What is an e-bike really?
There are a lot of myths about e-bikes and we hope to address each throughout the next year. One concerns reliability and serviceability.
There really isn’t that much to go wrong with an e-bike. Some claim chains, spokes or brakes are an issue. Human athletes at peak performance exert as many watts as most e-bikes and less smoothly. That’s why you don’t hear much about chain problems on e-bikes. Because of this, spokes are no more a problem than on any other bike. Any e-bike built responsibly isn’t going faster than the same bike in traditional form and e-bike motors with batteries add no more weight to stop than a heavy rider.
I’ve attached a video of an e-bike battery. This is the real heart and greatest expense to your e-bike. As you can see, they are sealed for use in all weather and there isn’t much to go wrong. You can even have BMS circuit boards and cells replaced if ever necessary.
Here is a motor torn down. Tiny isn’t it? It drives a helical gear with a one way bearing laughingly referred to as a clutch (much less complex than your rear hub). That turns a reduction gear that turns your traditional chain ring. It too has a one way bearing referred to as a clutch. You could buy a replacement motor for well under $200.. The rest of the parts are under a hundred and if one ever needed to be completely overhauled, it should run less $400 including labor. I know of none ever needing such a service.
Electric motors are just plain reliable. I finally tossed my wife’s grandfather’s grinder, from the 1930’s, last year! It had carbon brushes, so it was no where near as reliable as modern brushless motors used in e-bikes. The rest of your bike will need to be overhauled first and your wheels completely replaced before this should be an issue. In fact, this is one reason electric cars are turning the automotive world on its ear. How do you make money repairing something so simple? Call Mark at Ruby’s if you have any questions or concerns about any bike, especially an e-bike.