Ebike graveyard

[ebikemom]

When I was first thinking about ebikes, I met a couple of people who were on their second or third or whatever ebike, because earlier bikes they'd bought broke down and were unfixable. Hearing their stories encouraged me to buy a high quality bike from a reputable company that stands behind its products.

Do you have any bikes in the "ebike graveyard?"

By "ebike graveyard" I don't mean companies that have gone belly-up, but bikes that became bricks and are sitting in your garage or that you got rid of (due to their status as bricks!!!)

BTW, there is an interesting article on early ebike companies that went belly up that also is called "ebike graveyard". https://www.electricbike.com/ebike-graveyard/

 

[Nova Haibike]

I have only have my e-bike for seven months; it would be pretty sad if if was so poor a bike that it would already be in the graveyard. Of course it could be in the graveyard due to a catastrophic accident rendering it a total loss, but that has not happened either (fingers crossed!)

I have seen maybe a half-dozen older oddball brand e-bikes get donated to my co-op. They have all been non-functional, or at least lacking batteries. Bikes that are unusable we strip for parts and give the remaining bits to the metal recycler.

 

[AlanDB]

I voted No for the two e-bikes in my family, but they are less than 2 years old ... so ask again in a couple more years.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

A customer of mine today, who bought an ebike, last bought one 8 years ago. Despite ebikes not being nearly as good back then, and lithium batteries still barely getting on any of them (high prices, etc.), and issues he said he had with his, he bought his 'second one.' Honestly, that is probably the period of time, where ebikes here in the US anyway, went from being those 'gadgets' bought by early adopter types, to more mainstream buyers. Fascinating to witness someone who was not discouraged, and now coming back and buying a much improved product.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

When I was first thinking about ebikes, I met a couple of people who were on their second or third or whatever ebike, because earlier bikes they'd bought broke down and were unfixable. Hearing their stories encouraged me to buy a high quality bike from a reputable company that stands behind its products.

Do you have any bikes in the "ebike graveyard?"

By "ebike graveyard" I don't mean companies that have gone belly-up, but bikes that became bricks and are sitting in your garage or that you got rid of (due to their status as bricks!!!)

BTW, there is an interesting article on early ebike companies that went belly up that also is called "ebike graveyard". https://www.electricbike.com/ebike-graveyard/

Wow, that's an old article. 2012. Forgot I saw that some years ago.

Trump's tariff's could actually accelerate some ebike firms to the 'grave-yard' which is rather unfortunate. Speaking of tariff's, I just heard about Trek increasing announcing price increases across the board (regular bikes and ebikes etc - the entire product line), including a small one now (5% ?), another one before X-mas, and another by Jan 1. These are at the whole sale level, and sounds like the retail level pricing will be even higher than wholesale price increases. (and higher than 25%). 2019 could be a very interesting year for ebikes, and let's hope that the US sales increases from last year to 2018, are at least the same type of increases from 2018 to 2019. Some firms are already committing to changing to Taiwan factories. Though there are many mainland Chinese factory owners who own the Taiwan factories too, so that could be interesting. Will Trump slap tariffs on Taiwan ? Now that would really stink.

I do see some ebike 'bricks' that people have had in their garage, and bring them by to see if I can 'resurrect' from the grave. They usually bought them on line, and back when there were no local ebike dealers around. To put it mildly, what they bought would not likely sell very well in today's environment. The US market has come a long long way in the past 5 years alone.

 

[rich c]

Having trouble fitting in the poll. I have 5 eBikes. One was sitting in the grave, but with a new free motor, is back in the queue. Of the 5, my first two are considered winter beaters that I don't mind seeing some slush and salt. I ride them occasionally through the year, just to keep them fresh and to take care of the batteries. No bricks yet, with a total around 6,900 miles.

 

[ebikemom]

Thanks for the interesting replies!