Should I consider buying an ebike from a LBS that is located 6 hours away

[Simonsez]

I've started shopping for my first ebike and quickly found out that they're not cheap! Giant has certain bikes on clearance and one that caught my eye is a Fathom E+ Pro (Hardtail, Yamaha 80Nm with 625Wh battery, Shimano SLX 12 spd, Rockshock Recon fork). Remaining inventory in Canada is very thin, the only shop that has my size is located 6 hours away from my house. It's currently $1500 off MSRP and would fall within my budget.

I often read many horror stories about ebike finicky maintenance requirement as well as motor and/or battery failures/issues. I would obviously prefer buying from a local shop and have them nearby for maintenance, or in case I have problems. Would my local Giant shops welcome me with open arms even if I didn't buy the bike from them?

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Would my local Giant shops welcome me with open arms even if I didn't buy the bike from them?

Welcome aboard! If they're anything like Specialized shops, yes.

But wait, there's more! If you contact your local Giant shop and tell them the Giant you want is in another Giant shop 6 hrs away, they might transfer it for you.

That's what Specialized did for my already scarce Vado SL 1 last September. No cost to me, but I was paying full price.

Good luck!

 

[jabberwocky]

If you have a Giant dealer who is closer (especially if you like them) you can stop in and ask about that model/size and see what they can do. They may be able to contact the other shop and swap inventory (less likely if its a clearance bike but you never know). Or maybe offer you an attractive deal on something not on clearance.

To answer your question, any Giant dealer can handle warranty service on any Giant bike. Thats kinda the point of a dealer network. It does help if its the dealer you bought the bike from. They would be more motivated to help at least. But dealers for the major brands generally don't dick customers around.

If you end up buying the bike from the far away shop but want to make the local shop happy, go there to buy your accessories. Helmet, clothes, lights, computer, etc.

 

[Simonsez]

Thank you both for your replies and your advice. I did actually contact one local shop but I didn't feel like they would go out of their way to help out and a swap was out of the question. They mentioned the Talon to me and it's about $500 cheaper but I feel like the Fathom is a much better bike. I will try contacting other shops in the vicinity.

 

[rayray]

If you end up buying the bike from the far away shop but want to make the local shop happy, go there to buy your accessories. Helmet, clothes, lights, computer, etc.

That’s what I did when I bought my Specialized bike, because the local shop couldn’t get what I wanted. They were more than happy to assemble it, and have continued to service it.

However, there is another dealer near me that won’t service bikes they didn’t sell, or at least they had a sign on the wall stating that when I was there.

 

[DaveMatthews]

There are exclusive Giant shops and those that have multiple brands. What kind of shops are you looking at? Where are you in Canada?

 

[Extreme1]

Another vote for trying to get your LBS to have them transfer the bike to them. It’s worth a try.

InCycle did that for our Specialized ebikes we’ve bought from them.

 

[Simonsez]

There are exclusive Giant shops and those that have multiple brands. What kind of shops are you looking at? Where are you in Canada?

I live west of Toronto in the Hamilton area. And yes, we have both Giant-only stores and the others that sell Giant and other brands. Agree that I need to call others. Thanks for your reply.

 

[stompandgo]

The dealer I bought by latest bike from is thousands of miles away in Colorado. The local dealer did my upgrade work. All of this is logged with the manufacturer (Cannondale) and the warranties are in force.

 

[antboy]

I remember looking at a Talon last year, and there was one in Kanata (I'm in Toronto), but IIRC, if the bike is out of stock in the warehouse, it's local availability only.

The local Giant shop will certainly handle any servicing/maintenance of a Giant e-bike, regardless of where you bought it, and for non-ebike elements, most LBS will take care of you.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Your local Giant dealer is required by the franchise /service agreement to service your bike.

 

[6zfshdb]

Your local Giant dealer is required by the franchise /service agreement to service your bike.

The same it true with Pedego bikes, but you may not get the same service as those who bought there. I was actually told this by a dealer 3 hours from me. He said they would service the bike I bought from a dealer 6 hours away, but I would have to wait until all his local customers were taken care of first.

The sad part is, the 3 hour dealer wasn't in business when I bought the bike. Otherwise, assuming the prices were similar, I would have bought from him and saved a 3 hour drive.

This really isn't an issue for me though, since I do all my own service. The 3 hour dealer drop ships parts to me directly from Pedego so I rarely have to drive there.