Electric bikes - a retrospective

[FatMog]

So my sprint went off to it's new home today (sold cos I didn't do enough miles to justify the purchase of a new battery) and overall I'm pretty sad to see it go.

But there are a few things I quickly became acquainted with during my period of ownership that I wish I'd considered up front.

Like:
Problems of ongoing maintenance for a non-bikie numpty owner, such as not being able to easily remove the wheels.
Limitations and insecurity of buying a bike which only had one dealership in the uk.
Not even thinking that the price of batteries would shoot up!
And the general feeling that I was operating in a marginal world of very immature technology.

Don't get me wrong, I loved my sprint, it was the most fun thing to ride and it never put a foot wrong for me (except when it got a puncture on about my second outing). But I lived in terror of something going wrong because the only option would be to ship it back at great expense and inconvenience to place where I bought it, local dealers not having a baldy notion.

I think I'll wait a few years before I contemplate buying another ebike - I would like to feel that the market has matured a bit which would give me a bit of confidence that maintenance and repairs could be easily accomplished in the local area, and of course hoping that batteries improve hugely and tumble in price!

But I am kinda missing my sprint...

 

[flecc]

I think that's a very good assessment Fatmog, and it reflects the experiences of many who've ventured into e-biking. It is indeed an immature market, the lack of adequate dealerships and servicing coverage affects many makes, and the battery prices are increasingly a huge deterrent.

Are you using an ordinary bike for your regular trip now, or driving?
.

 

[Alex728]

I think that's a very good assessment Fatmog, and it reflects the experiences of many who've ventured into e-biking. It is indeed an immature market, the lack of adequate dealerships and servicing coverage affects many makes, and the battery prices are increasingly a huge deterrent.

reminds me of the market for smaller computers from the late 1970s to 1980s - I would say e-bikes are now at the level computers were in the mid 1980s...

 

[Straylight]

This was why, in the other thread, I was contemplating the idea of component standards across manufacturers. To affect, as you put it Alex, what the arrival of the IBM pc did for the computer industry. Or rather maybe what the x86 processor did. If ideas and innovations could be licenced between manufacturers, then there could be incremental improvement and evolution from a solid foundation.

I hope the newly formed BEBA will prove to be a step toward this, as it certainly presents a great opportunity. As, at the moment, no single company has the might of IBM, the industry must act in consortium to preserve its future.

 

[FatMog]

I would say e-bikes are now at the level computers were in the mid 1980s...

I guess we'll have to wait for time and experience to separate the metaphorical Apples from the Apricots, eh?

As for my weekend journey to see the neddy, I'm back in the car. I'm still researching the best pushbike to replace the sprint and my current too-small cycle. I'm veering towards a modern dutch bike with a 7-speed hub, just waiting for the new season stock to arrive so I can test-ride a few. I'll get the sprocket changed to lower all the gears to suit my current flat-unfit state!

 

[Barnowl]

Like:
Problems of ongoing maintenance for a non-bikie numpty owner, such as not being able to easily remove the wheels.
Limitations and insecurity of buying a bike which only had one dealership in the uk.
Not even thinking that the price of batteries would shoot up!
And the general feeling that I was operating in a marginal world of very immature technology.

I agree with everything you say and if you don't use it enough it's not worth keeping - given the cost of the battery.

Few points though based on my own experience:

If you do use an e-bike on a regular basis and you have hills to contend with these bikes can be well worth the investment. Some members reckon they've paid for themselves in months. Cost saving were never a big issue for me but even so the bike will probably have paid for itself in about 3 years.

Maintenance is an issue. It would be quite difficult to take my bike back to the dealer who is hours away by car. Having said that I've never felt insecure about it since I'm not totally dependent on the bike and could always get by till it's eventually fixed.

It takes me forever to do anything that involves a spanner or a screwdriver. But when I do the job myself I get a great feeling of satisfaction after and the next time I do it, it's usually dramatically quicker and a lot less frustrating. I view it as a bit of a hobby. Internet videos and a decent bike tool kit are a great help.

Having a local bike shop to hand is also big plus especially if stripped of the electrical components your bike is much like a normal bike. Most jobs that need to be done are straight forward bicycle maintenance. I had mine checked over and adjusted at an LBS last April for £23 - the going rate seems to be about £30 and parts.

You're right though these e-bikes are not a fully matured off the shelf product that you can run like a car or a motorbike. In my case though that's one of the things that I quite like about them.

 

[Mussels]

Having the manufacturer living nearby is pretty handy too.
My bike paid for itself in a year but it has required a much bigger investment from me than I expected, the bike parts need a fair amount of maintenance but fortunately the electrics don't.

 

[Barnowl]

Having the manufacturer living nearby is pretty handy too.
My bike paid for itself in a year but it has required a much bigger investment from me than I expected, the bike parts need a fair amount of maintenance but fortunately the electrics don't.

I was thinking of you when I replaced my brake pads/blocks last week. Those pads lasted a year (almost to the day) but they did go to the point of failure

Aside from that alls I've done is clean and oil the chain several times, check the spokes and headset, fix a few punctures, replace an inner tube and adjust the brakes a couple of times. As you say the electrics don't need maintenance. Total distance clocked so far 1700 miles.

 

[Bandit]

I can sympathize - being unable to adjust a disc brake and unable to even understand how a roller-brake works rendered me completely impotent when our eZee Sprint needed adjustment. The lights didn't survive the first rain storm, and I have not the slightest idea how to fix them, either.

But I am getting more comfortable with the Panasonic bikes we now have. I don't kid myself I could do anything with the motor bit - and Panasonic agrees clearly with me. But aside from the chain tensioner seizing up because it is a mud trap, everything else on the bikes seems to be conventional and fixable by any bike shop, or even (in some cases) by me!

 

[monster]

i've fixed my ebikes 100's of times over the last 3 years. its a DIY bike so i falls apart more often. i remember that my origional e-bikes direct bike needed some maintenance too, though only little things that i would expect most people could do.

maybe us more experienced ebikers could get together and offer maintenance help to those that are less technically minded? i would be willing to look at and diagnose any e-bike that was brought to me, in banbury, for a small cost. say £25 per hour? i wouldn't want to be spending hours doing this. but probably most problems can be diagnosed in half an hour. also it would give us a chance to meet fellow ebikers. PM me with your number if you are interested.

 

[monster]

i could also give you advice on how to make your bike faster. if thats what you want.

 

[flecc]

In Fatmog's case, she mainly used it one a week to ride to where her horse is kept, so it's that lack of usage that's much of the reason why a new battery couldn't be justified, seeing as they only last a couple of years or so and cost £395. That's potentially £4 a ride!
.

 

[monster]

what chemistry was the battery that failed on such light usage? was

 

[flecc]

Fatmog probably had the original Phylion made Li-ion manganese battery that virtually never lasted over two years on the powerful eZee bike motors when lightly used on low mileages, up to 20 amp drains doing them no favours. Heavier used ones lasted only months at that time. The later ones are much improved of course.
.

 

[FatMog]

I think my problem with ongoing maintenance was lack of confidence: I have a reasonable bike toolkit and quite enjoy a bit of a fiddle, but my DIY motto (for bikes and other things besides) is 'don't do what you can't undo'.

Thus I was reluctant to do too much because if I screwed it up and reassembled something and the electrics didn't work, I would be stuck. Whereas with a conventional bike even if I do my very worst, I can stick it in the back of the car, take it to my nearest lbs and they'll make it better!

 

[PaulC]

To me this is an interesting example of where the old SLA battery technology would have been a better fit:
Being using only once a week means their lower limit to the number of charges before replacement would be a lesser issue
A trickle charger could have been used so the SLA batteries will last a long time
Finally a considerably lower replacment cost when they finally died.
Paul

 

[Mattyduk]

I'm lucky at the moment because my Systems Administrator is a bike fanatic - loves his hills in Wales and spends £4000 on a non e-bike, so when my brakes went out of align on my proconnect, he quickly fixed it.

It's strange, as with DIY round the house, I'm pretty handy !, I've changed a tyre on the bike, and the chains fallen off a few times, but changing brake pads/adjusting or replacing cogs, improving the gear ratios, I just haven't got my head round it

 

[Mussels]

I'm lucky at the moment because my Systems Administrator is a bike fanatic - loves his hills in Wales and spends £4000 on a non e-bike, so when my brakes went out of align on my proconnect, he quickly fixed it.

It's strange, as with DIY round the house, I'm pretty handy !, I've changed a tyre on the bike, and the chains fallen off a few times, but changing brake pads/adjusting or replacing cogs, improving the gear ratios, I just haven't got my head round it

After doing the maintenance on my moterbike the pushbike is a welcome change. The Wisper needs attention a bit more often but major jobs usually take less than half an hour after I've done it once, I don't need many tools and don't make as much mess. The biggest bonus is I can work on the Wisper indoors.

 

[FatMog]

What I need is a term of evening classes in bike maintenance. Maybe I'll suggest it to my local authority. Now all I need to do is persuade Flecc to move to Berkshire and run them....

 

[Alex728]

What I need is a term of evening classes in bike maintenance. Maybe I'll suggest it to my local authority. Now all I need to do is persuade Flecc to move to Berkshire and run them....

I lived in Reading for much of my life and my mates once even had an "underground bike workshop" run out of the former cellar room of a disused pub they had squatted

Where in Berkshire are you? I'm sure I've seen people offering these classes particularly in the Reading area - haven't been back since 2006 but could probably find out..