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A couple of bike shops near me stock Whyte and Cube ebikes respectively
I've bought loads of clockwork bikes and parts on-line over the years but nervous about doing this with an ebike
Is this justified? I feel like I'm limiting myself to the brands above (not necessarily a bad thing) to ensure I get can local support if things go wrong
Based on the thread of warren claims a few weeks ago, yes. Or even if not truly local, at least somewhere you can get to in person.
Not sure where you are, but Race Co Cycles in stourbridge have a good rep for ebikes.
Used to live near Stourbridge but no more, think my mate is about to buy a Whyte from the shop you mention
Absolutely with an ebike IMO. I get that there are some great bikes from the likes of YT and Commencal, but absolutely no way am I getting a bike that has to have bits shipped back to Europe when it inevitably breaks.
I’m fortunate enough to ride for a shop that does Trek, so I’ve ordered a ‘21 Rail, as I want the ease of dealing with things when it does break.
It will break. It will probably break quite a few times. Go local.
kayak23
Subscriber
It will break. It will probably break quite a few times. Go local.
surely they've fixed reliability issues? I've had my bafang for a couple of years, never had a bother with it since I got it.
My mates Focus ebike has done 8600 miles, despite folks telling him to avoid shimano motors.
I was under the impression that the Shimano e8000 was considered to be quite a reliable motor plus if you get any problems with one you can use any Shimano center for warranty work.
I hope so anyway because I ordered a German ebike yesterday.🤞
I was under the impression that the Shimano e8000 was considered to be quite a reliable motor plus if you get any problems with one you can use any Shimano center for warranty work.
I hope so anyway because I ordered a German ebike yesterday
The impression I get (rightly or wrongly) is that the specialized brose motors are the least reliable,but have the best performance/features etc, with the shimano and bosch motors being fairly reliable, but not quite as performant/functional as the specialized.
I wouldnt be too concerned buying a shimano motor'd bike from afar, like you say you'd expect any shimano e bike service centre to be able to deal with it.
I know its not quite the same , but my Yt capra came with raceface carbon cranks that developed play, and rather than deal with YT and potentially ship the cranks/bike back to germany , I contacted the Uk distributor for raceface directly and they're warrantying them for me. I'd like to think you'd get similar service with the motors.
I bought one last week, from a LBS. I wouldn’t go near online for an ebike despite many highlighting the great value they represent.
The Spesh Brose motor, that’s in the Levo and Kinevo, has had some pretty bad reliability issues which they say is now fixed. The SL motor is a totally different design and supplier and has been used with good reliability in their road bikes for a while now with very few issues. That’s what I’ve gone for in a Levo SL.
Shop. Not any shop but a shop with a decent reputation for ebikes, so for spesh for example, Berkshires cycles, raceco or don Skeene.
Brose do have issues but thats because they sell so many, so there are more complaints.
Personally I would especially avoid yt due to the proprietory battery.
Personally I would especially avoid yt due to the proprietory battery
yep that puts me off the YT too. I'm a bit put off all the shimano motor'd bikes because of the smaller battery compared to the specialized and the bosch bikes.
Buy from a shop, the piece of mind is well worth it. I’ve had a shimano dead on me out of the box, m8 went thru at least 2 Bosch Cx motors, another had a Yamaha motor die, had my spesh motor replaced & now that the new Bosch has been out a while, there’s issues being reported. None can claim 100% reliability, but ebike have not suddenly appeared, they’ve been around for the last decade & are the best they’ve ever been. Could they be better, yep, but that could be said everything...
My thinking is , I've saved a fortune compared to a similar specced bike that I could buy locally. In fact I couldn't afford to buy a similarly specced bike locally, and as I have a Shimano center nearby who has a good reputation I thought why not. Things may take a little longer to sort IF I have a problem but I have other non ebikes I still intend to ride so it doesn't really matter.
Don’t necessarily be out off by smaller batteries, as it leads to lighter bikes. Spesh Levo SL being a case in point with tests showing that for most riders it goes as far as the full fat Levo, but with half the power and half the battery.... and about 4kg less weight..
I’m a bit put off all the shimano motor’d bikes because of the smaller battery compared to the specialized and the bosch bikes.
Shimano have just released a new 630w external battery, that I believe can be retro fitted (with new brackets) to older bikes. I’d expect that to start appearing in newer models soon & for an larger internal battery to be in the pipeline (They created a quick charging version atm).
But yes, range anxiety was a good part of the reason, why I went from a shimano 500w to a spesch 700w.