Cheap Bikes Make Bad E-Bikes
The single biggest problem facing e-bike mfg’s and dealers is that most of their best prospects still think they can get a high end traditional bike for under five hundred dollars. They just don’t know bikes and can’t understand why anyone would spend more.
The fact is, if you want to ride around the neighborhood or leisurely stroll along the bike path, twice a week, you probably can get by. Unfortunately, e-bike owners tend to ride a lot faster and further. Cheap bikes just won’t hold up.
I think of a friend who has an entry level Adventure bike. He paid maybe $900 for it a few years ago. He depends on it for transportation. He hauls a lot of weight and he rides fast. What’s more, he does all types of riding, in all weather. He doesn’t understand why the spring fork is broke, his brakes need work and he has to replace chains, cassettes and bottom brackets. The bike was never meant to be ridden that hard. Even the best bikes, under the best of circumstances, still need maintenance. Imagine if his were an e-bike!
Almost no factory e-bikes even come close to my friend’s traditional Adventure bike. What’s more, those most likely to depend upon their e-bike tend to buy the cheapest! This week alone I have had SIX bikes in the shop from the same bottom of the barrel company. Four were essentially new. They needed controllers, throttles or both. They were burned up. They all needed tune-ups…bad! I have two more that are barely a step up from them and they too need new controllers. Mostly, this is because the bikes are too heavy and they are riding them like mopeds (all throttle, no pedal).
You’ve read it here before, never buy an e-bike that does not look like the traditional bike you would choose for the same ride. I’ll take it further. Never buy an e-bike with components you would not choose for the same ride. If not it might work. For sure it will still be fun, but you should expect to spend more to keep it running.and it isn’t going to perform like a quality bike.