Decathlon Riverside 500e ?

[peterjd]

I am looking at this Decathlon pedelec - it looks good value for money, with torque sensing and lockable front wheel suspension. Also 2 year warranty. Thoughts? My wife insists any new bike must replace an existing bike so the quirky Bickerton would have to go - not a great loss as I get into the second half of my seventies

 

[Zlatan]

Fantastic video BTW sound wave. Wonder how many bikes he went through??

 

[peterjd]

There was an article in one of the other bike forums that 2023 will be thee year of drastically reduced bike bits. So keep a look out and you might be able to respec for a lot less.

Maybe but at my age I need it now And it's also 'horses for courses' I think.

 

[Zlatan]

Maybe but at my age I need it now And it's also 'horses for courses' I think.

Yep, I agree with that. Besidesd, I can't see Haibike CF6 ever selling for less than £3k and likewise a CF12 for under £4k whatever happens and no matter how many are sat in Wharehouses. I, d buy one tommorow if they had required size.
On a completely different issue.. We keep getting told how bad times are and how little money there is about. Try booking a decent restaurant for next Tuesday or ho look in a Mcdonalds or KFC. Continual stream of customers and "just eat" drivers.??? Folk can't afford to pay their leccy bill cos Uber, Just Eat, KFC, and Mcdonalds are making a fortune.

 

[Kev.k]

I don’t think the Haibike will drop below £3k, but many other bikes will end up at £3k too.

Ask a person not into bikes if they would spend £3-4K on a bike. They would laugh like I would have 6 months ago.

They have been the most overpriced product for the last 3 years. Nothing else comes close.

 

[Zlatan]

I don’t think the Haibike will drop below £3k, but many other bikes will end up at £3k too.

Ask a person not into bikes if they would spend £3-4K on a bike. They would laugh like I would have 6 months ago.

They have been the most overpriced product for the last 3 years. Nothing else comes close.

I, m not sure about that, Windsurf sails broke the £1000 mark a good while ago and many boards are now well in excess of £2k. (for around 6kg of polystyrene, 1kg of epoxy/carbon and and another kg or so of skeg/mast boxes and footstraps.)
It's same old story with marketing. Stuff isn't priced according to its inherent value but rather on what market will pay for it.
The Haibike looks expensive, even at £3k. Price the bits up, factor in building it, transport, etc etc and all of a sudden it'd not that expensive. Way I look at it, I ride 3 times a week, spend hours enjoying bike and put around 1000 off road miles on bike per year. Putting things in perspective and with virtually no running costs its still a relatively cheap sport. ( I have mates who moan about price of ebikes sat in £50k Volkswagen camper vans)
I, ve had great value for money from ebikes.
Ski boats are now £90k plus !! They make ebikes look positively cheap?
Guineas £7 a pint?? How much are cigarettes these days? Took 2 grandsons swimming last Tuesday and then called for a McDonalds. (their choice not mine) I had £3 change from £50 for the evenings activities. (and I was still hungry when I got home)

 

[Kev.k]

I, m not sure about that, Windsurf sails broke the £1000 mark a good while ago and many boards are now well in excess of £2k. (for around 6kg of polystyrene, 1kg of epoxy/carbon and and another kg or so of skeg/mast boxes and footstraps.)
It's same old story with marketing. Stuff isn't priced according to its inherent value but rather on what market will pay for it.
The Haibike looks expensive, even at £3k. Price the bits up, factor in building it, transport, etc etc and all of a sudden it'd not that expensive. Way I look at it, I ride 3 times a week, spend hours enjoying bike and put around 1000 off road miles on bike per year. Putting things in perspective and with virtually no running costs its still a relatively cheap sport. ( I have mates who moan about price of ebikes sat in £50k Volkswagen camper vans)
I, ve had great value for money from ebikes.

Niche, specialist products will always command a premium. I’ve spent between £5k and £8k on Akra exhausts 3 times. I appreciate many people wouldn’t.

A £50k vw camper van is great value compared to a £5k push bike. It has a 3 year extendable, transferable warranty and holds its value better than most cars. I bought a Amarok highline dsg for similar reasons. Your mates are right.

Bikes aren’t expensive to enthusiasts like you, but to the regular person, they’re mental. They are motorbike money.

The haibike is expensive at £3k and the bits are over priced too. Look at the price of a ohlins set up for a BMW M3.

Even the M3 at £90k spec’d right is amazing value compared to a £12k Levo.

 

[AndyBike]

They have been the most overpriced product for the last 3 years. Nothing else comes close.

It is pretty horrific, especially when you compare them against other expensive things.
I use as a comparison an industrial milling machine. The type thats going to get worked 5 days a week, 8hours a day for decades. Weighs 1000kg, comprising of hundreds of precision parts.
Yet costs the same as my bike. I just dont understand it. But due to health im stuck.

The only thing you can do is try to maximize the spec on what you're getting. I spent £5k, but for that it needed to be a capable full suss, with fox suss bits and the rest of the spec reasonably worthwhile. Took me months of checking this that and t'other to work out what was the best bang for my buck.
But even after spending that much, i needed(well not forced to) to ugrade the wheels to Hope pro 4, the brakes to Hope tech 4 V4, and the drivetrain to Sram XO, which adds another £1400 to the original price.

 

[Zlatan]

Niche, specialist products will always command a premium. I’ve spent between £5k and £8k on Akra exhausts 3 times. I appreciate many people wouldn’t.

A £50k vw camper van is great value compared to a £5k push bike. It has a 3 year extendable, transferable warranty and holds its value better than most cars. I bought a Amarok highline dsg for similar reasons. Your mates are right.

Bikes aren’t expensive to enthusiasts like you, but to the regular person, they’re mental. They are motorbike money.

The haibike is expensive at £3k and the bits are over priced too. Look at the price of a ohlins set up for a BMW M3.

Even the M3 at £90k spec’d right is amazing value compared to a £12k Levo.

I agree against £12k levo but not the £3k Haibike.. Don't think the levo is actually any better than the (next up) Haibike.
Agree Re M3 aswell.Its good value for money when you actually examine what you are getting for your cash. It isn't cheap but represents good value, which is exactly the case with the Haibike at £3k..Go look at Decathlon Stylus at £3799 and then the Haibike mentioned at £3k. Expensive, as you pointed out, doesn't rule out good value. The Levo isn't good value. The Haibike is.
And to my mind a ten year old VW camper van at £50k wasn't. (you can't buy new VW camper vans for £50k anymore, which was point I was making) They are around £76k, dependant on spec.
Suggesting a £3k Haibike is niche and somehow ridiculously expensive is missing the point. Buy a similar specced ordinary mtb, then a kit with a similarl capacity battery etc and put it together. Then work out how much you, ve spent... Having built a few kits I don't think anyone could build a comparable bike for £3k. By any standards its a good buy.
Even for someone's first emtb the Haibike would be a great purchase. Keep it 2 years and sell for purchase price?? You couldn't do that with either your M3 or the Ohlins. And my second hand sails like your exhausts are almost worthless.

 

[Kev.k]

It’s scary how much m3 has gone up.

I got a new M3 in 2015 with £500 down and £550 a month for 3 years. Cost now is £15k down and £1500 a month for 3 years.

Were heading back to the 80’s/early 90’s. You rarely seen a decent car when I was a kid. Only people with serous cash had them. Not kids like me from a council estate.

To a regular person. A £3k push bike is ridiculous.

A Haibike isn’t niche, a Emtb is full stop. Average person has zero interest in them.

Looking at eBay you would have no chance of getting £3k back after 2 years. The market is flooded and nothing is selling unless auction.

The brand new Levo I was interested in (brand new cycle to work scheme bike), didn’t sell at the buy it now price of £3500.

 

[Zlatan]

It’s scary how much m3 has gone up.

I got a new M3 in 2015 with £500 down and £550 a month for 3 years. Cost now is £15k down and £1500 a month for 3 years.

Were heading back to the 80’s/early 90’s. You rarely seen a decent car when I was a kid. Only people with serous cash had them. Not kids like me from a council estate.

Plenty of kids I taught from council estates had had m3s..(for a few days) They just hadn't paid for them.
At the height of the car borrowing pandemic (early 90s) I taught one young man who assured me he could get in and start any car in under 20 seconds. Astra GTE, SRi, Escort Turbo, XR3i were all the rage to borrow. He kept a list of all the stuff he, d taken.

 

[soundwave]

the levos are the look at me and what i got ebikes Shure they look good but the motors are shite.

i got nuked today buy a scooter going through the middle of town and that thing must have been going 50mph or more and no splat hat of course.

bloody things are like 5k

 

[Zlatan]

It’s scary how much m3 has gone up.

I got a new M3 in 2015 with £500 down and £550 a month for 3 years. Cost now is £15k down and £1500 a month for 3 years.

Were heading back to the 80’s/early 90’s. You rarely seen a decent car when I was a kid. Only people with serous cash had them. Not kids like me from a council estate.

To a regular person. A £3k push bike is ridiculous.

A Haibike isn’t niche, a Emtb is full stop. Average person has zero interest in them.

Looking at eBay you would have no chance of getting £3k back after 2 years. The market is flooded and nothing is selling unless auction.

The brand new Levo I was interested in (brand new cycle to work scheme bike), didn’t sell at the buy it now price of £3500.

I agree about selling stuff at moment. But wait a while, when new stuff has all gone, old and cheap stuff is worn out. Haibike are only discounted because they aren't selling, and what doesn't sell this year won't be made next. At that point decent, quality second hand stuff will be at a premium. It's happening now with cars. My Jag just gone up another £500... Back to £13400..only because new stuff is either priced way out or simply not available.
Besides argument is around wether it's worth forking out £3k on a 4k bike or £1500 on a £1500 quid bike. I, d go former.

"to a regular person £3k is a ridiculous amount"
This is a pedelec/ebike site. Everybody on it is interested in ebikes. My wife thinks £50 on one is ridiculous. I think £95 on perfume is. She doesnt.

 

[peterjd]

I am looking at this Decathlon pedelec - it looks good value for money, with torque sensing and lockable front wheel suspension. Also 2 year warranty. Thoughts? My wife insists any new bike must replace an existing bike so the quirky Bickerton would have to go - not a great loss as I get into the second half of my seventies

Just to update - I've had the Decathlon 500E for a week or so and am pleased with my purchase - the feel of the torque control is quite relaxing (no 'panic' changes of support required on hills) whilst requiring a little more consistent leg work from me (which is what I wanted). Still think it is a little heavy with a 10.5Ah battery.

I won't be getting rid of my stripped down touring bike with adapted Swytch kit any time soon. It continues to be interesting to make adaptions to it to lighten the overall weight and make it more comfortable for leisure cycling. Much easier to load it into the back of the car.

Peter