There are many factors to consider when shopping for an electric bike including torque, watts, watt hours, e-bike class, bike riding style, propose, price, etc. But, the most important factor that should be considered first is SERVICE!
When I built my Bafang electric bike conversion I knew that I probably wouldn’t be able to find anyone else to work on my bike. Although I am a pretty good customer at my local bike shop, I’m fairly certain that they won’t touch my Bafang e-bike. It isn’t because they don’t want to work on my bike, its simply that they don’t have the ability to work on it. Why?
Because:
- Mechanics aren’t trained in general e-bike technology and repair.
- Shops are generally only knowledgeable in the brands they carry and in removing and replacing parts for those brands.
- In addition, since there is little standardization in e-bikes, your local bike shop may not even have access to repair parts for brands they don’t carry.
Let’s face it, e-bike motors apply more forces on bicycle parts, so they are going to wear out and break sooner. In addition, e-bike are evolving and the electrical systems and features are continually being improved. If you want to keep your bike and computer up to date you will have to do regular updates. So before you buy an e-bike, look further down the road and ask yourself this question.
Who is going to maintain, fix and update my e-bike when something needs to be done?
If you can’t answer this question, don’t buy the bike. Internet sellers and department stores generally don’t do repairs. So while you may save hundreds of dollars on the front end of a purchase, the purchase could be a total loss in the end if the bike is inoperable and can’t be fixed or you can’t find replacement parts.
Ken Whittaker