ELECTRIC POWERED BICYCLES
Introduction:
Ebikes are becoming very popular. However, in the production and marketing of these machines, there is at this point a "race to the bottom" in terms of pricing which is resulting in the 'dumping' of ebikes by a countless number of "brands" as online selling has begun to dominate. This trend corresponds to the rising influence of Chinese manufacturing within all sectors of consumer goods. The term "you get what you pay for" has never had more meaning than in the ebike market.
What this shop can and cannot do:
Due to the complete lack of sameness in the electronic componentry, this shop cannot repair or troubleshoot your electronic components. The mechanical components that share the same things with pedal powered bikes can be replaced at this shop: Pedals, chains, brake pads, freewheels, derailleurs, and of course, tires. It is a deep frustration to see so many people get swindled by companies dumping cheap ebikes onto the market and having to these customers bear the extra cost and aggravation of dealing with sudden motor failures, sometimes less than a week after purchase. These 'fly by night' profit hungry companies are here today and gone tomorrow, and so obselescence is swift.
Cheaply made ebikes:
The lower cost ebikes, usually ordered online, come with a variety of potential problems. First, the power and the distance per charge are likely to be quite low. Secondly, the components are cheaply made and have a high failure rate. Most importantly, when these components fail, the customer support is almost always completely absent. Availability of spare parts might be a difficult task for the consumer. You are simply not "saving" any money buying a sub $1000 ebike. Low quality always costs more in the long run. A high quality bicycle whether ebike or human powered is more of an investment than "spending".
Well made ebikes:
ebikes over $2000 are a step above the cheap ebikes in many ways. A quality ebike is going to run $3000 and up. Reputable bicycle dealers who carry Trek, Giant, Specialized, or Cannondale will only have these higher priced ebikes just as they do not sell $150 mountain bikes, and there are reasons for that. To a dealer, reputation is important. Customer satisfaction is even more important. If a customer is unhappy with the product, they will be unhappy with the shop that sold it to them. The benefit to you is clearly that there is spare parts and service support for your ebike. The brand name dealer is backed by the company that cares about you, the dealer's reputation, and future business.
Green Light Bicycle Shop's strategy for ebikes:
This shop is not a dealer of the big five brands, but we do offer products that are carried by a few distrubutors such as Benno and Sun.
(See Bennobikes.com)   Instead of having a few of them in stock speculating on selling, Green Light can order your particular choice and have it assembled for you professionally.