Are ebikes worth the price tag?

Reliability, longevity, entry level parts, performance, resale values and no pedals. Are they really worth spending as much on, as you might do, when buying a decent used car? What really makes these bikes worth £1k, £2k, £3k or even £5k plus?

If you look at "normal" bikes I think eBikes look like better and better value the more you spend.

you get diminishing returns when you pay over £2,000

you get diminishing returns when you pay over £2,000

 

true of anything in life though isn't it?

Some parts not repairable so my £3000 bike quickly became scrap..

Still bought another though so must have more money than sense..

From my experience after owning quite a few e-bikes i would say that CUBE are good value because of the carbon framed models and HAIBIKE the least value for money and overpriced.

Looking again at the original post we have to look past brands and individual preferences...

What makes my recent purchase worth £3400?.

Well.. it looks good, it rides good, and by golly it makes me feel good!

Do I regret paying £2800 for one that lasted just over 3 years?

Certainly not!

My first leccy bike cost me £500 from tesco my new one just cost me £1800 and I don't regret spending the cash. Are they worth the money? Well I guess that depends on several factors but I wouldn't be without my bike. I literally would be house bound without so to me it's worth ten times the price.

To me the price I paid for mine was worth it. Its a hobby with massive benefits. I'm fitter and lost a few kilo's in the few months I've owned it. I hadn't been using my non assist mountain bike as much (maybe once a fortnight) because it was such hard work on the trails around here. I'm out 2 or 3 times a week now and have never enjoyed mtbiking as much as of late. I even get excited about going out on it! After the initial outlay the cost of ownership is not high. I have a friend who goes fishing. His hobby costs him thounds £££'s a year. Other friends play golf. Again, £££1000's! None of them are getting the kicks I get out of my bike!

Some aren't bad priced, but i find it hard to see the moneys worth in some, especially those in the thousands of pounds. I often look at them and think how much would a bike like that be if it never had the Ekit part.

I've noticed a lot of people who talk to me when they see my Ebike, often say they like the idea of them but think they're too expensive. I think this is still one of the reasons why Ebikes haven't taken off in greater numbers. You only have to see how quiet this forum is, to see how small the market is, especially as its the only UK Ebike forum on the net.

With unassisted bicycles, the choice and places to buy are so great, that you can always get great deals somewhere on bikes that are highly discounted. Not so with Ebikes.

I can pretty much afford any Ebike i want.... but i simply cannot buy something unless i see value for money in it. Which is why i went the kit route and will probably carry on doing so.

I struggle sometimes to justify what I want, often it's the thought of having it rather than the use it would be put to.

 

Didn't have that with my bikes, I had given it a lot of thought and they have had a lot of use (apart from the Birdy, but I new it wouldn't).

 

Assuming nothing is going to go short by spending a lump why not have something if it is desirable.

 

I have no regrets with my purchases, I enjoy the quality they have.

I struggle sometimes to justify what I want, often it's the thought of having it rather than the use it would be put to.

 

Didn't have that with my bikes, I had given it a lot of thought and they have had a lot of use (apart from the Birdy, but I new it wouldn't).

 

Assuming nothing is going to go short by spending a lump why not have something if it is desirable.

 

I have no regrets with my purchases, I enjoy the quality they have.

Well put!

Some would say.. "why spend all that money on a bike when you could spend it on booze n fags"....

add up the bits on this bike and come back with a price.

https://www.e-bikeshop.co.uk/Electric-Bikes-UK-Dealer/Full-Suspension-eBikes/Haibike-xDuro-Full-Seven-Carbon-Ultimate-2016

 

its just utter bonkers the price off it and want more for a dropper post must be off ur rocker to buy that.

 

you cant even test ride it:rolleyes:

Well put!

Some would say.. "why spend all that money on a bike when you could spend it on booze n fags"....

Ah, the booze. Possibly a little more than I should on whisky but no fags.

 

Or cigarettes.

I get enough smiles per mile to justify the cost of my bikes, and don't regret a second of it.

 

Evenings such as tonight are priceless.

 

 

Edited July 1, 20169 yr by EddiePJ

get some off these edd nice and cheap

 

http://bike-ahead-composites.de/produkte/all-mountain-wheels/

Some would say.. "why spend all that money on a bike when you could spend it on booze n fags

Thank for reminding me, I'd forgotten how much Ive saved since quitting both Fags & booze.

I can now go out with a clear conscience and buy that £600 air rifle I've been deliberating over

I get enough smiles per mile to justify the cost of my bikes, and don't regret a second of it.

 

Evenings such as tonight are priceless.

 

 

Lovely photo.

get some off these edd nice and cheap

 

http://bike-ahead-composites.de/produkte/all-mountain-wheels/

 

Think that I'll pass that one by.

 

Brilliant photo Eddie, the bicycle as art.

.

Still relevant to the op. My working life has been in a factory environment where the norm seemed to be 8 pints, 3 nights a week and hair of the dog on Sunday lunch. Whereas I spent my spare cash on motorcycles then cameras and now ebikes.. I was often told to get a life as my existence must be so boring...

They were so wrong then and impressively so now....

If it were possible to quantify the enjoyment I get from these bikes the cost would become irrelevant.

Thank you flecc. ☺

Reliability, longevity, entry level parts, performance, resale values and no pedals. Are they really worth spending as much on, as you might do, when buying a decent used car? What really makes these bikes worth £1k, £2k, £3k or even £5k plus?

Yes, it's usually money that's mentioned first if anyone asks me about my bike. I try to tell anyone who is really interested, that they don't need to spend a fortune to get on the road. For people who come on this forum asking for advice, they seem to be put off and disappear, merely because they are told 'You need to spend at least £1000 -1500'. The £5000 mountain bikes are, I suppose, the equivalent of a Ferrari, while the Tesco Hopper, which I've seen on EBay for £360, will get you around and give you an idea of how good ebikes are. My bike cost about £700 a year ago, so it's cost me about £14 a week for transport every day. If it lasts another year, I will be happy! I am just about to fit suspension forks, as either the roads have got worse, or my body is not as resilient as it was! This will cost me about £40 in total, but I have seen forks costing thousands, which would be wasted on me. Where else can you get transport that costs so little, whisks you where you want to go with hardly any effort, and costs so little to run? I've noticed a lot more around here where I live, mainly Freego, as the dealers are local. I know this site is American, but it seems more positive in encouraging people to have an EBike:

http://electricbikereport.com/

I paid about £500 for my oxydrive kit that was on my old bike and it was great fun, never had one problem with it, but I got the e-bike bug so gave my old bike to the other half and went out and spent 3k on a new bike.

 

I think they can be expensive. But spend what you can afford on a bike and get out and enjoy yourself, you never know what is around the corner.

Lets say that if my professional life hadn't gone off the rails and I could have afforded to buy a ready made I think many in the 2000-3000€ range are overpriced. Because I would have wanted to improve the things that are not quite right and probably added over 500€ at least and they should really have those components as standard. Stromer and Grace and a few others make bikes I wouldn't need to upgrade at around 5000€

 

For now I have a comfortable bike that cost under 600€ and a kit just waiting to go on another bike (another 600€). Two bikes so that I can lend one to SWMBO because I haven't given up the red wine and it is the safest and cheapest way to get home from a pub crawl in S. Sebastian...

 

The dream bike in my spreadsheet built from the ground up on a bare frame is 2000€ and the trike 5000€.