When others ask about your ebike what do you recommend?

[Offroader]

Just wondering what you guys recommend to people who ask about your ebike and where they could buy one.

If you guys have a high-end ebike based on downhill suspension, what do you recommend?

Do you let them know about the technical stuff they will have to deal with? Like the battery building etc? Lets face it a lot of people do not have the greatest technical skills.

Or possibly the best is just to recommend them to this forum or a turn key ebike?

 

[motomech]

Just wondering what you guys recommend to people who ask about your ebike and where they could buy one.

If you guys have a high-end ebike based on downhill suspension, what do you recommend?

Do you let them know about the technical stuff they will have to deal with? Like the battery building etc? Lets face it a lot of people do not have the greatest technical skills.

Or possibly the best is just to recommend them to this forum or a turn key ebike?

<<<<Or possibly the best is just to recommend them to this forum....>>>>
Always recommend to this site.

 

[dogman dan]

Yep, the main thing I recommend is looking here.

After that, because of the look I always get when I reveal what my battery cost, I then recommend that they try to add up everything they spend on the car, then divide by miles to get the cost per mile.

In general, when I tell folks driving a car costs them between $.50 and $1 per mile, and up to $2 for a big pickup, they just don't believe it at all. Not that much better for an electric car really. Gas is just a tiny bit of the real cost.

Ebikes run between $.15 and .30 a mile. $.30 a mile is only if your ebike is actually a featherweight motorcycle that eats battery.

 

[Offroader]

How are you calculating that a car costs that much to drive?

 

[bionx 1954]

I tell people about ES and Ebike.ca for more info. If they are a DIY and have basic electricity/electronics skills, they can maybe build their own. The advantage being that in the event of a problem they should be able to fix their bike. Otherwise I suggest a turn key ebike from a local dealer, thus having a tech. support and warranty locally.

 

[Chalo]

Most people don't have the technical skills or inclinations to do a good job of building an e-bike from parts. They generally can't do a half-decent job of assembling a complete new pedal bike from a box, which is easier. Heck, most people here on this forum don't have the skills or commitment to do a really good job of it, and we've already passed a hurdle or two.

Fortunately, in my town we have an e-bike dealer that rents bikes. So I tell them to rent one and try it out. I also tell them they might be happier with a high quality pedal bike instead, since they probably haven't experienced one of those either.

 

[Chalo]

How are you calculating that a car costs that much to drive?

Payments + fuel + insurance + registration + maintenance + repair + parking + tolls + fines. Total for the year, then divide by miles driven. Last time I checked, AAA estimated the average yearly cost to own a car at $6000. And that was a few years ago.

You don't even have to count the cost of the heart attack and diabetes you'll have because you were driving when you could have been pedaling.

 

[Offroader]

Most people don't have the technical skills or inclinations to do a good job of building an e-bike from parts. They generally can't do a half-decent job of assembling a complete new pedal bike from a box, which is easier. Heck, most people here on this forum don't have the skills or commitment to do a really good job of it, and we've already passed a hurdle or two.

Fortunately, in my town we have an e-bike dealer that rents bikes. So I tell them to rent one and try it out. I also tell them they might be happier with a high quality pedal bike instead, since they probably haven't experienced one of those either.

LOL, originally I started writing that most people I know, and this also includes family and friends, have almost no technical skills and how I could never seem them building an ebike. I deleted most of it because I didn't want to come across insulting.

The funny thing is that most people I meet think they are super smart.

The other problem is most people are lazy when it comes to learning new things. Yeah, they may go to there 9 to 5 job and work hard, but I find that when it comes to learning new things they just don't want to put any time in it.

If the person interested has RC hobby experience, then I would totally recommend them to build their own. Without at least some RC hobby experience, it's going to take a lot of learning on their part, which I find most people don't want to learn or have the patience to learn new things. Especially when they have to learn on their own.

With having said this it was not exactly easy even to build my first Ebike. I had to do a lot of research. It also took a lot of time and trial and error to make it reliable.

The problem with recommending turn key ebikes is that they are really expensive. To get something similar to my torque raptor bike, you would have to pay over $10,000 for a stealth bomber and not have near the battery capacity of my bike.

 

[MadRhino]

The funny thing is that most people I meet think they are super smart.

Rare is a fool who knows that he is a fool, and he might not be as much of a fool as he thinks he is.

 

[Drunkskunk]

If people ask intelligent questions and seem to understand what went into my bike, then I recommend they look here for more information before picking something out. I usually tell them I could recommend something specific, but they will have changed their mind about what they want at least twice by the time they're finished reading the forums here.

When they it's clear they don't have any concept of what this is, or why it takes actual work to build an ebike, I tell them to Google Stealth Electric Bikes. I figure sticker shock will keep them away.

 

[USAEBIKECO]

Any stranger I meet on the street asking about ebikes I tell them to check out endless sphere. Any and all questions are already on this forum.

 

[The fingers]

I tell them about endless sphere, and I'm always surprised how many people with an ebike have never heard of ES; even though I learned of ES about six months after going electric.