How old is your electric bike?

[Footie]

My MTB style electric bike is now over 18 months old and still going strong.
With its LiFePO4 battery, in theory, the only thing that could let me down is the controller or motor.
I know nothing lasts forever but I was just wondering how long one should expect an electric bike to last?
Two years, five years, longer?
As a leisure only rider and with nothing failing early, I suppose its possible to say I could be looking at ten years usage
I am playing around with a kit for off road but I can honestly say I'm very happy with my electric road-legal bike and have no inclination to change it.
I know flecc has often said his bikes are a few years old and I know a number of members have more than one bike.
So (out of curiosity) I put my question to the forum members - How old is your electric bike?
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[flecc]

Mine are both 2.5 years roughly, but I expect many more years from their motors and controllers. There are many people in the USA and here still using the original lead acid battery Lafree bikes from before the Panasonic unit types, those dating from 1999 to 2000, plus many early Powabykes still trundling around, those introduced in 1999. Rumour has it that some TGA models from earlier in the 1990s are still running around.

One early eZee design, the Rider model with lead acid battery and the same brush motor as the one used in the current Liv model was running fine in Switzerland at over 50,000 km with daily use over some years.

The cheap Chinese shopper bikes, circa £300 to £400, that Thompsons have sold from 2002 on used to fall to bits quickly, but their hub motors and controllers were fine and have circulated through ebay and the like for years as kit motors, seemingly indestructible.
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[frank9755]

Mine are both about a year old. I'm planning to sell the Wisper and will then just have my Tongxin kit bike.

That kit is in a bike which is just over 7 years old. It's a decent quality bike so I would expect it to last for another 20 years or more, as long as I look after it! Of course it will need new parts, both bike and electric. It is already on its third chain, second freewheel, second rear derailleur mechanism, third set of twist-shifters and, on the electric side, its third controller and second dedicated battery.

The problem with a kit bike is that the temptation to keep improving it is always there! The next thing I am going to do is to replace the motor. I'm currently using a rear motor in the front forks. This is not ideal as it is a fair stretch, so I have a front motor on the way. I'm going to get both another 260 rpm and a 175 rpm, so I can select the appropriate motor for the terrain.

After that, when the weather improves, I'll get a second battery to enable longer rides (although the Cytronex guys get such good ranges from the 175 rpm that I expect my 10Ah LiFePO4 will go quite a long way with that slower speed motor).

I toyed with the idea of transferring the kit to a different bike, a tourer with drop handlebars. That is still a possibility, but the stumbling block is that there may be too much complication to get brakes with cut-outs to work...

My first electric bike was a Powabyke, which was going strong at five years old when I bought it. I sold it a year later in more or less the same condition, for a few pounds less.

 

[Bikerbob]

My Giant Suede is now three years old and just keeps rattling along. The second battery is a year old and is doing well so far - touch wood. I would have changed the bike for something more sophisticated before now but I get on very well with my local bike shop, which is a Giant dealer, and I like to support them. When it does come to replacement I'll be tempted to settle for a second rate Giant from an excellent local shop rather than a better bike by mail order.

 

[bikerlen]

Hi i have a powabyke shopper that is well over 10 years old, and must say still going very strong. also have a powabyke euro that is now 12 months old. and just to be greedy have recently last week bought another powabyke off of ebay for the princely sum of £25, yes another shopper model. but not sure on age of it. but seeing as it got many simaler features as my euro model of last year. i think perhaps about 3 or 4 years old.

bikerlen.