Don’t buy an eBike to a budget. Buy to meet a need.
Buying an eBike may be one of the higher price ticket items you decide on and needs some thought.
It’s common, as an eBike specialist, to receive daily calls from eBike owners who have bought online and now can’t get a battery/ controller/ motor service/ charger/ response from the brand… The list of complaints is long and, unfortunately, by the time they’ve called us they’ve already called bikes shops A through E without luck.
So, what’s the moral of this?
You should buy as well as you can and buy for your specific needs.
Deciding what eBike to buy and how much to pay go hand in hand – to a point.
Here’s a five-point check list which might help you:
1. What job do you need your bike to do?
It’s tempting, when you walk into the big-box store to be impressed by the eMTB’s with their long travel and aggressive geometry, but, it’s not great when you’re riding home with a wet back because the bike doesn’t have mudguards. Most important of all is to decide what bike does the job best, 90% of the time.
2. What does the bike need to have on it?
Most people need reliability, the right kind of performance, mudguards, lights. We’ll talk about this in a moment but if you buy cheap, invariably you’ll buy twice.
Do you really need bar ends or a heated seat or suspension?
Customers are becoming more pragmatic and seeing eBikes as vehicles instead of fashion accessories so, if you aren’t planning a trip to the pump track, don’t buy that bike. Look for something that can get you where you need to go without any drama.
3. Do you recognise the components on the bike?
A bit like buying a car, we’re familiar with Ford and maybe less so with NIO or BYD. If you don’t know what Shimano does or if Schwalbe is a good tyre or not – ask.
If the sales-person can’t tell you either, move on. These people are who you’ll need to support you if anything goes wrong and they need to know something about their products.
4. How much?
The big question is how much buys a good bike? Let’s face it, there are lots of good eBikes available to you today, but there are lots of less-great ones, too.
An eBike with different names on the components (battery, controller, motor) may have been mated to work but if you do hit snags, that’s three suppliers to deal with.
Integrated systems have the advantage of being designed to work together and, most often, do.
“I could buy a car for that!” is a regular complaint we hear all the time. It’s also possible to buy an analogue bike for more than some people pay for cars. Likewise, you could invest in a boat or a horse or a handbag, but we’re here to supply you with the best eBike we can because you’ve come into the market looking for a new solution. This makes the decision simply about what looks like a good return on investment. In this case, quality matters so buy the best you can.
5. What does the money get me?
Looking at eBikes side by side it’s not always easy to see why one costs £2k and another costs £8k. It’s the same in all markets, cars being the obvious comparison. The big difference is that investing in a better product pays back over time.
Better brands won’t sell to anyone and provide training for their representatives. At Fully Charged, anyone who works on your bike has been trained by Bosch and other component brands. We use diagnostic kits to identify likely problems before they occur and perform preventative maintenance to keep you on the road without inconvenience.
Apart from the cost of drive systems, for example, that use belts instead of chains and derailleurs that save you money in the longer term by not needing replacement, having a dealer you can rely on to support you when your eBike needs checking over or fixing without delay, is valuable.
We believe that by matching your need to an eBike first and then offering a range of cost options makes buying an eBike as part of your lifestyle, an enjoyable prospect. Being there to keep it that way has its own value.
And that’s the payback; the more you pay, the more you get.
Our advice is don’t buy to a budget. Buy to meet a need.
Tristan Allen
07377 153599
