Short E-Bike Warranties: Are They A Problem?
- Thread starter Asher
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T
Terry777
Guest
The “after corona” will for sure have a massive affect on the market. Like you say it will be real interesting to see exactly where it goes.
reed scott
Well-Known Member
I care little about my bike's warrantee. It's not like a car that costs tens of thousands of dollars and requires professional mechanics to repair.
darksky
Member
- Region
- USA
For me I appreciate a good warranty. With the initial cost of the bike I don't want to have to pay for a new battery, motor or other expensive part is it fails.
reed scott
Well-Known Member
Of course you are correct and for that reason a lot of folks should only purchase from an established LBS. But for those who do not want to pay the premium (me ) or they just cannot get the exact bike they want from a dealer ( me ) the cost of repair will not be a major concern really.
Asher
Well-Known Member
They were selling an ebike for $500 when everyone else was selling for $1500+. That would affect their business...
Interesting warranty: 5 year parts warranty (wear and tear not included) but how does the part in brackets affect things?
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
On the "bathtub curve" anything is possible, but from a warranty perspective regarding major components, my experience would be if it works when you get it, you're good to go. NOT an extended warranty buyer/believer (regarding ANYTHING).This isn't true. Bathtub curves are used to model part failures, and failures you hear around ebike parts, like anything else, can and do happen at any stage of their life.
I wouldn't say that a short warranty is wrong per se, but that it's penny wise, pound foolish:
Bathtub curve - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
* Most buyers don't work on their own bike. Prob <10% do. So the 'joy' of having to work on your bike and reaping the savings therefrom are non existent.
* Your 1 year old ebike has lost half its value, even if it's fully working. Let's say $750/$1500. The motor fails at the 1.5 year mark. It costs $500 to fix. The battery has already done a couple hundred charge cycles, the cassette is a little worn... Your bike isn't even two years old and it's already borderline in terms of scrapping or saving it. And it's not like ebikes improve as considerably year over year like a smartphone.
*Maybe you just don't like the feeling of buying a hunk of metal only to throw it out after a year, when you could have spent less over time to keep your metal longer.
Even name brand motors only have two year warranties, but there's more assurance of their durability than the motors used on the low end ebikes (with the possible exception of Brose motors). And the retail shop you bought it at will do all repairs under warranty for free.
Regarding the <10% work on their own bikes comment, that sounds WAY more like a comment coming from somebody that doesn't work on their own bike than a fact that can be backed up. It doesn't take much effort, even for unskilled people, to LEARN enough about their bike to be/get pretty efficient at doing their own work.
I do all of my own work, and am very grateful for the ability to pay a price WAY less than what's available from the LBS for a similar product. I like to believe a bike assembled from name brand generic components, while avoiding proprietary parts, makes a great plan, that nets me more bike for the buck.
So to answer the question, it's not so much about the length of the warranty here, it's WAY more about the company backing their bike when I get it. -Al
voidedwarranty
Well-Known Member
This is 100% accurate.Before I got my bike, I hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years and even then, have never touched one to repair anything. Maybe my professional background has helped me out, but since I have gotten my bike I have:
1. Changed out the grips.
2. Replaced front and rear brake pads plus adjusted calipers and levers.
3. Replaced the seat.
4. Adjusted derailleur limit screws and indexing chain.
5. Removed the stem to install special adapter for Mac Ride child seat.
6. Patched 3 flat tires (on the side of the road without taking the wheel off).
7. Full conversion from Shimano 10 speed to Sturmey Archer 3-speed (including spoking and truing the wheel on my own)
What I haven't done myself and instead used my warranty for:
1. Faulty battery switch on secondary battery pack (sent back to Biktrix, they fixed it, shipped it back).
Everything I did on my own took some easy google searches and YouTube videos to understand and accomplish. And I don't even have any proper bike tools.
Asher
Well-Known Member
Lol I don't say that few people work on their own bike just because I "don't", which you had just assumed. It's based on just meeting people and seeing how many actually work on their bike beyond basic things like putting on new brake pads and tires. The number of people who can currently true a wheel or build a bike from scratch is a tiny fraction of the number of people currently riding bikes. Don't know why you're reasoning is so inflected with anger lol.
Anyhow, my thinking about warranties has evolved, and the main problem by far is not the mechanical components, yet most of the answers from people here who don't care about warranties seem fixated on the mechanics. Mechanical things are easy and cheap to replace by yourself or a shop. It's the electrical bits and frame issues that can be hard to address if at all possible, or end in replacement costs of $500+. I haven't seen too many premature battery failures due to manufacturer defect, aside from a thread here about a Juiced battery port getting burned out just from regular use.
JASmith
Member
- Region
- USA
One great thing that European consumer protection group has done is mandated 2-year warranties for many electronic items, and I would hope that e-bikes would be included.
It protects the consumer and reduces e-waste by discouraging manufacturers from producing products that are designed with a high short-term failure rate.
It protects the consumer and reduces e-waste by discouraging manufacturers from producing products that are designed with a high short-term failure rate.
I saw that for e-motorcycles, didn't know e-bicycles were coming. I'd support that if they had a minimum 50% domestic parts content or assembled in the US stipulation. That could be enough to make the US companies competitive with the Chinese/Taiwanese e-bikes.
AHicks
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- USA
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- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
OK. so I did misunderstand your point. Brakes and tires were exactly the kind of thing I was thinking of. Apologies for calling you out on that point.
And speaking of evolving, I think the understanding people have of the e-bike related electrical/electronics has evolved/is evolving quickly. The longer we're playing this e-bike game, the more common SOME knowledge is becoming. Though the bikes remain different, it's becoming clear they share components with a common function. PAS sensors, brake light switches, and throttles would be good examples here. -Al
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
Somebody that doesn't allow anyone else to work on their "stuff" for starters...
Get it working as advertised when I get it, and I'll take it from there. Exception being expensive (100.+) parts.
I suppose anyone that wanted to modify/upgrade the bike which would void the warranty.
Dave Rocks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- Canada
- City
- MISSISSAUGA
Does changing the saddle void the warranty?
Asher
Well-Known Member
No.
A surprising number of people earlier in the thread considered themselves superior to warranties. Baffling, yes, but I suppose a good chunk of this forum must be ignored to have anything like representative responses. Same indifference to electronics waste as well.
The E-BIKE subsidy bill is going nowhere. And the idea that the administration supports it is at best unfounded, and more likely false. Biden has repeatedly backed Buy American rules for government spending, and very few e-bikes are made in the US.
AHicks
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Snow Bird - Summer S.E. Michigan, Winter Gulf Coast North Central Fl.
So here you are, again, and here I am again, calling you out regarding your thoughts on warranties. There's nothing baffling to it in my mind. Why would I want to spend the time/frustration required to wade through all the BS and jump through the necessary hoops to get warranty on an inexpensive part? Or a labor operation I can complete in less time than it takes you to even contact whoever you need to talk with? Why would I insist my bike be put in line, possibly for weeks, to get something repaired, just because it's "under warranty"? The reason somebody might subject themselves to this is what I find baffling! For me, even if I was absolutely clueless, it would make MUCH more sense to at least attempt to learn enough to allow me to fix it myself...... if for no other reason than to justify the fact your bike is going to be in line to be worked on rather than under your butt being enjoyed. That's baffling.....
And representative responses? Really?
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