Which Bike For Reliability?

[Ray Johnson]

Hello, newbie here.

Which bike has the best reputation for reliability? I am considering buying a bike, so far I have had rides on Kalkhoff, KTM, Wisper, Oxygen and Raleigh.

If I buy one and a couple of years down the line, when the warranty has expired and the bike goes wrong and say, the suppliers have gone out of business, who do I get to repair it?

Which bike is the least likely to go wrong?

At the moment the Oxygen is favourite for buying by a short head from Wisper.

Any thoughts?

 

[soundwave]

id go with a Bosch or Yamaha motor bike as the motors are around the same price to replace them around 500 euro.

like all bikes parts will wear out and will need servicing now and then to keep it all working as it should.

just depends how much you want to spend?

 

[flecc]

The Impulse unit that Kalkhoff use has been having some problems with the version 2, which you can read about on this thread.

The latest version now is the Impulse Evo and hopefully that will be trouble free, but it's too new to know with certainty yet.

In a relatively small market like the e-bikes one, it's impossible to say that any supplier will definitely last, but you have selected a good set of names which should be secure.
.

 

[zebody]

As far as reputation for reliability in my opinion ezee bilks have proved excellent.
I have had an ezeetorq since 2006 and it's still on the road going strong.
I baught another in 2009 ezeetorq 2 and it's still on the road and have ordered another latest modal ezee Forza.
Used them for work in all weather including snow.
Hope this helps.

 

[Lancslass]

In a relatively small market like the e-bikes one, it's impossible to say that any supplier will definitely last, but you have selected a good set of names which should be secure.
.

Add Juicy to that list as well. They have got a lot of happy customers going back some years, and repeat customers as well. Bob who owns the business is on this forum.
https://www.juicybike.co.uk/

 

[Mac_user82]

i have a Scoot E Sub Sport 2015 one thing i can say about it doesn't take long to charge a couple of hours and you are full again and ready to ride some of this batteries take 6 hours to charge which is not a good thing if you are commuter like me which in some cases

i might need to go out several places in one day it does come in very handy because most of the time it charged before i need to go out again.

i'am thinking very hard about buying a second battery to get more miles and also to have a spare battery ready to go if need be.

if you are looking for a very good dealer i couldn't recommend enough onBike -Martin a very knowledge man with very good attitude and a pleasure
to talk to just lays the facts as you want them.

http://www.onbike.co.uk- Martin

His after sales is very good i have had a couple of cases which was solved
quickly .

 

[timidtom]

We have had our Juicy Bikes Classics for at least four years (is it longer, Bob?) and both are still running well. Minor teething problems to start with, but put right almost immediately by Bob Wales and utterly reliable since. Serviced by an excellent local cycle shop once a year and look set to soldier on for more years of enjoyment and silly grins. The wicker basket is essential extra kit ...
Best wishes in your hunt!

 

[Karl_Sheldon]

Well I'm happy with my Oxegen Emate CB its a great friendly fully kitted out bike at a great price, looking on eBay etc I can easily purchase new battery with same fitting from many suppliers, new rear hub motor looks easy to find if needs be , given most bikes like this use generic China/asia sourced parts and standard bike parts long term diy should not pose a problem

 

[trex]

There is no point relying on the brands for what is necessary and regular maintenance. At the very least, you should keep your bike clean and give it a bit of grease where there is a threaded component or a ball bearing or where grit may get in, like chain, cogs, pedals and bottom bracket etc. You don't want the components to be caked in mud then cold welded into place. This said, you still want to check out how well the cables are protected and their routing is done for it's rain water that will kill your bike.

 

[JuicyBike]

We have had our Juicy Bikes Classics for at least four years (is it longer, Bob?)

Tom - are you sitting down?
You purchased 2 bikes on 11th July 2010...
How time flies!
Glad to hear both are serving you well.

 

[derf]

Hello, newbie here.

Which bike has the best reputation for reliability? I am considering buying a bike, so far I have had rides on Kalkhoff, KTM, Wisper, Oxygen and Raleigh.

If I buy one and a couple of years down the line, when the warranty has expired and the bike goes wrong and say, the suppliers have gone out of business, who do I get to repair it?

Which bike is the least likely to go wrong?

At the moment the Oxygen is favourite for buying by a short head from Wisper.

Any thoughts?

tricky question: I have a woosh, it is cheap Chinese stuff, but woosh itself is very reliable for sorting out problems, and once it's out of warranty you have cheap generic components that can be replaced from anywhere. I have a friend who has a kalkhoff - impulse 2, and it started making the clacking sound after twenty months and kalkhoff have equally been good at sorting under warranty. But if it happens again in 20 months the bike will be an effective write off. It's all plusses and minuses. In my humble personal opinion ebikes are all much much much too - and unacceptably - low quality: what else in your life are you prepared to pay one to two thousand (or more) pounds for only to have it reduce itself to worth nothing in a few years? Either were being taken advantage off by transient dealers/companies or its because its a niche market, I'm not sure.

 

[mike killay]

My 5 year old Tonaro is going well. Needed a new motor, cost? £140
My Woosh folder has stood up to terrible abuse, being ridden along beaches etc. Still going strong.
As far as I am concerned, simple, magnet ring Chinese pedelecs are best.

 

[flecc]

In my humble personal opinion ebikes are all much much much too - and unacceptably - low quality: what else in your life are you prepared to pay one to two thousand (or more) pounds for only to have it reduce itself to worth nothing in a few years? Either were being taken advantage off by transient dealers/companies or its because its a niche market, I'm not sure.

It's a combination of the small UK market and seasonality of sales that's the problem. For a seller to staff and stock both bikes and spares and survive year round, year after year, means either a very high proportion of the small market or a very large markup.

Since a very large proportion of the market can only be had by cheap e-bikes, the consumer market become a choice between moderate price lower spec e-bikes and well overpriced somewhat higher spec machines.

The market needs to grow to at least ten times it's present size for this to change, as it did long ago in the Netherlands and Germany.
.

 

[anotherkiwi]

But look at prices in Germany... There is the fashion thing - what huge technological advances do the 2016 models have over the 2015 ones? The economy of scale on the European market is already there but the companies are greedy and their profit margins must be large.

A kit is the best bet: battery fails after 800-1000 charges get a new one or get it re-celled. Motor fails change it (sell the old one for the price of the copper).

 

[flecc]

But look at prices in Germany... There is the fashion thing - what huge technological advances do the 2016 models have over the 2015 ones? The economy of scale on the European market is already there but the companies are greedy and their profit margins must be large.

True, but at least they have the option of price cutting of quality pedelecs in their size of market, an option we don't have.
.

 

[trex]

I think some customers take reliability to mean the same thing as length of service intervals.
A typical example is the wear of brake pads because brake pads are likely the first thing that needs replacing on a bike.
Rim (V) brakes are cheap to fit, easy to set and have very good stopping power but the rubber blocks wear out much sooner than semi-metallic disc pads. Disc brakes have different size pads, from 18mm round (zoom) to 18mm x 28mm (for most HDBs). Naturally, the cost of brake pads goes up with pad size but the running cost of wear per mile is about the same.
The moral of the story is, unless you have a well equiped workshop, you are better of buying a bike with the largest brake pads that require only a pair of tweezers to change (eg the new woosh Bali).

 

[anotherkiwi]

I have a Magura hydraulic rim brake on the front and Tektro mechanical on the rear. After 2400 km I have already replaced the Tektro pads but the Magura ones are not even half gone yet. And Magura have even longer wearing pads as an option! I am worried about the single wall aluminium rim in the front wearing out before the brake pads do!

 

[derf]

I think some customers take reliability to mean the same thing as length of service intervals.
A typical example is the wear of brake pads because brake pads are likely the first thing that needs replacing on a bike.
Rim (V) brakes are cheap to fit, easy to set and have very good stopping power but the rubber blocks wear out much sooner than semi-metallic disc pads. Disc brakes have different size pads, from 18mm round (zoom) to 18mm x 28mm (for most HDBs). Naturally, the cost of brake pads goes up with pad size but the running cost of wear per mile is about the same.
The moral of the story is, unless you have a well equiped workshop, you are better of buying a bike with the largest brake pads that require only a pair of tweezers to change (eg the new woosh Bali).

i see your point (reliability versus servicing/maintenance/consumables), but: I have also had rohloff Brompton for ten years now with schwalbe marathon plus' - the rear tyre has just started wearing through (after around 15000 miles), and it's consumed maybe three or four sets of brake blocks (and five minutes each time to fit them). No other maintenance whatsoever - naturally no need to adjust the rohloff, and everything else is cheerfully scratched but fully functional and ready for another ten years. Why isn't there an ebike that can emulate that?

 

[Croxden]

For reliability I'm very pleased with my R&M Delite. I need eight more miles to clock up 8000, a bit to damp to do it today.

In this time (two years) Martin at OnBike had to ease a brake Piston that had seized and renew the Intuvia display that stopped displaying. All under warranty.

Apart from that everything is original, the bike works hard in my hilly area and only has the occasional clean. Well worth the money charged.

Note, I never boast about the Haibike.

 

[KirstinS]

Anything with a BPM hub motor will keep going and going. Stick it in the front wheel and an alfine 8 Hub in the rear

= Bullet proof

Or at least easy/cheap to repair

This setup has proved super reliable all year round commuter for me. Absolutely minimum maintenance