USAEBIKECO
10 kW
If you want a cheap ebike you will NOT get quality. No different than any vehicle.
It's now Spring 2018.. Why haven't e-bikes gotten cheaper?
- Thread starter flyingpants
- Start date
boytitan
100 W
Chalo said:
I had powerpoles survive a buffalo winter sorta. Before last winter great. As we all know this last winter on the east coast was extremely and abnormally brutal and the salt destroyed 2 of my exposed connectors. I mean the connector still worked but it was not clean and some of the metal in one of em was eroded.
ebikes seem to be a lot cheaper than it was back when I got started few years back. A decent bicycle alone can cost over 1K, and an ebike at least 2K. If you are a DIYer, you can build quality bikes for much less.
That being said, i found few ebikes on amazon for around $500-$700 or so, but be prepared to spend a fair amount down the road for upgrades.
https://www.amazon.com/Cyclamatic-Electric-Mountain-Lithium-Ion-Battery/dp/B002AQHM3U/ref=sr_1_3?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1526386243&sr=1-3&keywords=electric+bike
https://www.amazon.com/ANCHEER-Electric-Mountain-Capacity-Removable/dp/B077T29X3Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526386208&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=ebike+ancheer+2018
If you are on the lookout, you can find great deals on quality ebikes:
http://lonestar-ebikes.shoplightspeed.com/haibike-haibike-sduro-fullnine-50-blue.html?source=googlebase&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1c6Tr-GH2wIVjB-GCh1AFQnjEAkYAyABEgJ2pPD_BwE
http://lonestar-ebikes.shoplightspeed.com/haibike-haibike-sduro-hardfour-40-emtb-green-340.html?source=googlebase
That being said, i found few ebikes on amazon for around $500-$700 or so, but be prepared to spend a fair amount down the road for upgrades.
https://www.amazon.com/Cyclamatic-Electric-Mountain-Lithium-Ion-Battery/dp/B002AQHM3U/ref=sr_1_3?s=outdoor-recreation&ie=UTF8&qid=1526386243&sr=1-3&keywords=electric+bike
https://www.amazon.com/ANCHEER-Electric-Mountain-Capacity-Removable/dp/B077T29X3Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1526386208&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=ebike+ancheer+2018
If you are on the lookout, you can find great deals on quality ebikes:
http://lonestar-ebikes.shoplightspeed.com/haibike-haibike-sduro-fullnine-50-blue.html?source=googlebase&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1c6Tr-GH2wIVjB-GCh1AFQnjEAkYAyABEgJ2pPD_BwE
http://lonestar-ebikes.shoplightspeed.com/haibike-haibike-sduro-hardfour-40-emtb-green-340.html?source=googlebase
wturber
1 MW
dustNbone said:wturber said:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/multistar-high-capacity-6s-10000mah-multi-rotor-lipo-pack.html
That's about the best one I see at the moment. Was in stock at the time of this posting at least$70 for 6S 10Ah, not super but a workable 10Ah pack for $140. Or 20Ah for $280.
Yes. A solid deal, but some "gone" deals were significantly better (assuming they were actually real deals at the time).
And I'm totally fine with it being my bad luck if I miss a deal. Ya snooze ya lose and all that. But then once the deal is gone, take it down from the website for goodness sake. And more importantly, don't leave a deal up and then show a significantly higher price when a potential customer clicks on the "deal." Case in point is the 12000 mah 6s on this page at $79.05 but shows a price of $111.02 if you click on it. I'd normally give a business a pass on something like that, but it seems to be a by-product of not de-listing their sale prices ... and its been that way for at least a week now and I've seen it before. So I'm inclined to think it is intentional.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/batteries/multistar-batteries.html?dir=asc&order=capacity
LockH
1 PW
Seems nobuddy has brought up "The F Word"? Currently, local bike shops (Toronto) will sell one "state-of-the-art" "modern" electric bike where with a thing "good credit rating", monthly loan payments are about HALF of a monthly pass to take pubic transit. And ebikers are laughing all the way to the bank. `Course, guess there are still folks building their own houses and cars... I guess.
`Course, guess there are still folks building their own houses and cars... I guess.
Chalo
100 TW
Only a chump uses debt to pay for something he can buy outright instead. It might in some few cases work out in your favor, but that's just gambling.
wineboyrider
1 MW
The best ebike I ever had was a good specialized mtb frame and a good dd hub motor. The rest were ezip trash.
Cephalotus
10 kW
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2012
- Messages
- 755
For me the cheap stuff doesn't work.
I do not need fetish componts (let's say Shimao XTR stuff) , but mostly solid middle class does the job nicecly, sometimes I prefer even higher end componentes, i.e. tires (imho you get the most bang for the buck on a biycle from the tires, so I buy only the best)
Solid middle starts at around 2000 Euro for a Pedelec over here, more if you want full suspension.
My solution: I buy used bikes. Often they are on sale for 1/4th or 1/5th the original price some years ago.
If you have ever riden a quality bike you don't want to go back to cheap shit. Maybe a motor can camouflage crappy bike technology, but it is still crap, even if you don't feel all the extra resistance in your own legs.
I do not need fetish componts (let's say Shimao XTR stuff) , but mostly solid middle class does the job nicecly, sometimes I prefer even higher end componentes, i.e. tires (imho you get the most bang for the buck on a biycle from the tires, so I buy only the best)
Solid middle starts at around 2000 Euro for a Pedelec over here, more if you want full suspension.
My solution: I buy used bikes. Often they are on sale for 1/4th or 1/5th the original price some years ago.
If you have ever riden a quality bike you don't want to go back to cheap shit. Maybe a motor can camouflage crappy bike technology, but it is still crap, even if you don't feel all the extra resistance in your own legs.
markz
100 TW
miro13car said:
Well I cut up a brand new CCM BSO (Bike Shaped Object) which had (yes past tense
) no scratches, stickers were shiny and unscratched. So while taking off the crank I noticed it wobbled, taking off the brakes and the bolts were rusted, chain wasnt even rusted so the bso was a resident of a shed. Upside on a BSO like that is that no crackhead would want to make an effort to steal it if you were to lock it up correctly. Meaning a half decent U-lock and cable lock wheels.Now think about this - Basic transportation. Crackhead or thief realizes the buses are done. They are stranded at the train station and the anger rises in them that now they have to walk for a long time to get back. What are they to do? Easy pickings is what they do.
georgefromvt
1 kW
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2010
- Messages
- 352
Ebikes cheaper?? You haven't been to a gas station or super market lately!!! Everything is going up. My little tax break doesn't cover the higher cost of gas, groceries and living!! Check out the price of razors next time you're shopping.
wineboyrider
1 MW
georgefromvt said:
Yes sir!
parajared
10 kW
I tend to scoop up a few multistars whenever they have one of their "super" sales. It's worked for me 90% of the time and I get about 500 cycles out of em. The sale price is okay, the batteries are decent enough.
I had an incident in which I bought the battery it was in stock when I checked-out and a couple weeks later Hobbyking sent me an e-mail saying that the battery was actually out of stock and that they refunded me in-store credit instead of giving me my money back. Hobbyking isn't exactly known for their customer service and I feel like I'm rolling the dice at the gambling table whenever I order from them.
wturber
1 MW
parajared said:
I would not have accepted store credit.
LockH
1 PW
^^ Hehe... "I would not have accepted store credit."... In the drive to the bottom (lowest cost per mile), electric assist not the clear winner?
wturber
1 MW
LockH said:
I'm not sure of your point. If I order something and the store doesn't have it in stock, fine. Just give me my money back. Simple. I'm pretty sure my credit card company would agree.
LockH
1 PW
"electric assist not the clear winner?" Sorry... Watt part not familiar??
wturber
1 MW
LockH said:
All of it. I don't get the relevance.
parajared
10 kW
Yeah,
exactly the point. It was a pretty crappy business practice on Hobbyking's part.
It wouldn't have been unreasonable for them to offer the store credit option to me (maybe add an additional 10% for my troubles) but it should have been my choice; either that or give me my money back for the goods that they didn't provide.
@LockH
Alrighty then, math time it is good sir. Multistars run about $70 on sale and last maybe 500 cycles if you are lucky. I run 18s a lot so that's three $70 batteries being discharged at once or $210 worth of batteries getting me about 30 miles per cycle or so. 210 bucks divided by 500 cycles is 42 cents per cycle and it costs me about 8 cents in electricity to re-charge them so that's 50 cents for 30 miles.
A 2-stroke gasoline powered bicycle gets about 110 miles per gallon. Gasoline is $3.00 per gallon around here. 3 bucks divided by 110 miles is 2.7 cents per mile so that's 81 cents for 30 miles.
wturber
1 MW
parajared said:
If you paid with a credit card, it really was your choice. Whether they liked it or not.
Technically that would be the case regardless of how you paid. But using the credit card gives you enforcement leverage.
Chalo
100 TW
parajared said:
In my casual observation, most of those stinky gasbike engines don't last longer than an e-bike battery, so there's that consumable item too.
LockH
1 PW
In "accounting/economics" terms... prices are a function of volume. Buy more and prices get "cheaper". :wink:
wturber
1 MW
I recently calculated my e-bike MPGe at about 1500 MPGe. But a fair accounting requires that I also consider my pedal assist and the calories expended. I decided to calculate it in MPGtm (Miles per Gallon Trail Mix equivalent)and it is about 500 MPGtm. With gas at about $3.00/gallon and WalMart Omega-3 Trail mix at about $7 a bag, my fuel cost per mile is about 1.6 cents. So my daily commute fuel costs are about $0.61 on the e-bike and about $3.00 plus with my car. I could, of course, lower my e-bike fuel costs by eating the cheaper Mountain Trail mix, but the most economical choice would be to stop pedaling. :^)
parajared
10 kW
MPGtm lol, that's great wtuber!
And here I thought the lion's share of the price was in the batteries wearing out when all along it was those darned kilocalories driving up the price.
I think in my work place I could calculate in the "intermittent break-room donut variable", "Jared's Fundamental Therum of employee picnic propogation", "birthday party cake-to-employee ratio incongruity thesis" into your MPGtm formula and become a MPGtm hypermiler!
And here I thought the lion's share of the price was in the batteries wearing out when all along it was those darned kilocalories driving up the price.
I think in my work place I could calculate in the "intermittent break-room donut variable", "Jared's Fundamental Therum of employee picnic propogation", "birthday party cake-to-employee ratio incongruity thesis" into your MPGtm formula and become a MPGtm hypermiler!
Keiffith
1 mW
There are essentially 3 grades of components that can be used. Most don't fit perfectly in one of these, but it makes the concept much easier to describe.
Cheapest- self explanatory
Service grade- nothing fancy or ground breaking, but built well enough that it can last a reasonable amount of time before it needs service/replacement.
High End- uses engineering and material science to make the component either super light, or super durable.
There's marketing wank that can make you believe something is from a higher echelon when it is actually lower in quality/engineering. In general none scientific data points are pure marketing and are in no way an actual bearing that the product is better.
For me, I like service grade. Gets the job done with no fuss and is usually reasonable in price.
Plus being able to troubleshoot and repair your own bike is Very important if you want a lower cost. Hence why building an ebike from a bin of parts rather than a ready built is significantly better stats wise dollar for dollar. You don't get to call or message anyone when your shit doesn't work, either tho
Cheapest- self explanatory
Service grade- nothing fancy or ground breaking, but built well enough that it can last a reasonable amount of time before it needs service/replacement.
High End- uses engineering and material science to make the component either super light, or super durable.
There's marketing wank that can make you believe something is from a higher echelon when it is actually lower in quality/engineering. In general none scientific data points are pure marketing and are in no way an actual bearing that the product is better.
For me, I like service grade. Gets the job done with no fuss and is usually reasonable in price.
Plus being able to troubleshoot and repair your own bike is Very important if you want a lower cost. Hence why building an ebike from a bin of parts rather than a ready built is significantly better stats wise dollar for dollar. You don't get to call or message anyone when your shit doesn't work, either tho
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