how many reliable miles?

[Joe]

i am not the luckiest with cars but have managed 60,000 from new on two occassions (vauxhall nova/ford fiesta)with no breakdowns of any kind. just regular servicing and tyre/exhaust replacement.

by comparison what about electric bikes?
what is a realistic expectation? and differences between panasonic and a variety of hub motors in terms of reliability?

 

[HarryB]

Depends on what you mean by unreliability? The beauty of the modern electric bike is that you are rarely rendered immobile by a failure and the super reliable (tyres excluded) bicycle bits will get you home. I have had a couple of electrical gremlins on my Torq, mostly where water gets into the meter box and the throttle won't work. The pedelec sensor seems to be upset by the damp as well. Compared to my previous ebike, the Eco Tornado the Torq is marvelous, and at least you can cycle it without power unlike the Tornado.


Cars in my experience, regardless of how complex they have become, are incredibly reliable. Provided, as you say, they are serviced regularily. Brake master cylinder was the last failure I had on a 20 year old Mercedes and that was a few years ago now. More a case of too much stopping rather than no stopping, so not dangerous.

PS around 5000-6000 (more or less) reliable miles for me then.

 

[Joe]

unreliable electric parts that cause a breakdown that significantly lengthens journey time. your torq harryb sounds reliable enough.

 

[Ian]

It's hard to compare bikes to cars as even the the most modern electric bike has cycle parts that have changed little in over 100 years, for instance in the trouble free 20000 miles between services we expect from our typical modern car any bike is going to get through 2 to 5 pairs of tyres(Excluding punctures), 3 or 4 chains, a few spokes, several pairs of brake pads, maybe a front rim perhaps a cassette and maybe other parts depending on the quality of the originals. In additional an electric bike is likely to need the battery replacing at least once in that time but apart from greasing the motor gears, usually recommended at 5000 miles, little additional maintenance or repairs should be required.

the necessarily lightweight construction of bikes makes components more vulnerable to wear and damage than those used in heavier vehicles which will obviously affect reliability, however a quality electric bike is likely to actually be more reliable than a cheap non-electric due to the better quality of important cycle parts.

 

[flecc]

Lafree Twist Lite with Panasonic motor unit, just over 6000 miles and still going strong for the new owner. Only tyres and brake pads had to be replaced. I recelled battery to extend the range, but it was still ok without.

Torq-1 / T bike, 2400 miles. New motor when brand new due to initial failure. Li-ion batteries less spoken of the better, otherwise just conversion components.

Quando NiMh / Q bike, 1900 miles, no trouble whatsoever, just goes and goes. Conversion components added.

eZee report one of their old Rider models (same motor as Liv, but with SLA) with over 50,000 km in Switzerland, so nothing wrong with that motor.
.

 

[Joe]

based on your replies it seems that with sound intial design and good protection from the elements the electric parts of the bicycle can rack up 5-20.000 or so reliable ish miles. which for most people i guess will be more than enough and see them through the main goals of ownership.

 

[frank9755]

Powabyke Euro 24 - 2nd hand from eBay, c 4 years old:
500 miles, no faults, brake pads replaced due to normal wear, battery giving 35 miles range

Powacycle Windsor - new:
2000 miles, no faults, brake pads and tyres replaced due to normal wear, batteries giving 25+ miles range. Bike still looks like new.

Wisper 905se - new:
0 miles - rear brake replacement required
100 miles - wear to rear forks - torque arm fitted
450 miles - 2 broken spokes in rear (motor) wheel
tyres replaced, battery giving 30++ miles range

Frank