Sorry I was slow in the singletrack - my bike just caught fire…

[2manyoranges]

It’s an old joke.

But regrettably a reality of modern mountain biking.

Read the comments….argh

A tiny tiny refund? And a 50lb bike which now just sits there. Yikes.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/canyo...-emtbs-affected-by-battery-safety-issues.html

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Bicycles are the most efficient, environmentally friendly form of transportation ever invented.
Motorized cycles, on the other hand, are completely different from bicycles. They will eventually all die, and we'll be left with the carcasses. Anyone fancy a visit to the RetroE-Bike forum in thirty, tell me how collectible the useless lumps will be?

 

[vtwinvince]

What he said, there is no comparison between real bicycles and motorised bikes.

 

[Titiritero]

This is my main concern with E-Bikes. I think they are a great invention, but the way they are being developed is just with obsolescence built in.

-Each manufacturer has its own battery standard and fitment, which changes every couple of years.
-the motor is in theory replaceable, but economically uninteresting comparing with getting a new bike
-any self repairs, battery reconditioning, non official maintenance is heavily discouraged, losing warranty cover or even official support
-because the motor allows it, the relative slender early models are now replaced by heavy machines closer to a motorbike than a bicycle. You won't go far if the motor or the battery gives up and you need to pedal on your own steam
-E-Bike Kits, that would allow to upcycle many existing bikes, are only available as DIY solutions. That means only a minority can benefit from them, and your have no support in your local LBS if something goes wrong

I live in Germany, one of the early adopters of E-Bikes. The first wave of E-Bikes is now flooding the used market. The crappy ones (initially sold in supermarkets, hardware stores...) are unsellable and destined to the (electronic) scrap. The ones from reputable brands are sold only after extreme discounting, as you might have to account for an extra 500€ for a new battery.

I expect a law in the near future to deal with all this waste, but it'll come already too late.

 

[Betsy]

Are the Ukrainians just taking credit for a faulty battery housing?

 

[greencat]

It's not clear if this is just the opening piece of compensation prior to a fix/fuller refund being offered.

All bikes will eventually die, some quicker than others.

Ebikes have their use cases, but the proliferation of standards, black box nature of the expensive motors, unproven technology etc don't make them particularly economical or sustainable for MTB at the moment. I have friends who are going through roughly a motor a year, plus a bunch of other parts due to the weight - I'd be surprised if they get more than 1K-1.5K off road miles out of them. To my mind, they just cannot square the circle of light weight, user maintainable, powerful, reliable and reasonable cost.

But if an eMTB was the difference between riding with my mates, and not due to injury/illness/age etc - I'd have one.

Weirdly, the cheaper commuter ebikes seem to be more reliable. I've had 5K miles or more out of some of my <£500 ones and they are still going strong. This is probably because they are built in their hundreds of thousands, and using relatively standard internal motor/battery parts - and do not need to have regular innovation/try to do the impossible for marketing appeal. Ebike commuters just need something that functions well and reliably. Different audience I suppose.

 

[bikeworkshop]

An e-MTB is a plaything, so it's an overall consumer of resources.

An e- commuter bike could be replacing a car on the road, and might be more efficient than public transport.

Of course if the latter is an amazon parts-lashup cheapie, and sets fire to the tower block, its definitely a net consumer of resources.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp680jll4j7o

 

[Scott-S]

Don't forget the amount of "upgraded" ones that can do a lot more than 15mph I have a feeling that legislation will eventually come though to deal with these and as per usual it will be a widely thrown net with clampdowns that affects legitimate users.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Don't forget the amount of "upgraded" ones that can do a lot more than 15mph I have a feeling that legislation will eventually come though to deal with these and as per usual it will be a widely thrown net with clampdowns that affects legitimate users.

We were in paris last year - every other bike was electric (although they don't have many hills) but I didn't see any bodged up illegal ones.

Here in Bristol, about one bike in 10 is electric (daytime, not deliveroo rush-hour) but of the electric bikes, less than half are legal.

 

[greencat]

Don't forget the amount of "upgraded" ones that can do a lot more than 15mph I have a feeling that legislation will eventually come though to deal with these and as per usual it will be a widely thrown net with clampdowns that affects legitimate users.

Legislation already exists. These "upgraded" ebikes are illegal. It's the policing which is the issue. Ditto e-scooters. Although, it is somewhat confusing why these things can be freely sold if they are illegal to ride. That is probably part of the appeal to the younger demographic - a cheap but subversive means of getting around that annoys the olds. Around these parts, the police turn a blind eye to ebikes & escooters - and the rebels without a cause ride unlicensed motocross bikes instead. Rightly, the police seem to be most interested in those riding like a loon.

I am somewhat baffled why the UK uniquely cannot have nice things eg faster ebikes like the US, escooters like practically everywhere and quadricycle like cars like France. A 70mph ebike presents a safety problem, a 25mph one - perhaps with a throttle, and requirement to wear a helmet - perhaps not so much.