LBS won't service e-bike...

[jaizon]

About to buy an e-bike that I can't find locally, or even moderately close to me. I do not have a great deal of experience fixing these bikes and I have heard that many bike shops will not service your bike if you did not buy it there. Being 73 and not so limber, makes me quite nervous. What is your experience with this potential problem? My LBS has some great brands, but just not something I want. What to do? Thanks.

 

[Sierratim]

I'd suggest asking them if they'd service the brand you prefer. If not, you might want to rethink your choice or take on service yourself.

 

[Explorer-1]

If they say no, look around for another LBS. Some problems they may not be able to address, but routine maintenance should be OK.

 

[GypsyTreker]

So petty of LBS stores to "get even" with those who choose to buy online. On the other hand it does present a golden opportunity for an independent to take on that E trade and cut into a slice of the basic tune and service dollars on non-electric bicycles. When I was in Fl I took my Ecotric 26 fattie into Village Bike Shop off 27, in the Villages, to do some work. Tony was excellent and the store gladly took $85 for my own laziness, and I gladly paid them.

 

[Nova Haibike]

I have heard that many bike shops will not service your bike if you did not buy it there. What to do?

Don't go by what you heard. Did you ask your LBS? If they said no, just call around. Every shop I have ever work at took in bikes they did not sell (except for department stores bikes...some shops won't work on those). It is only the E part of the bike they may not be able to service.

 

[AlanDB]

I faced the same situation when I bought the Evelo Compass trike. The Compass had some features I wanted that weren't available on the brands sold by my LBS. Evelo has an option to have the initial setup/assembly done locally, so they contacted my LBS and paid them to do this work. So I am hoping that the LBS will do routine service when I need it. If they refuse, I will call Evelo and see if they can assist with a little arm twisting at my LBS. I am pretty sure if I need warranty service that Evelo will work with my LBS, but I am not sure about what will happen when the trike is out of warranty.

 

[Alex M]

E-parts of the bike are more often replaced than serviced.
Sometimes they are serviced - brake sensors, connectors and other small things. Somebody has to do the troubleshooting and find out what part is faulty. Velofix should be able to.

Big customer-direct companies are also supportive, you email them photos and problem description, they send you the part.

Now, if you found some Chinese import that very few places sell, there could be no "company" to talk to, and your best bet would be to deal with the shop that sold it to you, for as long as the remote Chinese factory keeps making them.

 

[jaizon]

Thank you all for your feedback, it has been informative.

I will contact the LBS (one hour away) and see if they will take care of me, if I have a problem. They are (I think) the largest e-bike shop north of Mass. I am in quite a rural area, but if I'm willing to drive to the Boston area there are more possibilities.

There is a Velofix franchise near Boston, but I'm doubtful they will drive 65 miles (one way) for a service call. But you never know.

 

[rich c]

The main issue I believe is that customers argue with the LBS when they have to pay for labor on warranty work. The original company may have said they will reimburse the LBS, but that is not the ideal situation for a small business owner if they have to wait 45 days or more for payment. If you explain you will pay for all work, you might get a better reception. On the other hand, not sure I would have to courage to walk into the biggest eBike dealer in my state and ask them to fix my cheap internet bike. And if they wouldn't mind letting my bike sit for a month or more in their shop while we wait for parts from China.

 

[rich c]

What do you mean by wait for parts from China?

Isn't the whole point of buying Chinese ebikes from Pedego, Juiced, Biktrix, Volt, Rad Power, etc.. is the fact that you have the middle parson (distributor) on your side of shore?

I imagine those ebike companies would have tons of parts in their warehouse to build a few bikes... otherwise that would be a terrible customer service.
I'd rather buy an ebike from AliExpress or Alibaba if that's the case.

We don't know where the OP was getting his cheaper bike, do we? I assumed that direct Chinese purchase was part of the equation. If you buy Pedeogo, you are buying from a dealer. I only have experience with 1 part wait. It was for a replacement Sondors motor. I didn't mind waiting since they were doing me a favor with a free replacement after 1,600 miles, but it was also already on a container ship coming across. And I was doing the work as well.

 

[Alex M]

Isn't the whole point of buying Chinese ebikes from Pedego, Juiced, Biktrix, Volt, Rad Power, etc.. is the fact that you have the middle parson (distributor) on your side of shore?

I imagine those ebike companies would have tons of parts in their warehouse to build a few bikes... otherwise that would be a terrible customer service.
I'd rather buy an ebike from AliExpress or Alibaba if that's the case.

Let's not get confused.

Richc wrote "... to walk into the biggest eBike dealer in my state and ask them to fix my cheap internet bike". Aliexpress or Alibaba perfeclty qualify as cheap internet ebike sources. OTH, Pedego is a big expensive brand with dealerships in any major US town, they don't keep Bafang or Shengyi motors, controllers and displays in their warehouses - they don't use these parts in Pedego bikes. Pedego store will not be interested in procuring some odd part from China while your bike is sitting in their store.

Juiced and RAD are closer to "cheap internet bikes" though they have US distribution centers where most parts are available - again, they only keep parts used in their bikes, though it could be the same motor or controller or display as the one from a no-name Aliexpress or Walmart bike.

Biktrix is a slightly different business model, they ship bikes directly to consumer after they've assembled it in Canada (from Chinese parts, of course), and, being an assembly center, are more likely to have enough spare parts on hand - but again, don't expect them to supply you with something that they don't use in their bikes. They are not an LBS, they don't have LBS or dealers.

 

[Alex M]

No, I am not saying that Pedego is different because they use Dapu motor. I am saying that Pedego distribution center will only have Pedego parts - motors and other.

If an LBS is a dealer for several brands, they will have access to several different warehouses in the US, but when the part on your internet bike doesn't belong to any of these brands, don't expect LBS to fetch it for you. Possible but not likely, especially if they are a big expensive store and are doing well. Some LBS are a mix - you'll see few expensive brands there and some no-name Chinese imports that have no dealers in the US and might not be available in other LBS - they just bought a batch of them hoping to make profit.

The OP didn't say that he was trying to buy China-direct.

 

[AHicks]

I think the bigger point may be that just because the bike was built in China does not automatically mean the parts for that bike must come from China. MANY parts for China built bikes are stocked stateside...... There are NO guarantees either way though!

 

[6zfshdb]

I also live in a rural area and was faced with the same issues when shopping for a bike. A few of the main factors I used in my e-bike search were product reliability, customer service, warranty and whether or not the manufacturer would provide warranty parts directly to the buyer.

I've worked on conventional bikes over the years but knew nothing about the electrics. The nearest dealer that sells the bike I chose is 3.5 hours away. I drove there, took a test ride, and bought the bike. The idea was, if I needed service I couldn't do myself, I could always make the drive to the dealer.

The few minor repairs I've made so far were easy thanks to customer service who provided detailed instructions and the necessary parts. To me, this is one of the most important aspects of choosing a bike. I've since bought two additional bikes of the same brand but purchased them on line directly from the manufacturer.

 

[ez3putt]

My experience with three different LBS's.
1. I bought my wife a cheap 20" folder for Christmas 2018. Went to the only LBS in our city to buy a helmet and accessories. I inquired about ebikes as I was looking for a 20" fat tire step through class 2 or 3. They sell ebikes, but had none in inventory and could not even order what I was looking for. They did say they could service anything other than electrical parts on any ebike. Just bring it in and they would give me an estimate. A month later, my wife's ebike developed a squeak that was in a range I could not hear so I called the LBS and asked if they could look at it. "Sure, just bring it in, but we have to charge between 75 and 140 dollars to do a build on it before we do anything since you bought it elsewhere." I oiled the chain and sprayed WD-40 on most other moving parts and the squeak went away.

2. We were at our condo in Englewood when the rear tire on my VeeGo 750 blew out. I ordered a new tire and tube from Ride Scoozy on-line and received it the next day. I called the LBS that was about five minutes away to see if they could replace the tire and tube on my ebike. They asked if I purchased it from them and when I told them "no", they said they only worked on ebikes they sold and proceeded to give me a lecture on why I should not buy a bike on-line.

3. I called another LBS that was about 35 minutes away. They agreed to change it, but would have to charge actual labor rather than their published price for changing a rear tire on an acoustic bike. I dropped the bike off and picked it up the next day. The cost was double their published price for the same service on an acoustic bike.

I have a friend who was just gifted two nice acoustic bikes from his aging father who no longer rides. When he called the LBS to have them serviced, he was told the earliest appointment was six weeks out. I am not sure how much value an LBS adds during the challenging times.

 

[fooferdoggie]

most bike shops are really behind right now because so many people are buying bike.

 

[Sierratim]

most bike shops are really behind right now because so many people are buying bike.

Our LBS is the same. What once got done the same day is now 3-4 days. Many bike sizes are out of stock with long lead times as well. They've got 4 mechanic stations with all 4 staffed. A surprising amount of activity for such a small town.

 

[Locksmith]

My friend in the insurance industry here in British Columbia tells me ebike shops can’t get liability insurance. That may be why the LBS won’t service your ebike.

 

[opimax]

I have had poor service from local Velofix, large disappointment. They are not cheap either. I had an appointment and got ready for them to arrive , this would have been the 3rd time So they have been here. No show , no contact , almost 15 attempts to find out what happened on a confirmed appointment , left a message a corporate headquarter..nothing.

Hope the guy is ok but I am surprised I didnt hear from anybody



just tried “1 last time“ to call him, mail box is full, suspect something has happened , holding out my opinions for now..

 

[Chancelucky2]

I don't know if it's true, but I've always been told that, like car dealerships, most of the profit in a bike store comes from repairs and not sales. There are certain sorts of bread and butter repairs
where the make of the bike doesn't matter much, though, obviously, changing a tire on a hub drive e-bike probably does require more labor. There are certain repairs that may be very parts dependent, something that might explain a shop only being willing to work on brands they sell. There are also shops that won't work on what they consider to be cheapo bikes (think the bottom of the line Huffys), simply because there's not much point in say spending $75 on a bike that's worth less than that and likely to break down in some other way.
When I had a BMW e-bike (the dealership sold me the bike, but clearly had no idea how to work on it), I found that shops were happy to work on the "bike" parts, just not the e-parts.