History of PedalChopper

FOUNDED 2010.  October thru April is "Season" in Ft. Myers Florida which means all of the people [snow birds] who own winter homes in our area flock down here all at once!  The traffic doubles overnite!  So while waiting in heavy traffic to get to the Bike Shop on Ft. Myers Beach = PedalChopper was born!

MANY "Seasons" ago [2010] I looked over on the sidewalk from my pickup truck and saw a guy zipping around on a gas motorized bicycle.  The bumper to bumper traffic had no affect on him!  At that point everything sort of clicked into place.  LETS BUILD SOME VERY COOL LOOKING MOTORIZED BICYCLES ON THE SCHWINN OCC STINGRAY FRAMES!!!  We had already been putting tall 25" inch apehangers on the OCC Schwinn Stingrays and they looked really cool but the small banana seat hit right on the tail bone and was uncomfortable and not adjustable.

I, Jim Wilson, am the more experienced with bicycles and Hugh Thomas had a lot of experience with motors, motor cycles, etc.  There was a good chemistry between us [I always joke that combined we made a considerable man].   So I went to work ADULT SIZING the Stingray and we began figuring out how to PROPERLY motorize them.  I researched the internet, etc. and had seen where people had motorized these OCC frames as it is a natural for motorizing.  However, almost no one had solved the seat problem and other engineering difficulties which prevented an ADULT or TEEN from really getting comfortable on the smaller chopper frame.

WE SOLVED THE SEAT PROBLEM pronto and many other issues in order to come up with a PedalChopper that we knew was safe & reliable enough to offer to the general public and ship Nationwide.  We have accomplished this [and we continue to Innovate & Learn].  I also have  experience with building several other styles of motorized bikes per our customers design/requests.  [see gallery of photos].

I have had a PedalChopper site for many years now but in recent years decided it was time to upgrade the site and Re-Launch our NEW PEDALCHOPPER.COM with a shopping cart to provide you with everything you need (including instruction) to build your own PedalChopper or buy one of ours already built!  Enjoy the site regularly there will be ongoing updates of parts, instructional video's, new innovations, etc.  Feel Free to email us.

- Jim Wilson 

Owner /  Pedalchopper.com

Update: Hugh Thomas (left) passed away tragically from cancer in May 2013 at age 46.  I have continued solo with pedalchopper right down to this day.