Ebike Life

[burncycle]

Im just wondering how long your previous ebikes have lasted for forum members in years.
How many years regular service did you get out of them?
If they died on you, what was the cause?

The main problems I've read about is the battiery being unavailable for replacement (no ezee comments).

Just trying to judge my potential investment life.

Dont worry im not going to cancel !

Regards

Bob.

 

[frank9755]

I bought a second hand Powabyke last year which was made in 2002. You see plenty of that vintage on eBay.

Frank

 

[keithhazel]

my first e-bike was a folder i bought on e-bay...that had a fault that when you tightened the handlebars the nut down the shaft that tightened up lost its thread....so that went back......

number 2 was a "lapland" i bought off e-bay...he unfortunatly sent me a "returns" one so had to send that back.....


number 3 was a replacement "lapland" which unfortunatly had a fault where the power was "off and on"...so no miles at all and that went back....


number 4 was a powerbike i bought on e-bay from a man in peterborough, about 5 years old, (the bike), and it went on and on as powerbykes seem to...


number 5 ....i bought a synergy folder which was a great fun ride but underpowered, did alterations to front and back chain cogs and bigger peddles but still only 13.5mph pedal speed.....so sold that on e-bay....


number 6 is my Quando. a right good bike.......

sold powerbyke for more then i bought it for...(just) no advertiseing as friend did all that for me.....the day he took it home he got a puncture and cost him £25 for new tyre and innertube as innertube had been repaired 5 time previous... i didnt know ...

so thats my e-bike story, it started 2 months befor i joined this forum so ive had a few lol....

 

[flecc]

My similar Lafree Twist, not as strong as the Kalkhoff in some respects, did 4.5 years of very tough service with me in a very hilly area, and it included towing my very big trailer with large loads two or three times a week as you see it in this photo.

Then I sold it to forum member aaannndddyyy who has used it for the best part of another year so far. I recelled the battery sold with the bike at 4 years, but the second battery which wasn't recelled I passed to another forum member who uses it as a range extender. That has the original cells at well over 5 years old.

All I did on the Lafree apart from changing the hub gear when I first bought it was to fit a Marathon Plus rear tyre and new brake pads when they'd worn out.

The very heavy towing wrecked the gearhub after 4 years of that abuse, but a new insert put that right. That wouldn't apply in your case of course.

In general, Panasonic motor bikes are running from when they were first introduced 7 years ago. The earlier power unit had a couple of bugs which resulted in a small number failing, but the new unit has attended to those so will probably be very reliable.

As for other e-bikes, the hub motors in general have been very reliable, even the cheapest ones on Chinese shopper bikes long outliving the cheap bikes they were sold in, and they appear second hand for those who want to use them as kit motors.

The best lithium batteries now arriving will probably have a life of around three years, depending on use.
.

 

[Ian]

My first bike, a cheap Synergie with a Tonxgin nano-motor lasted 6 months during which time it suffered repeated controller failures and a multitude of other problems attributable to poor design and construction.

My present bikes are an Ezee Torq and an Ezee Sprint the former almost 2 years old and still doing 35-40 miles per charge of original battery, and the Sprint 3 years old still going strong on a replacement battery.

...The main problems I've read about is the battiery being unavailable for replacement (no ezee comments)

With worldwide availability there has never been any problem obtaining replacement Ezee batteries for those prepared to look further than a local supplier... something anyone purchasing any brand from a sole importer should consider.

 

[Joe]

you cant argue with that record ian. what did you think of the later f series bikes by comparison? when i first started reading a2b and looking at internet resources the sprint was supposed to be a stalwart and the original torq the next big step. i take your point about worldwide suppliers of spares but i think the brand needs the commitment and support of a uk agent again to raise the profile. Especially over recent times when the non availability of kalkhoffs could have been exploited.

 

[Ian]

Joe, the F series has never appealed to me, striking me as overpowered and more moped like, I think the Torq is far more of a cyclists bike but that's just a personal view. I have to say the Sprint isn't really my kind of bike either, but it was an irresistible secondhand bargain and has proved very useful for shopping etc.

I agree with you about the current lack of UK Ezee representation, but that is set to change and it is a situation that can affect any brand relying on a sole importer when the relationship breaks down.