Jay Angler wrote:
Daniel Schmidt wrote:I recently harvested one of the Rad Rover bikes at basecamp to get the others going.
This makes it sound as if in less than 5 years, all the electric bikes have enough problems that they aren't working?
As someone who is considering such a bike, I'd really like to know possible reasons for such a short trouble-free lifespan:
1. are they just being used so constantly, that they have multiple times the mileage than a single owner would have given them?
2. is it "the tragedy of the commons" type thing - someone else will fix it attitude, so little problems become big ones?
3. is it just that they get harder than average terrain they're dealing with - off-road use, extra heavy use, which has taken it's toll?
4. is it that they simply aren't being built well enough for what people need - "enshitification" of bicycle standards where the companies only want them to survive 5 years?
5. other possible issues I haven't thought of.
If there's another thread where the quality/longevity of the different bikes is discussed, a link would be great.
It would be nice to hear if the ebikes at Wheaton Labs are all suffering from excessive wear and breakdowns at this point, and if so, possible reasons why.
I can report that the Juiced brand ebike I got around that same time has had no major issues thus far. I have about 6600 miles on it at this point and have had to replace the tires as I wore them out. Of course there has been the occasional flat tire from nails, thorns, etc. The battery doesn't seem quite as robust as it originally was, but that said I did recently do 70 miles on it in one day. This took it from full charge down to the point where it was flashing its low battery signal at me for the last couple miles home. It was still providing powered assist though, just not at much at that point. Originally I had estimated I could get 80 to 100 miles on a full charge, though I never did put this to the test. So it's also quite possible the battery hasn't changed its capacity at all, I was just too optimistic at the start.
I bought a second ebike from the same company a year or so after my first one for when I'm out on extended trips to AZ. I have just over 900 miles on this one. It has had a couple issues. Well, to be fair the first issue was there from the start and I bought it at a steep discount as a "scratch and dent" unit. This issue was the headlight not working. Turns out I had to replace the main control unit to fix that. The one part that did break down on me was the torque sensor. This made the pedal power assist sporadic or non existent, though the throttle assist would still function. The replacement part was about $100, not hard to put in, and it's been working fine since.
The one big issue I've had though is that the company, Juiced Bikes, went out of business. So it was a bit more of a challenge to find replacement parts. I found them on EBAY from someone who I believe used to work for the company. It sounded like he had a little network of other former employees who all had various spare parts to sell. My guess is that in the long run I'll have to give up the bike due to a lack of spare electronic parts. Though I might be able to find or use similar parts from other brands. I don't know.
If I were to buy another ebike today I would first look at companies that have emerged as the more stable, major players to hopefully help ensure longer replace part support as things do eventually wear out.
I should probably say that I do love my ebikes!! I resisted getting one for a long time, but have never regretted it once I did buy my first one.
I look forward to seeing the new deck of cards.
