...My issue is how certain bike reviewers(not talking about EBR) make it seem as if Bosch will make it so much easier to have your bike serviced for years after its purchase when in reality its just the same old BS.
+1
Has anyone replaced a Bosch motor by buying one in the aftermarket somehow?
The only Bosch motor replacements I've heard of have been warrantee replacements done by an official Bosch service place.
I have not heard of Bosch selling motors separately for upgrade or for home repair. When I hear how tight the control is on the software and system, I assume it's unlikely to happen, but please correct me if there is an aftermarket source for Bosch motors or motors made for a Bosch housing.
My Bosch Activeline Plus bike is going fine and still under warrantee, but I like the bike and I like the idea I could later replace the motor on this bike if/when the motor wears out. I like Bosch motors so that would be my first choice to replace it at some point.
If I can't replace a Bosch motor in the future, or only at some prohibitively expensive level, then it makes the bike seem disposable. At some point I'll have a nice bike with a Bosch-specific housing in the frame defining what motor it can have, but I'll have no motor for it.
A long time cyclist and someone experienced at building bicycles from parts, I'm used to being able to repair/replace stuff for bicycles which tend to last decades and decades, working as new if they get the right attention and upgrades when required. I realize an electric motor and its system work hard and wear out, likely at a faster rate than traditional bicycle parts, so needing to replace a motor at some point seems predictable. Maybe this is an issue across the emerging e-market; people buying ICE automobiles have always rightly assumed they can replace an auto's motor if needed (or just desired) at the dealer or in the aftermarket, but I doubt if they assume that when they buy cars with e-parts. No one pictures their Nissan Leaf in ten years and assumes they'll be able to take it to a garage and get a new motor(s) put in.
Maybe some e-bike riders are fairly new to bicycling, and perhaps many people already think of bicycles as disposable. They may not mind if the bike itself only has any value as long as that e-motor works(?). Hub motors and mid-drive kits seem relatively impervious to this problem. I was aware of those when I bought the Bosch bike but it didn't occur to me to wonder whether Bosch shared my motivation to keep my bike running long-term.
