I own a tiny bike shop and the reality is.... Every time I try to fix an E-bike the client is refusing. Cheep e-bikes cost 400-700$. Fixing the battery cost 300-400$ + labor. Changing the controller cost 300-400$+ labor. I don't think I want to continue fixing e-bikes. Cost of all the stuff in ebikes is way to expensive for regular customer.
The DIY ebike kits from Bafang, CYC and couple others are easy to install and repair on your own. They are mid drive kits the perform a lot better than hub drive. I don't even know how to patch a flat tire and I installed the cyc photon on my Specialized fuse mtb, took me less than an hour and I was riding the bike. The battery is a Samsung 52v 17.5 amp hour battery, easy to install. It's been a year with no issues at all from the motor and battery. Display was acting weird but didn't affect the motor at all, with warranty I got a new one and it's plug and play out of the box. If you know how to turn a wrench you can easily learn how to install these motors. A comparable factory build from Specialized would cost 2x more, what's worse is you can't transfer the motor and battery to a new bike. I'm getting a Surly next, can't wait to transfer the motor to thar bike. Manufacturer ebikes are for Boomers who have money to throw at ebikes, that's why and reliable mid drive ebike is ridiculously overpriced. If u want a cheap hub drive then expect to throw it away in a year.
Uh, what? An entirely new battery is $300-500, even for top brands like Velotric or Rad Power. Changing a controller? Either it’s external, thus a 5 minute job, or internal, like my Ride1Up, which took me … 15 minutes. Frame opened, bracket removed, controller removed, plugs, slip controller back in, four screws, done. One of us is in the wrong business.
I am 70 disabled but instead of being stuck using a mobility scooter I ride an ebike daily not just for exercise but pure fun ,enjoyment, fresh air ability to travel locally, meet people , socialise and it's become a crucial part of my life. Even if you don't need an ebike because you are fortunate enough to be fit, healthy or young it still has so many benefits that they are worth the investment especially if they replace other means of transport and therefore can also be financially rewarding. Finding trained ebike technicians is almost impossible though 😊🤔😊🤔 especially in the UK where I live. Very good video description of the problems associated with evolving technology related to the ebike industry
@@UraniumMilk I have a chronic heart condition had a heart attack and died,3 strokes chronic arthritis stage 5 cancer so I have enough battles as it is and I would not be able to ride a normal bike as I can't even walk so to be able to ride an electric bike is not giving up it's helping me fight my personal battles. But thanks for the encouragement 👍👍👍
That's the biggest problem with the automobile industry as well, no standards. Parts made for a particular style of bicycle that can change from year to year and not be backwards compatible will be a big problem. 🤔🤔💀💀
Bad idea, when you put yourself at the mercy of online only companies that sell cheap you drive the good shops almost out of business if they can’t make a decent living they disappear and 80% of people do not want to service these themselves by local and your shop will be there when you need them buying online supports big online companies and Chinese manufacturers not the economies if your town or city. That’s short sited
My side-hustle is working as a self-employed bike mechanic. Between years of experience & various qualifications there’s little I cannot repair or tune. My garage is a joyful place with loads of the correct tools, warm, great lighting and some home comforts like coffee & music. My business runs nicely on entirely acoustic bikes, no e-bikes. I’m not against e-bikes but don’t want to get into the vortex of different standards, systems, warranties etc. I’ll do acoustic-bike repairs on e-bikes, like truing wheels or bleeding brakes but nothing more. Otherwise I live a happy life dealing with little kids tricycles through to £25k time trials rockets. Roll on retirement, work is getting in the way. Seriously though, by refusing to deal with the e-bikes I’m hoping it’ll eventually push back to the manufacturers that they need to settle on some standards. The free for all in design and the inbuilt obsolescence is going to result in a lot of spare parts and angry (broken) e-bike owners. It’s not sustainable!! Unlike the 100yr old butcher’s bike I’m currently refurbishing.
The current standardization and the amount of technical resources available makes it so much harder to even attempt to work on them so I don't blame you for your position at all
I am a retired automotive and equipment mechanic. When I was a kid I worked in a TV and Stereo repair shop. Over all, I was never afraid to repair automotive electronics at a circuit board level but even that came with limitations. Working without a schematic at a circuit board component level can be quite challenging. I'm currently helping my son get into the bicycle service and repair industry as an independent technician. I love the challenge of Diagnostics as well as teaching others. I would love to see more videos on the subject as well as some collaboration with other technicians.
@@ShaunHall-i7e sadly most people like me have left the service and repair industry. In fact, I am in finance now. What we really need is for people like me to give a hand up to the Next Generation of technicians. I like to think that I'm at least doing my part by teaching my kids how to do this stuff. I am also happily helping lots of other kids in the neighborhood learn these skills.
I just fell in deeper love with my 100% non-ebike. Oh also, anyone remember how easy it was to fix a 70's car? I could work on those myself and actually enjoyed it.
i have an ebike and when the warranty was up and the motor went its cost me £1500 to fix, e bikes are great but cost fortunes to fix and that was fixing it myself
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic Interesting, but that makes me wonder how a person could check to see how dirty the oil really is, rather than basing an oil change on mileage, or what the mechanic reads from their computer. They know how to make the $. I'm probably way off on what I said above, as I know nothing about dipstickless motors. All I know is that I don't want one on my bike, that I don't want to spend bucks on e-testing equipment, and I also am not against others who want/need an e-bike.
I fully sympathize with the simplicity of not going electric. Assuming you ride a 20 year old bike. However, having bad knees a torque sensing mid drive e bike enables me to keep riding. Plus I converted my bikes myself for 1/3 the cost and I can fix it myself.
Id love skill building videos from you!!! You make all very solid points which many arent even being thought about yet and bike shops are unlikely to tell us of their shortcomings with electrical so theyll stay quiet and muddle thru as they need that reapir income too and going at anything electrical withut the knowledge base is first off, dangerous, as its the best silent killer in existence, but like you said - It can make things much worse electrically, but if they cause damage, will they tell us, or just apply it as part of the repair needed? Thats costly for them if they do tell us, or if they even realize they made it worse? -> More training all around is needed but things will probably get worse before the market responds. Your one of the first ppl Ive heard bring this issue up, so bravo on that! Your unique mix of skills in your dayjob and your like of ebikes brought this issue up in your mind. Good eye!
The idea is to keep the smoke inside the wire. A local small bike shop near me went belly up, his problem was being hostile to customers, I would go to buy chain lube, and a new tube and tire with my gas bike or bike and he basically told me to take a hike. Real good business model chasing away customers. You either adapt to a changing customer base or close your doors.
@@beaubrummelmotorizedbicycles I had a similar bike shops that closed down for the same reason. Being nice seems to be hard for some people but they pay the price at the expense of all of us. I hope everyone can find good bike shops near them in the future.
I am old school and I work in a bike shop. We have had to turn away many e-bike repairs because the original brand is basically a disposable bike. In fact I find most of the e repairs we do are complete modular replacements and they are easy to do with the brands that we carry. Not so much with the direct to buyer market. My rule of thumb is No scooters, No wall-mart type e-bikes and if we take on the challenge of repairing an e-bike that it is billed on an hourly rate. If these things are respected then we can fix anything. I look forward to following your channel and hope to glean a new level of perspective and capability. E-bikes are the wild wild west Bro. - M 🤘
Subscribed! Former bike industry wrench and former small shop owner. I fell away about 2 decades ago. Still ride and wrench but only on certain things. Build wheels, do hydraulic brakes but I won’t mess with anything beyond lights electric on a bike. Not even simple bike computers. Not a big fan of suspension either. Luddite maybe, but open minded, I just love elegant simplicity. Want to see how complex e-bikes are
Thanks for subscribing! It’s great to have someone with your experience here. E-bikes can definitely be a leap into the complex side of cycling, but I think you'll find it fascinating!
Most brands have the ability to give a DTC (diagnostic trouble code), but this is just a starting point and will normally say “low voltage” or communication error” giving mechanics a place to start looking
If it's a brand like Shimano, Bosch, Yamaha, Specialized, yes. If it's a direct-to-consumer cheap ebike brand, you're going to hope the brand's website has a PDF document that lists the error codes.
He makes some valid points, but I think he overstates the case. Most of the parts in an ebike system are not intrinsically very expensive, the big exception being the battery. The worst case from the point of view of labor could be controllers: Some of them are hard to reach, and have a lot of wires to disconnect and reconnect, but are still a trivial fix compared to most automobile repairs. It's a fifteen dollar part, for Pete's sake. Batteries are more expensive, but also can be swapped out by the owner. Still cheaper than getting a new bike. There is generally more standardization and simplicity among the cheaper brands of Ebikes (all roads lead to Bafang systems) than the more expensive brands. Plenty of work for shade tree ebike mechanics.
As a consumer and somebody that loves bikes and e-bikes I would like to see bike shops build custom e-bikes for front hub, rear hub and mid-drive. There is going to be a HUGE market for these e-bikes soon if not now! Give customers what they want and you will thrive.
I completely agree! Or give the option to add a hub drive or mid drive to new or your current bike. Just giving options would open up a HUGE range of opportunity
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic I've got a Trek 800 (steel frame) that I want to add a front hub motor. I know the pros and cons of front hub motors. The pros for me outweigh the cons for a front hub motor. Grimm is looking like my best choice but if you have a better suggestion I would appreciate it?
I’m literally in the same boat with a Trek 850 steel frame 😅 I’m looking at Grin/GMAC for my build but I did also reach out to Swytch Bikes to see if they wanted to sponsor the build for the channel. I really want to test their kit and compare it after all the ads I’ve seen from every cycling UA-camr lately. “This is a Swytch Bike….” Another option that is a bit more spendy is a CYC mid drive kit, but 5000w on an old Trek…. Could be fun 😁
Seems like there is a gigantic number of these electric bike companies out there. Is there standardization amongst components? I think not. A shakeup is coming. Many of these companies will disappear. The smart ones will provide good online information including electrical schematics to help the purchaser repair their product. This will help them survive. I miss Radio Shack. They used to include schematics with their products.
I miss Radio Shack as well!! I think you may be right with some standardization, I recently had a large white label ebike brand builder reach out to me asking if I wanted a catalog. Still waiting for them to send the final numbers but if it is what I think it is I’ll know what brands they make bikes for and what the margins are. Go take a look at some of the cheaper bike sites and even the websites are structured the same
There's no shake up coming. Most of the cheaper Chinese ebikes come from a few large white label companies that will let you decide on whatever branding and components you want. There is standardization in the communication protocols. Interestingly when assembling components, you can assemble the electronics and power system from 5 completely different vendors. These component vendors have enough sales volume that they're not going anywhere.
I owned a shop for thirty years and as a purist I stayed away from ebikes, I did 95% of the repairs myself and enjoyed the work but I’m glad I sold a couple years before Covid and I’m glad I’m not fixing e-bikes!
I work for a cycle touring company, we have some eBikes in our fleet. I am the mechanic and I'm going to need to service our bikes. Where do you suggest I look into getting some training?
You are making perfectly good and valid points, but come on, a huge number of auto mechanics and computer technicians just, as you put it, "shotgun parts." Expecting a bike shop to have a better EE background than a luxury car dealer's service department, or a corporate IT department, is just unrealistic. Customers are barely willing to pay for repairs to their expensive smartphones, and the overwhelming majority of the people repairing those are just swapping parts as well, not doing board level repairs. Sadly, I think most e-bikes are just going to be disposable items, while the highest of the high end might just end up with disposable parts that a shop can easily swap.
I just got into mtb a couple years ago as I'm a mx/sx rider/ex-racer. Our local moto shops have started selling Yamaha and GasGas e-bikes. One shop has sold over 400 GasGas e-bikes this summer! They sold 8 the day we picked one up (Mom got a medium ECA 3 for CAD$4,500 as the deals are HOT rn). They also hired a full-time mtb mechanic to service the bikes they are selling. The moto industry is coming for the mtb industry. The e-bike manufactures better step up the game if they want to stay. Dirtbike brands have parts available for 15+ years too (I rebuilt a 2001 KX250 a few years back and could still get parts for it from Kawasaki).
I went to all the bike shops in St Petersburg FL, none of them work on e-bikes. Unless, like Rad bikes, if they sold you the bike they’ll work on it. What are the people who are ordering e-bikes supposed to do about repairs?
It used to be the norm for every town and village to have a bicycle shop before the event of online shopping .Even before the rise of e-bikes became a thing and chinese bikes flooded the market .Bicycles have now become a throw away item with a pridicted lifespan of 3 to 5 years (where as in days past an adult bicycle would last a lifetime )and service costs equeling sometimes a third of the cost of the price that the bicycle's origional price .It's a no win situation for everyone councerned except the bicycle manufactures .Cycling has become a rich person's leisure persuite as opposed to the serious form of transport that it was in the past ,simular to the motorcycle industry .
I believe that what was mentioned as mico-moblity should be a classification as transporation which also includes today what are known as e-bikes.It's a misnomer to consider an e-bike as any type of bicycle. If anyone remembers from years ago, the moped. It had pedals, handlebars, and wheels, but no one would have called it a bicycle. It would behoove the cycling industry for e- motor driven vehicles of all types to break away from bicycles and to have their own retail outlets and service centers. it is under that senario where the manufacturer, retailer, service technicians and ultimately the consumer would be best served.
Right now for the bike industry there are manufacturer and some brand certs but nothing that is a true industry recognized cert. Even for learning to work on bikes.
It seems like there’s a lot of shops struggling to make it. They should start servicing e-bikes for that extra revenue, even if the profit isn’t great. It’s about maintaining customer relationships
That is a lesson the automotive industry learned years ago, it was sometimes worth it to absorb some cost just to keep clients coming in the door. Bike shops have a much lower margin which I imagine would be the excuse along with how “customers are too cheap” arguments. Blame the customer, it’s always the answer…
RAD is now on sale everywhere in the local bicycle shops! I understand they are supporting training for better quality repair. Excellent video. Quality information. I am subscribing. Thank you.😃
I started out buying specialized turbo levo until the motor started crapping out and then you just switch brands because the bike shop doesn’t do anything for you so I just go buy a different brand year warranty junk and buy a new one every three years
Well, I've noticed the trend of 40+ year old return to BMX. Retro BMX bikes, cruisers, 26 in and 29 in . Personally considering the 40+ age class to get back into racing bmx.
In the end sometimes you still end up replacing the same part. The good thing is maybe knowing what caused the failure and how keep it from doing it again. I think what key is being able to replace parts not whole units and the industry is addressing that some. we make stuff that has to be used in wet environments we need to apply more of that tech to the bikes. I know that's been said many times before (echo echo...) but, the industry should be further along on this.😀
Dual motor e bikes from eahora and aniioki will probably be the best repair videosI kid you not! Those are under dog. Growing brands it just sucks that they don't have local dealers like aventon!
disposable products are the worst! poor materials high pollution, unreliable. Furthermore it wastes our valuable time and money! disposable is disgusting.
I feel sorry for the LBS owners. Personally I don’t buy many parts from them because they don’t carry the parts I need. I don’t ever use a LBS to repair my non-electric bikes and have no interest in buying an electric bike. I see many people riding e-bikes both high end brands and cheap unknown imported bikes. Honestly I don’t care if they can get their bikes repaired and if they are broken down along the trails or bike lanes I ride “too bad” I will never offer my assistance because I don’t know about e-bikes and won’t even take a look at their flat tire. It’s their responsibility to understand their toys.
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic sorry if that sounds harsh but 90% of the people I see riding or walking their e-bikes (that broke down) seem like they don’t know what they’re doing nor have any clue how to maintain their bikes.
I'm with the other guys in the comments here, I have no interest in fixing cheapy ebikes. I firmly believe it's not worth my time. Customers who own these bikes want the cheapest everything and unfortunately keeping these things up and running is not cost effective to my business.
Valid points but not factoring many hugely important things like business management, economy and industries involved. Comparing the automotive industry to the bike industry c'mon. I too and a very long time master tech (35 years) in the auto industry where our labor rate is $200 an hour. Are cyclist willing to spend $100/hr, $150/hr, $200/hr? Highly doubt many will. Bikes are barely being sold in the current economy. Now if consumers aren't going to pay that, how are LBS going to pay their techs? At the end of the day, EVERY business needs to turn a profit or they'll go out of business as many have done over the past few years
Excellent point! And then how do we factor labor rates for repair with no standards across the industry? It will be super interesting to see it play out, imagine bike shops on flat rate one day… 😅
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic the industry will have to change there's no doubt about that. First the consumers will have to. If the consumers are not willing to pay for highly skilled labor, the LBS will not be able to provide quality techs period. Nobody whom knows anything about bike repairs, electrical diagnosing, troubleshooting and repairs will work for sub 80k a year. I can make far more in the auto industry. I was a professional bicycle mechanic before going into the automotive industry. I can do full suspension overhauls, ebike repairs, build wheels and any general bike services. There's not a LBS in this country that will pay me enough to go to their shop. I ran a successful business before and it takes much more than technical knowledge and ability to turn a net profit
Biggest problem I see here is the cheap batt motor wiring that you have in these cheap ebikes.. Not water proof not fit for purpose, no diagnostic tools available, no support from manufacturer - most sensible shops will say take it back to where you brought it it's not worth our time to repair.
I'd like to see some consolidation (as much as I hate monopolizing) - SRAM powertrain is an example. That's something that didn't quite catch on like it should have in the manufacturing space, but would have been a great net positive for mechanics, even if it kinda screwed the consumer.
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic what were the four companies that had that tech licensed? Then they all were mostly caught up in the PON collapse? Nukeproof was one, I recall. There's some sweet irony in that story, lol. "Nukeproof" - bludgeoned to death by the hammer of capitalism. 😏
It would be interesting to see, I'm not very qualified but I maintain my two F30 and X5 and I owned a bunch of esoteric dirtbikes & sport bikes so I can take it! Bring it on 😂
The "mechanics" at my small town LBS don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for 122/73 square taper BB, and can't bleed hydraulic brakes or tune Di2. I have most of the tools and a background in automotive electronics, I'd like to learn how those principals apply to E-bikes. Subbed!
How the heck do you even let your customers know that you know what you are doing? I guess you have a youtube channel showing your repairs? Saying "I fixed this in 2 hours of labor instead of a $1000" battery or motor or something?
Great point! I think over time there might be some set labor rates but that’s a tough one to control and people will always outbid each other or try and charge too much
My experience with my LBS, even with current low tech bikes, is frankly, shockingly incompetent. These guys will not cope with more complex ebikes at all.
It would be kinda funny to walk into a shop that sells e-bikes and ask the service department to borrow a multimeter to check something real quick…. I wonder how many wouldn’t have one
Have you watched Seth (bermpeak) carry a cargo bike up a hill to a trailhead full of parts and tools and a stand to perform basic mountain bike maintenance? I know a fellow Boy Scout, who served in the military, and is now doing mobile mechanic stuff on cars and trucks. Making a good living at it. I think there's a market there. A Mercedes 3500 van with tools and parts that arrives at a trailhead. The local bike shop has become a place like old school car mechanic shops. "Drop it off, we'll determine what it needs and call you when it's done." 😒😬 No - I know what it needs, and I'm not just giving you carte Blanche.
There is a huge market there, I know a lot of people doing mobile bike repair during the week and then using their vans to shuttle Fri-Sun. I agree with how shops have gotten, I’m tempted to build a bait bike or diag trap bike where I know the issue but test their diag skills.
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic I built my '08 Epic as a fun project bike from the frame up two years ago. It has tab mounts and the pads were only grabbing like the outside half of the rotor - so rather than messing around buying one adapter after another at $15/apiece with a two+ day shipping delay, I just took it to Bike Mart up the street. I walked out with NINETY SIX DOLLARS due, after leaving the bike for a week. They ended up using a part I GAVE THEM and jumping from a 160 to 180 mm rotor, which was MY IDEA. 🙄 And we can both agree - Bike Mart Has honest, good people working there. But I could've done it myself with a little more patience. I'd rather build out my tool cabinet and experience level with some extra pieces for the parts bins than pay someone else now, usually.
Because unfortunately I am too disabled to use a car or a normal bicycle but I have just enough body strength left and not sit in a f****** wheelchair... And having only 400 W maximum power doesn't make me a threat.. .
This is a result of the industry turning bicycling into an expensive elitist sport in the United States. There aren't enough regular people that ride bikes to support bike shops, especially when you go into one and every bike is a thousand bucks or more. They painted themselves into a corner. As a former bike mechanic I watched it all go. Now Americans aren't even riding bikes, mostly. They don't teach their children to. And it's because of the path they chose in the late 1980s.
Yes, and another thing to add, many of us “regular” people who occasionally ride their bikes on trails (the weekend rider) are using older bikes that don’t wear out or rarely need any repairs or maintenance, some of which often can be done by the owner anyways. I have a Trek 930, bought it 25 years ago from a shop that does lifetime free tune-ups and maintenance, and have never needed to pay for a repair or parts. There are thousands of good used bikes available, but we are a wasteful society that demands new stuff, falls for too many marketing gimmicks, and doesn’t take care of quality toys. I dread to see the long term effects of disposable bikes that are going the same direction as cheaply made appliances (like the thousands of microwaves and dehumidifiers purposely designed to stop working after a year) as they rapidly fill up our landfill space - what a tragedy.
Whenever I say e-bike, I actually mean motorbike every time, and always have ever since seeing my very first one maybe around 20 years ago. Totally reminded me of the moped from back in the day, except electric-pedal powered now instead.
I agree with your comment but still would add that an e-bike should not be considered some sort of evolution of the bicycle but another type of motorbike or moped at least. I wouldn't feel obliged as a bicycle mechanic to take on e-bikes although the market will decide that in the end. Royal Enfield.... now there's a bike!
F e-bikes. I won't go E until I can't pedal and I'm 55 now. Too much weight, too much tech, too much crap to go wrong. I fully support older adults and people with disabilities using e-bikes but for the rest of us, PEDAL IT. In my mind, a bike should be a simple and fun means of transportation that benefits both you and environment - basically the opposite of e-bikes. Where will all of these Chinese-made junky e-bikes and their batteries be in the coming years/decades? Right. In the garbage. They are NOT built to last or service. Like so much more these days, they are built to be disposable. Rivendell Bikes has the right idea. Their philosophy towards bikes is where the industry needs to be. Simple, practical bikes that can be used for many different things. They are built to last with good, simple tech that ANY LBS and most home wrenches can work with. Buy a good chromoly bike with quality parts and chances are, with reasonable care, it may be the last bike you ever buy e.g. Surly, Rivendell, Crust. Even the big guys e.g. Trek have moved away from steel (520) in favour of more and more plastic (e.g. carbon fibre).
I own a tiny bike shop and the reality is.... Every time I try to fix an E-bike the client is refusing. Cheep e-bikes cost 400-700$. Fixing the battery cost 300-400$ + labor. Changing the controller cost 300-400$+ labor. I don't think I want to continue fixing e-bikes. Cost of all the stuff in ebikes is way to expensive for regular customer.
The cheap e-bikes are not worth repairing in most cases, and they are the ones that sadly will be a major environment crisis in 10 years
The DIY ebike kits from Bafang, CYC and couple others are easy to install and repair on your own. They are mid drive kits the perform a lot better than hub drive. I don't even know how to patch a flat tire and I installed the cyc photon on my Specialized fuse mtb, took me less than an hour and I was riding the bike. The battery is a Samsung 52v 17.5 amp hour battery, easy to install. It's been a year with no issues at all from the motor and battery. Display was acting weird but didn't affect the motor at all, with warranty I got a new one and it's plug and play out of the box. If you know how to turn a wrench you can easily learn how to install these motors. A comparable factory build from Specialized would cost 2x more, what's worse is you can't transfer the motor and battery to a new bike. I'm getting a Surly next, can't wait to transfer the motor to thar bike. Manufacturer ebikes are for Boomers who have money to throw at ebikes, that's why and reliable mid drive ebike is ridiculously overpriced. If u want a cheap hub drive then expect to throw it away in a year.
@@danielchavez70 I am not seeing a lot of 65+ year olds riding e-bikes in my area. Don’t forget to vote.
Uh, what? An entirely new battery is $300-500, even for top brands like Velotric or Rad Power. Changing a controller? Either it’s external, thus a 5 minute job, or internal, like my Ride1Up, which took me … 15 minutes. Frame opened, bracket removed, controller removed, plugs, slip controller back in, four screws, done. One of us is in the wrong business.
Why do you have flowers on the floor in your shop? 😂
I am 70 disabled but instead of being stuck using a mobility scooter I ride an ebike daily not just for exercise but pure fun ,enjoyment, fresh air ability to travel locally, meet people , socialise and it's become a crucial part of my life.
Even if you don't need an ebike because you are fortunate enough to be fit, healthy or young it still has so many benefits that they are worth the investment especially if they replace other means of transport and therefore can also be financially rewarding.
Finding trained ebike technicians is almost impossible though 😊🤔😊🤔 especially in the UK where I live.
Very good video description of the problems associated with evolving technology related to the ebike industry
I love hearing this and I am so glad you found this channel! Thank you for the support!
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic just subscribed
@@michaelroberts7679 cool! ❤️
You could ride a normal bicycle still Micheal, don't give up on yourself by settling for an e-bike and becomming part of the problem.
@@UraniumMilk I have a chronic heart condition had a heart attack and died,3 strokes chronic arthritis stage 5 cancer so I have enough battles as it is and I would not be able to ride a normal bike as I can't even walk so to be able to ride an electric bike is not giving up it's helping me fight my personal battles. But thanks for the encouragement 👍👍👍
I believe you and you make good points. One thing that isn’t making it any easier is a lack of standardization in the market.
100% we need standardization, thank you for watching!
That's the biggest problem with the automobile industry as well, no standards. Parts made for a particular style of bicycle that can change from year to year and not be backwards compatible will be a big problem. 🤔🤔💀💀
I think with the legitimate, i.e. not cheap Chinese crap, they are standardized. Trek and Giant use the same Bosch motor for instance.
Bad idea, when you put yourself at the mercy of online only companies that sell cheap you drive the good shops almost out of business if they can’t make a decent living they disappear and 80% of people do not want to service these themselves by local and your shop will be there when you need them buying online supports big online companies and Chinese manufacturers not the economies if your town or city. That’s short sited
My side-hustle is working as a self-employed bike mechanic. Between years of experience & various qualifications there’s little I cannot repair or tune. My garage is a joyful place with loads of the correct tools, warm, great lighting and some home comforts like coffee & music. My business runs nicely on entirely acoustic bikes, no e-bikes. I’m not against e-bikes but don’t want to get into the vortex of different standards, systems, warranties etc. I’ll do acoustic-bike repairs on e-bikes, like truing wheels or bleeding brakes but nothing more. Otherwise I live a happy life dealing with little kids tricycles through to £25k time trials rockets. Roll on retirement, work is getting in the way.
Seriously though, by refusing to deal with the e-bikes I’m hoping it’ll eventually push back to the manufacturers that they need to settle on some standards. The free for all in design and the inbuilt obsolescence is going to result in a lot of spare parts and angry (broken) e-bike owners. It’s not sustainable!! Unlike the 100yr old butcher’s bike I’m currently refurbishing.
The current standardization and the amount of technical resources available makes it so much harder to even attempt to work on them so I don't blame you for your position at all
The only problem is $100 controller is cheaper than an hour of diagnostic labor. 😂
I am a retired automotive and equipment mechanic. When I was a kid I worked in a TV and Stereo repair shop. Over all, I was never afraid to repair automotive electronics at a circuit board level but even that came with limitations. Working without a schematic at a circuit board component level can be quite challenging. I'm currently helping my son get into the bicycle service and repair industry as an independent technician. I love the challenge of Diagnostics as well as teaching others. I would love to see more videos on the subject as well as some collaboration with other technicians.
LOVE TO HEAR THIS! I'm getting the first videos filmed this week
@@mythotical406 We need more people like you! ❤️
@@ShaunHall-i7e sadly most people like me have left the service and repair industry. In fact, I am in finance now. What we really need is for people like me to give a hand up to the Next Generation of technicians. I like to think that I'm at least doing my part by teaching my kids how to do this stuff. I am also happily helping lots of other kids in the neighborhood learn these skills.
I just fell in deeper love with my 100% non-ebike. Oh also, anyone remember how easy it was to fix a 70's car? I could work on those myself and actually enjoyed it.
i have an ebike and when the warranty was up and the motor went its cost me £1500 to fix, e bikes are great but cost fortunes to fix and that was fixing it myself
I do miss simplicity… have you realized a lot of automakers are now not even putting dipsticks in their cars? VW/Audi have done it for years.
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic Interesting, but that makes me wonder how a person could check to see how dirty the oil really is, rather than basing an oil change on mileage, or what the mechanic reads from their computer. They know how to make the $.
I'm probably way off on what I said above, as I know nothing about dipstickless motors. All I know is that I don't want one on my bike, that I don't want to spend bucks on e-testing equipment, and I also am not against others who want/need an e-bike.
I fully sympathize with the simplicity of not going electric. Assuming you ride a 20 year old bike. However, having bad knees a torque sensing mid drive e bike enables me to keep riding. Plus I converted my bikes myself for 1/3 the cost and I can fix it myself.
Get a throttle and no sensors to worry about replacing on the ebike that shuts the car off for no reason ~
I am a bike mechanic, and have gotten into ebikes in the past 5 years for myself. I would love to learn about ebike diagnostics.
Welcome aboard!
Id love skill building videos from you!!! You make all very solid points which many arent even being thought about yet and bike shops are unlikely to tell us of their shortcomings with electrical so theyll stay quiet and muddle thru as they need that reapir income too and going at anything electrical withut the knowledge base is first off, dangerous, as its the best silent killer in existence, but like you said - It can make things much worse electrically, but if they cause damage, will they tell us, or just apply it as part of the repair needed? Thats costly for them if they do tell us, or if they even realize they made it worse? -> More training all around is needed but things will probably get worse before the market responds. Your one of the first ppl Ive heard bring this issue up, so bravo on that! Your unique mix of skills in your dayjob and your like of ebikes brought this issue up in your mind. Good eye!
The idea is to keep the smoke inside the wire. A local small bike shop near me went belly up, his problem was being hostile to customers, I would go to buy chain lube, and a new tube and tire with my gas bike or bike and he basically told me to take a hike. Real good business model chasing away customers. You either adapt to a changing customer base or close your doors.
"e bike"
PREACH! This is so much more common than you think unfortunately
@@beaubrummelmotorizedbicycles I had a similar bike shops that closed down for the same reason. Being nice seems to be hard for some people but they pay the price at the expense of all of us. I hope everyone can find good bike shops near them in the future.
I am old school and I work in a bike shop. We have had to turn away many e-bike repairs because the original brand is basically a disposable bike. In fact I find most of the e repairs we do are complete modular replacements and they are easy to do with the brands that we carry. Not so much with the direct to buyer market. My rule of thumb is No scooters, No wall-mart type e-bikes and if we take on the challenge of repairing an e-bike that it is billed on an hourly rate. If these things are respected then we can fix anything. I look forward to following your channel and hope to glean a new level of perspective and capability. E-bikes are the wild wild west Bro. - M 🤘
Wild West is the perfect analogy! Glad you are here and can't wait to see where this community goes!
@@markpeterson8978 The more consumers are educated before they buy an e-bikes the better! Very true that it's the wild west for e-bikes!
Subscribed! Former bike industry wrench and former small shop owner. I fell away about 2 decades ago. Still ride and wrench but only on certain things. Build wheels, do hydraulic brakes but I won’t mess with anything beyond lights electric on a bike. Not even simple bike computers. Not a big fan of suspension either. Luddite maybe, but open minded, I just love elegant simplicity. Want to see how complex e-bikes are
Thanks for subscribing! It’s great to have someone with your experience here. E-bikes can definitely be a leap into the complex side of cycling, but I think you'll find it fascinating!
Fellow luddite here - I'm with you sir.
I’m going to look for a part time job in retirement. I will reach out. 5:26
LOVE IT!
Can’t they plug in the firmware cable and the bike company say what is wrong?
Most brands have the ability to give a DTC (diagnostic trouble code), but this is just a starting point and will normally say “low voltage” or communication error” giving mechanics a place to start looking
If it's a brand like Shimano, Bosch, Yamaha, Specialized, yes. If it's a direct-to-consumer cheap ebike brand, you're going to hope the brand's website has a PDF document that lists the error codes.
He makes some valid points, but I think he overstates the case. Most of the parts in an ebike system are not intrinsically very expensive, the big exception being the battery. The worst case from the point of view of labor could be controllers: Some of them are hard to reach, and have a lot of wires to disconnect and reconnect, but are still a trivial fix compared to most automobile repairs. It's a fifteen dollar part, for Pete's sake. Batteries are more expensive, but also can be swapped out by the owner. Still cheaper than getting a new bike. There is generally more standardization and simplicity among the cheaper brands of Ebikes (all roads lead to Bafang systems) than the more expensive brands. Plenty of work for shade tree ebike mechanics.
Exactly, but we still need some resources for the shade tree guys so we don’t burn the tree down!
As a consumer and somebody that loves bikes and e-bikes I would like to see bike shops build custom e-bikes for front hub, rear hub and mid-drive. There is going to be a HUGE market for these e-bikes soon if not now! Give customers what they want and you will thrive.
I completely agree! Or give the option to add a hub drive or mid drive to new or your current bike. Just giving options would open up a HUGE range of opportunity
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic I've got a Trek 800 (steel frame) that I want to add a front hub motor. I know the pros and cons of front hub motors. The pros for me outweigh the cons for a front hub motor. Grimm is looking like my best choice but if you have a better suggestion I would appreciate it?
I’m literally in the same boat with a Trek 850 steel frame 😅 I’m looking at Grin/GMAC for my build but I did also reach out to Swytch Bikes to see if they wanted to sponsor the build for the channel. I really want to test their kit and compare it after all the ads I’ve seen from every cycling UA-camr lately. “This is a Swytch Bike….”
Another option that is a bit more spendy is a CYC mid drive kit, but 5000w on an old Trek…. Could be fun 😁
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic thank you! I'll definitely be following your channel and sharing my experiences with building and riding my e-bike.
Seems like there is a gigantic number of these electric bike companies out there. Is there standardization amongst components? I think not. A shakeup is coming. Many of these companies will disappear. The smart ones will provide good online information including electrical schematics to help the purchaser repair their product. This will help them survive. I miss Radio Shack. They used to include schematics with their products.
I miss Radio Shack as well!! I think you may be right with some standardization, I recently had a large white label ebike brand builder reach out to me asking if I wanted a catalog. Still waiting for them to send the final numbers but if it is what I think it is I’ll know what brands they make bikes for and what the margins are. Go take a look at some of the cheaper bike sites and even the websites are structured the same
There's no shake up coming. Most of the cheaper Chinese ebikes come from a few large white label companies that will let you decide on whatever branding and components you want. There is standardization in the communication protocols. Interestingly when assembling components, you can assemble the electronics and power system from 5 completely different vendors. These component vendors have enough sales volume that they're not going anywhere.
I owned a shop for thirty years and as a purist I stayed away from ebikes, I did 95% of the repairs myself and enjoyed the work but I’m glad I sold a couple years before Covid and I’m glad I’m not fixing e-bikes!
I work for a cycle touring company, we have some eBikes in our fleet. I am the mechanic and I'm going to need to service our bikes. Where do you suggest I look into getting some training?
I would really recommend it just from a quick diag and service perspective. I’m planning out content here on the channel to go over the basics
Do you know that your links on this page to your website are broken
I do, thanks for looking out though! Been working with Shopify since yesterday to get it fixed. Migraine city over here 😅
I wanna learn more bro
So pumped to start this series!
please make some diagnostics videos!
Deal! I’m in!
You are making perfectly good and valid points, but come on, a huge number of auto mechanics and computer technicians just, as you put it, "shotgun parts." Expecting a bike shop to have a better EE background than a luxury car dealer's service department, or a corporate IT department, is just unrealistic. Customers are barely willing to pay for repairs to their expensive smartphones, and the overwhelming majority of the people repairing those are just swapping parts as well, not doing board level repairs. Sadly, I think most e-bikes are just going to be disposable items, while the highest of the high end might just end up with disposable parts that a shop can easily swap.
Great points, the disposable aspect is really going to be something to watch
UK bike shop are a bit stuck in the dark age's. They need to move with the times or go out of business!
It is time for things to change!
I just got into mtb a couple years ago as I'm a mx/sx rider/ex-racer. Our local moto shops have started selling Yamaha and GasGas e-bikes. One shop has sold over 400 GasGas e-bikes this summer! They sold 8 the day we picked one up (Mom got a medium ECA 3 for CAD$4,500 as the deals are HOT rn). They also hired a full-time mtb mechanic to service the bikes they are selling. The moto industry is coming for the mtb industry. The e-bike manufactures better step up the game if they want to stay. Dirtbike brands have parts available for 15+ years too (I rebuilt a 2001 KX250 a few years back and could still get parts for it from Kawasaki).
I’ve been looking hard at the GasGas bikes!
I went to all the bike shops in St Petersburg FL, none of them work on e-bikes. Unless, like Rad bikes, if they sold you the bike they’ll work on it. What are the people who are ordering e-bikes supposed to do about repairs?
That’s the big question, I mean by the same logic bike shops shouldn’t work on direct to consumer bike brands either
I would like to learn how to repair E-bikes!
You came to the right place, welcome!
@@glennmaxey8226 same!
These videos are going to be EPIC!
It used to be the norm for every town and village to have a bicycle shop before the event of online shopping .Even before the rise of e-bikes became a thing and chinese bikes flooded the market .Bicycles have now become a throw away item with a pridicted lifespan of 3 to 5 years (where as in days past an adult bicycle would last a lifetime )and service costs equeling sometimes a third of the cost of the price that the bicycle's origional price .It's a no win situation for everyone councerned except the bicycle manufactures .Cycling has become a rich person's leisure persuite as opposed to the serious form of transport that it was in the past ,simular to the motorcycle industry .
Great points! Thank you for being here!
I believe that what was mentioned as mico-moblity should be a classification as transporation which also includes today what are known as e-bikes.It's a misnomer to consider an e-bike as any type of bicycle. If anyone remembers from years ago, the moped. It had pedals, handlebars, and wheels, but no one would have called it a bicycle. It would behoove the cycling industry for e- motor driven vehicles of all types to break away from bicycles and to have their own retail outlets and service centers. it is under that senario where the manufacturer, retailer, service technicians and ultimately the consumer would be best served.
So where do you go to learn how to do the work?
Right now for the bike industry there are manufacturer and some brand certs but nothing that is a true industry recognized cert. Even for learning to work on bikes.
It seems like there’s a lot of shops struggling to make it. They should start servicing e-bikes for that extra revenue, even if the profit isn’t great. It’s about maintaining customer relationships
That is a lesson the automotive industry learned years ago, it was sometimes worth it to absorb some cost just to keep clients coming in the door. Bike shops have a much lower margin which I imagine would be the excuse along with how “customers are too cheap” arguments. Blame the customer, it’s always the answer…
Well done Sir.
Thank you!
RAD is now on sale everywhere in the local bicycle shops! I understand they are supporting training for better quality repair. Excellent video. Quality information. I am subscribing. Thank you.😃
Thank you so much! Starting filming on the first videos tomorrow morning 😁
I started out buying specialized turbo levo until the motor started crapping out and then you just switch brands because the bike shop doesn’t do anything for you so I just go buy a different brand year warranty junk and buy a new one every three years
Makes me think a lease program would be better if the lifespan is that short, sucks that things are engineered to fail these days
Well, I've noticed the trend of 40+ year old return to BMX. Retro BMX bikes, cruisers, 26 in and 29 in . Personally considering the 40+ age class to get back into racing bmx.
This is very true! I'm thinking of building up a few of my old bikes
i bought good old early 90s mtb frames with unsuspensioned steel forks and built it up with new components to good comfortable bikes.
I'm living in Germany. I like my old Torpedo Trophy bike (2008). I wouldn't change it even if got an E-Bike for nothing.
Solid Bikes! Thanks for watching!
I have a bunch of the Shimano Steps, We would enjoy more videos about eBike repairs.
bike shop aka warranty admin centre 😂
The cheap bikes are not worth repair costs in this days of buy, break and replace.
For sure all the sub $500 bikes are rarely worth repairing
Ebikes meh. Scam of the century.
In the end sometimes you still end up replacing the same part. The good thing is maybe knowing what caused the failure and how keep it from doing it again. I think what key is being able to replace parts not whole units and the industry is addressing that some. we make stuff that has to be used in wet environments we need to apply more of that tech to the bikes. I know that's been said many times before (echo echo...) but, the industry should be further along on this.😀
Great points here! Thank you for watching!
What about testing for battery voltage can smoke components?
I think it would be fun to make a whole video on this, just go though with a bunch of cheap controllers and try incorrect hookups 😅
Dual motor e bikes from eahora and aniioki will probably be the best repair videosI kid you not! Those are under dog.
Growing brands it just sucks that they don't have local dealers like aventon!
They have a HUGE following, kinda reminds me of the early DTC bicycle brands that are huge now
Definitely need diag videos. I subscribed
Thanks for the sub!
yes i would be extremely interested in any courses on e bike maintanence and repair....thanks for the video
Mix in companies like Shimano who make motors that are disposable by design and customers will be avoiding brands and shops for incompetence.
100% agree!
disposable products are the worst! poor materials high pollution, unreliable. Furthermore it wastes our valuable time and money! disposable is disgusting.
I’m going to continue to invest in my meBike.
YES!
I feel sorry for the LBS owners. Personally I don’t buy many parts from them because they don’t carry the parts I need.
I don’t ever use a LBS to repair my non-electric bikes and have no interest in buying an electric bike.
I see many people riding e-bikes both high end brands and cheap unknown imported bikes. Honestly I don’t care if they can get their bikes repaired and if they are broken down along the trails or bike lanes I ride “too bad”
I will never offer my assistance because I don’t know about e-bikes and won’t even take a look at their flat tire. It’s their responsibility to understand their toys.
Right it’s part of understanding not just the purchase but the entire ownership experience as well
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic sorry if that sounds harsh but 90% of the people I see riding or walking their e-bikes (that broke down) seem like they don’t know what they’re doing nor have any clue how to maintain their bikes.
I'm with the other guys in the comments here, I have no interest in fixing cheapy ebikes. I firmly believe it's not worth my time.
Customers who own these bikes want the cheapest everything and unfortunately keeping these things up and running is not cost effective to my business.
For sure, like the Costco style bikes make absolutely no sense to try and service
Notice he said "return to normal" and not increased...Translation in reality...drop in sales back to Pre-Covid area.
Valid points but not factoring many hugely important things like business management, economy and industries involved. Comparing the automotive industry to the bike industry c'mon. I too and a very long time master tech (35 years) in the auto industry where our labor rate is $200 an hour. Are cyclist willing to spend $100/hr, $150/hr, $200/hr? Highly doubt many will. Bikes are barely being sold in the current economy. Now if consumers aren't going to pay that, how are LBS going to pay their techs? At the end of the day, EVERY business needs to turn a profit or they'll go out of business as many have done over the past few years
Excellent point! And then how do we factor labor rates for repair with no standards across the industry? It will be super interesting to see it play out, imagine bike shops on flat rate one day… 😅
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic the industry will have to change there's no doubt about that. First the consumers will have to. If the consumers are not willing to pay for highly skilled labor, the LBS will not be able to provide quality techs period. Nobody whom knows anything about bike repairs, electrical diagnosing, troubleshooting and repairs will work for sub 80k a year. I can make far more in the auto industry. I was a professional bicycle mechanic before going into the automotive industry. I can do full suspension overhauls, ebike repairs, build wheels and any general bike services. There's not a LBS in this country that will pay me enough to go to their shop. I ran a successful business before and it takes much more than technical knowledge and ability to turn a net profit
Biggest problem I see here is the cheap batt motor wiring that you have in these cheap ebikes.. Not water proof not fit for purpose, no diagnostic tools available, no support from manufacturer - most sensible shops will say take it back to where you brought it it's not worth our time to repair.
I'd like to see some consolidation (as much as I hate monopolizing) - SRAM powertrain is an example. That's something that didn't quite catch on like it should have in the manufacturing space, but would have been a great net positive for mechanics, even if it kinda screwed the consumer.
Stop talking dirty to me… ☺️ I totally agree!
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic what were the four companies that had that tech licensed? Then they all were mostly caught up in the PON collapse? Nukeproof was one, I recall.
There's some sweet irony in that story, lol.
"Nukeproof" - bludgeoned to death by the hammer of capitalism. 😏
Please continue to make vids like this
Thank you for the support!
It would be interesting to see, I'm not very qualified but I maintain my two F30 and X5 and I owned a bunch of esoteric dirtbikes & sport bikes so I can take it! Bring it on 😂
Hell yeah!
Skip the background music, its annoying on headphones
For sure next time, had some low background noise I had to cover LOL
The "mechanics" at my small town LBS don't know what I'm talking about when I ask for 122/73 square taper BB, and can't bleed hydraulic brakes or tune Di2. I have most of the tools and a background in automotive electronics, I'd like to learn how those principals apply to E-bikes. Subbed!
Thank you so much for the support!
😎❤️🚴🏽‼️
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How the heck do you even let your customers know that you know what you are doing? I guess you have a youtube channel showing your repairs? Saying "I fixed this in 2 hours of labor instead of a $1000" battery or motor or something?
Great point! I think over time there might be some set labor rates but that’s a tough one to control and people will always outbid each other or try and charge too much
My experience with my LBS, even with current low tech bikes, is frankly, shockingly incompetent. These guys will not cope with more complex ebikes at all.
It would be kinda funny to walk into a shop that sells e-bikes and ask the service department to borrow a multimeter to check something real quick…. I wonder how many wouldn’t have one
There are a lot of private people that can fix ebike for cheap... professional mechanics are way too expensive.
Independent mechanics are a great option and one I see working very well in the bike industry when it comes to e-bikes
Ebikes waste will rival PC waste. Ewaste squared!
The big problem with any EV for sure
Have you watched Seth (bermpeak) carry a cargo bike up a hill to a trailhead full of parts and tools and a stand to perform basic mountain bike maintenance?
I know a fellow Boy Scout, who served in the military, and is now doing mobile mechanic stuff on cars and trucks. Making a good living at it.
I think there's a market there. A Mercedes 3500 van with tools and parts that arrives at a trailhead.
The local bike shop has become a place like old school car mechanic shops. "Drop it off, we'll determine what it needs and call you when it's done." 😒😬
No - I know what it needs, and I'm not just giving you carte Blanche.
There is a huge market there, I know a lot of people doing mobile bike repair during the week and then using their vans to shuttle Fri-Sun.
I agree with how shops have gotten, I’m tempted to build a bait bike or diag trap bike where I know the issue but test their diag skills.
@@theEVO1VEDMechanic I built my '08 Epic as a fun project bike from the frame up two years ago. It has tab mounts and the pads were only grabbing like the outside half of the rotor - so rather than messing around buying one adapter after another at $15/apiece with a two+ day shipping delay, I just took it to Bike Mart up the street.
I walked out with NINETY SIX DOLLARS due, after leaving the bike for a week. They ended up using a part I GAVE THEM and jumping from a 160 to 180 mm rotor, which was MY IDEA. 🙄
And we can both agree - Bike Mart Has honest, good people working there. But I could've done it myself with a little more patience.
I'd rather build out my tool cabinet and experience level with some extra pieces for the parts bins than pay someone else now, usually.
Why do people think they need an ebike anyway? most do not 😒
They are fun though…
I cycle 10 km to work every day, which is something absolutely everyone can do. Most people I meet at work think I‘m crazy for not buying an ebike. 😂
Because unfortunately I am too disabled to use a car or a normal bicycle but I have just enough body strength left and not sit in a f****** wheelchair...
And having only 400 W maximum power doesn't make me a threat..
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@@Goenzelsenit's nice to know that absolutely everyone has working legs and is not disabled...
They might not need one, but ebikes get people out biking and that's great!
This is a result of the industry turning bicycling into an expensive elitist sport in the United States. There aren't enough regular people that ride bikes to support bike shops, especially when you go into one and every bike is a thousand bucks or more. They painted themselves into a corner. As a former bike mechanic I watched it all go. Now Americans aren't even riding bikes, mostly. They don't teach their children to. And it's because of the path they chose in the late 1980s.
Some great points here!
Yes, and another thing to add, many of us “regular” people who occasionally ride their bikes on trails (the weekend rider) are using older bikes that don’t wear out or rarely need any repairs or maintenance, some of which often can be done by the owner anyways. I have a Trek 930, bought it 25 years ago from a shop that does lifetime free tune-ups and maintenance, and have never needed to pay for a repair or parts. There are thousands of good used bikes available, but we are a wasteful society that demands new stuff, falls for too many marketing gimmicks, and doesn’t take care of quality toys. I dread to see the long term effects of disposable bikes that are going the same direction as cheaply made appliances (like the thousands of microwaves and dehumidifiers purposely designed to stop working after a year) as they rapidly fill up our landfill space - what a tragedy.
@@barry4fish picked up a 96 giant Kronos road bike. I love the simplicity of it. I give thanks every day I am still self propelled
E-bikes aren't bikes. Feel free to repair and maintain proper bicycles in your store and leave the motorcycles to someone else.
Whenever I say e-bike, I actually mean motorbike every time, and always have ever since seeing my very first one maybe around 20 years ago. Totally reminded me of the moped from back in the day, except electric-pedal powered now instead.
Exactly. If a bike has a motor it's a motorbike.
@@imspyingonyou2243Give up 40% of the market, that’s great advice!😂
I agree with your comment but still would add that an e-bike should not be considered some sort of evolution of the bicycle but another type of motorbike or moped at least. I wouldn't feel obliged as a bicycle mechanic to take on e-bikes although the market will decide that in the end.
Royal Enfield.... now there's a bike!
@@imspyingonyou2243 Just checked them out quickly online. Those are very nice looking motorbikes.
Everybody keeps saying that...I'm a professional.
😂
😂
Top end road bikes costing over 20k!!!???
Finding it hard to show sympathy for the cycle industry
F e-bikes. I won't go E until I can't pedal and I'm 55 now. Too much weight, too much tech, too much crap to go wrong. I fully support older adults and people with disabilities using e-bikes but for the rest of us, PEDAL IT. In my mind, a bike should be a simple and fun means of transportation that benefits both you and environment - basically the opposite of e-bikes. Where will all of these Chinese-made junky e-bikes and their batteries be in the coming years/decades? Right. In the garbage. They are NOT built to last or service. Like so much more these days, they are built to be disposable.
Rivendell Bikes has the right idea. Their philosophy towards bikes is where the industry needs to be. Simple, practical bikes that can be used for many different things. They are built to last with good, simple tech that ANY LBS and most home wrenches can work with. Buy a good chromoly bike with quality parts and chances are, with reasonable care, it may be the last bike you ever buy e.g. Surly, Rivendell, Crust. Even the big guys e.g. Trek have moved away from steel (520) in favour of more and more plastic (e.g. carbon fibre).