that can be modified to tweak a bicycle to extreme awesomeness. Staying ahead of a vast range of e-bike products and developments from around the world, Abraham brings invaluable technical know-how to Glow Worm Bicycles. He’s not limited to the electric world and can help you out with all your human powered needs. Abraham is a graduate of the United Bicycle Institute's world renowned intensive bicycle mechanics course including wheel building, advanced suspension and advanced mechanics!

Hughoce Feng

Our latest e-bike technician comes in the human form of Hughoce 'three motors' Feng. With a collection of self-built electric bikes that challenge the dimensions of any garage, Hughoce has seen almost everything that can go wrong with electricity and two wheels. A staunch supporter of pedal choice, Hughoce adds to Glow Worm's capacity to keep the electric bicycles of Sydney zipping along.

Ali Cheong

A genuine graduate of Glow Worm, Ali has learnt more bike wrenching in the last year than anyone you know. With enthusiasm that only comes from a love of bikes, she's piling on the skills while keeping the neighbourhood riding. You might see Ali around on her Yuba electric cargo bike, Vivente World Randonneur touring bicycle or many other creations.

Griffen Jones

Griffen Jones keeps our customers and their bikes mechanically happy in the workshop with skilled hands and a cool head. With many years experience at Clarence St and even longer on whichever bikes he and his friends are riding, you'll be glad your bike is in Griff's hands and even happier when you get it back. When he's not drumming in punk bands Griffen has been spotted around town on custom single speed and road bike creations.

Adrian Emilsen

Adrian brings a lifetime of diverse experience to the shop, offering
expert advice on everything from cycling with young children to
choosing the best bicycle parking facilities for your workplace. As well as working as
mechanic and customer service at Glow Worm Bicycles, Adrian teaches cycling
confidence courses for Bikewise works on various
bicycle projects with the City of Sydney, and occasionally lectures on
cycling for transport at universities. Adrian is on the board of
BikeSydney and can also be spotted racing and
training with the local Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club.

Oliver Cashman

When it comes to bicycles in Sydney, Ollie is prolific. As well as working as mechanic in our bike workshop, his many hats include volunteer at the Bicycle Garden, the refugee bikes project at Bike Club, a host of one-off events at the Sydney Rides Festival, co-owner of used and dutch bike specialist Omafiets Dutch Bicycles, teacher of free bike maintenance courses at Bikewise and devourer of hills and km on his road and touring bikes.

Ryan Castle

The unseen but highly appreciated brains behind the website, Ryan has helped set up the Drupal websites for the Sydney Energy Cooperative, Thoughtful Foods, UNSW Enviro Collective and now this website you're admiring now. Recently finishing a bicycle epic from Cairns to Alice Sprints and interested in a range of environmental issues and sustainability, Ryan’s is a face you’ll be happy to see at environmental issues around the traps. Check out the Omafiets Dutch Bicycles website for yet another.

Darren

The only fully equipped mobile bicycle mechanic in Sydney that we want to know about, Darren leads the mechanical team, bringing class, diligence and years of experience to the workshop at Glow Worm Bicycles. Also found managing Cranks Balmain, Darren’s resume includes bicycle fleet servicing, many happy customers around the eastern suburbs and maybe you too!

Maurice Wells

Maurice – that’s me. I’ve been involved in the Sydney cycling community for many years and helped to get Bike Club up and running when it was the Nunnery in Newtown. I studied Solar Energy engineering at UNSW where I started the UNSW Bike Club. I first met electric bicycles around this time and saw a huge potential to get more people onto two wheels more of the time with this technology. I went on to write my graduating thesis on electric bicycles and battery design and left with first class honours in 2007. From there it was into the solar industry by starting the Sydney Energy Cooperative. I kept working on electric bicycles as a hobby and finally took the plunge in 2009 with the goal of bringing the world’s best electric bicycles to Sydney and Australia. I couldn’t be happier with the products we’ve got, the people working with me and the community we’re in, so I think we’re on the right track.

Legends of Glow Worms past

Jeremy ‘Jez’ Wells

Formerly shop manager, graphic designer, bicycle mechanic, rider in the Nepali Himalaya e-bike tour and constructeur of shop fit-out, Jeremy has moved back to Canberra to practice as an architect. He's getting around Canberra on a custom built cargo bike converted to electric with an eZee kit. Check out his blog posts on car-free survival in Canberra.

Aiko Mineishi

Aiko and Jeremy are often spotted together. Photographer, video producer and digital artist, dumpling maker and celebrated electric bicycle model, Aiko came from Yamaguchi, Japan to study media at the University of Canberra and we all hope she’ll stick around. She turns heads by speeding up hills and whizzing through traffic jams on her custom built low-rider with eZee electric kit and has produced videos for Glow Worm including Canberra by electric bicycle and Tasmanian e-bike tour.

Dr Kaitlin Beare

A Sydney cyclist ever since she became yet another Canberra ex-pat, Dr Kaitlin is making sure the books are having as much fun as the bikes in the shop, when she isn't being the window display. If you're ever shoplifting from Glow Worm Bicycles you'd better call us up after to let us know the item codes and quantites of what was stolen so that the stock take remains accurate, or you'll have Kaitlin to answer to.

Kaitlin is now at Sydney Uni full time as a post doc working the chemicals.

Lisa Morgan

Lisa hails from the cycle heaven of Fredericia, Denmark, bringing international wrenching experience and decent music to the workshop at Glow Worm. Bring her a good cup of (soy) coffee with your bike and she will be sure to treat it like a loved one. Favourite bicycle: The fast one and the even faster one. Favourite electric bike: The stylish eZee Cadence. Lisa is also a graduate of the United Bicycle Institute's mechanical courses including frame building, wheel building and advanced suspension. Lisa has moved back to Denmark now, hopefully not forever.

Dylan Prins

Few people have given so much to cycling advocacy and sustainability in Australia and still look so handsome. Dylan has been involved in Bike Club in Newtown and now Waterloo for many years, helped out at the CERES bike shed and Human Powered Cycles in Melbourne, participated in and helped organise the Otesha Cycling for Sustainability eco-performance tours. He is now imparting his creativity and passion into the Glow Worm Bicycles shop fitout. Other interests include edible-gardening, urban permaculture and re-using materials, Dylan is an urban wwoofer and has minimised his involvement in the cash economy and focused on more meaningful exchanges of barter trades, including his work at Glow Worm Bicycles. Dylan made our workshop bench and many of the shop's shelving from recycled timber and fasteners.

Jess Bugz, Renata and the Mural Artists

Setting the stage for our introduction to the local neighbourhood, local artists Bugz and Renata dreamed up and painted the beautiful mural on Agar St, with help from many friends. You won’t find them in our shop on a regular basis but the mural of course, will remain.

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The Electric Bicycle

So what’s the fuss about? The electric bicycle is a bicycle with an electric motor to help move it along resulting in an astonishingly efficient mode of transport. Lightweight, reliable, compact and silent, the motor will make you feel like a cyclist with wings. Hills, headwinds, long distances, everything you want to carry, it all becomes possible, easy and fun with an e-bike. You can get a factory made electric bicycle or retrofit the electrics to an existing bicycle. Either way, the quick facts are:

Travel around 25-32km/h
Battery range up to 100km
Charging time 4 hours
Travel cost approx 20c/100km or 1kg CO2/100km
2 year warranty on major components (click here for details)
no need for registration or license, take it anywhere you can take a bicycle

Please see our product range for specifics or consult our FAQ page for your questions.

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Our Products

Glow Worm Bicycles is an importer, distributor retailer and workshop. We are the Australian distributors of eZeebike one of the world’s finest electric bicycles. We can also convert your bicycle or any of our range of bikes to become your electric dreamship.

We operate as a fully equipped electric bicycle store with mechanical workshop, bicycle parts and accessories, bikes for test riding and purchase, and all service and warranty repairs. Our shopfront is in Marrickville, Sydney. Nowhere near us? Look for our products from our dealers.