Longevity of eMTBs

[phutureproof]

I tend to hold onto my bikes for a long time, and tend only to change them if they get stolen!
In My other thread I talk about being on the fence with an eMTB (though I have now put down a reserve deposit!) having never had one before.
i guess one big concern - beyond the financial outlay of these things - is the longevity.
My hardtail will last me pretty much for ever as worn out parts will always be replaceable.
With an eMTB however, there are batteries and motors which are less likely to be replaceable or fixable in the years to come.
What do you all think about this? Did it put you off your purchase? Or do you only plan on it having a usable life of, say, 5 years and then you will move on?
Batteries are a pain as they do lose a significant amount of capacity with age. That’s just the nature of the technology.
Motors have lots of complex components and can’t be fettled/fixed/bodged by the owner like you generally can with most elements of a ‘normal’ bike.

 

[steve_sordy]

I don't tend to keep bikes any longer then 3 years. So "life" is not something I gave a thought to when I bought, I just wanted one! Of course, now I've had one for a few years, I don't just want one, I know that I need one.

I've had my Focus Jam2 for almost 2-1/2 years and the declared range on the Focus battery when full has gone down from 44 miles to 41. But it does not seem to have affected how far I can actually go on the bike. In other words I can still do all the stuff I want to do before adding the TEC pack. At just over 2900 miles, the Shimano e8000 motor is quiet and as good as it was on day 1. The crank is rock solid. I am so pleased with the bike that when the battery and/or motor fail, I would very strongly consider replacing them if they cannot be repaired. It will be a lot cheaper than buying a new bike!

 

[SquireRides]

Would I still want to ride my '98 and '01 analogue bikes today? I could, but nah. I'd be buying a lighter weight 1x 29er with hydraulic brakes.

Same for ebikes. The tech will move on, fast, over the next few years. I am fairly sure once I've done 5 years on my eeeb I will be ready for my next bike.

I do also doubt that motors will be readily available for today's models in 10 years time. They will wear out at some point...

Batteries, I am less worried about replacing because they are only going to keep getting cheaper.

 

[rod9301]

I bought my e bike 4 years ago and not much has improved in new bikes.

Battery, certainly not. And look at phones, the battery life is not better than a few years ago.

And electric motors have been around for over a hundred years, do you think there's a lot of improvement to be had?

 

[fenwick458]

I'd like to keep a bike for as long as possible, I generally keep my vehicles for twice as long as everyone I know, I just see it as a massive extra cost to keep changing them so regularly and like to get my moneys worth...
but the thing is, the (new )vans are just the same spec, except newer. with bikes they just keep making them better and more capable so I'll keep upgrading. My last 2 analogue bikes each did a 2 year stint, as I got each of them I was dead sure they would "last me for a long time" and I never really planned on upgrading so fast, but it's difficult when they keep making them so much better all the time.
I do really want to know how long should I expect my Bosch gen4 to last, and what am I even supposed to do to look after in during it's lifespan? ie. is there anything to service in it? but really, by the sounds of it they don't want you to do anything to it except ride it untill its dead and then get a new one, or a full new bike
I'll probably be rocking a 31"/29" mullet with a gearbox and adjustable on the fly geometry in 2 years

 

[phutureproof]

Yep. It’s frustrating. Analogue bikes, as long as they hit a certain basic standard, like having disk brake capability, could theoretically run for ever as long as you don’t crack the frame.
for the batteries that go into these eMTBs: are they going to be available in 5 years time? Battery technology does move on a lot. Would be a pity to have a £5k bike that in 5 years only holds 25% of its charge without the ability to find a replacement (exaggerating to make my point!). That means it would have cost £1000 a year to run.
Each time you ride an analogue bike, because of its ‘infinite’ repairability, the outlay cost gets less and less.

 

[Pivot]

Intellectually I agree with you - I drive cars for 5-7 - years and I intended to buy an eMTB for 5-10 years, but new shiny model was released and I just had to have it

I am not concerned about battery and motor replacement, by the time they are obsolete, we will find inexpensive clones made in China. However, I don’t think I will bother, as new model will be soo cool, that I will find an excuse to replace fully depreciated asset with newer tech

 

[Gary]

Yep. It’s frustrating. Analogue bikes, as long as they hit a certain basic standard, like having disk brake capability, could theoretically run for ever as long as you don’t crack the frame.
for the batteries that go into these eMTBs: are they going to be available in 5 years time? Battery technology does move on a lot. Would be a pity to have a £5k bike that in 5 years only holds 25% of its charge without the ability to find a replacement (exaggerating to make my point!). That means it would have cost £1000 a year to run.
Each time you ride an analogue bike, because of its ‘infinite’ repairability, the outlay cost gets less and less.

Any normal high end mtb costs more than £500 a year in running costs. (tyres, brake pads, drivetrain, fork and shock servicing parts) - not including labour.
and if you look at normal mtbs over the last 10-15 years standards have pretty much ALL changed (some multiple times). That's tyre/rim size, headset/steerer size, BB standards, chainset offsets, gearing, stem/bars interface, dropout/hub/axle size and disc mount standards

My Emtbs' battery is 2&1/2 years old and done many thousands of miles and hunderds of thousands of meters of elevation and is only down to 83%. if it lasts another year and a half and I then have to replace it it'll have cost less than £150 per year. That's a similar cost to 4 uplift days.

 

[Akelu]

Watch this from 01:40

 

[Russell]

I recon they could last ok. My Bosch cx is 4 years old now and I've pulled it apart to replace various bearings 3 or 4 times now. I think the thing that will kill my bike is if the headtube/steerer tube part company so the same as any non elec bicycle really.

 

[Matt382]

E-Bike Battery Care

Bosch maintains that their batteries are good for 10 years or 1500 full charge cycles. A conservative mileage out of a 625 battery is 30 miles or 50 k. Would I still want to ride a bike that has seen 45,000m/75,000k of offroad? Doubtful.

 

[steve_sordy]

E-Bike Battery Care

Bosch maintains that their batteries are good for 10 years or 1500 full charge cycles. A conservative mileage out of a 625 battery is 30 miles or 50 k. Would I still want to ride a bike that has seen 45,000m/75,000k of offroad? Doubtful.

That bike would be a bit like Trigger's broom. He had the one his grandma had and it was still as good as new "Its only had 13 new handles and 24 new heads!"

 

[fenwick458]

E-Bike Battery Care

Bosch maintains that their batteries are good for 10 years or 1500 full charge cycles. A conservative mileage out of a 625 battery is 30 miles or 50 k. Would I still want to ride a bike that has seen 45,000m/75,000k of offroad? Doubtful.

what I'm cynical about there is I have heard similar spins before. remember the advent of LED lighting almost 10 years ago where we were promised 50,000 hours out of a new LED bulb that cost about £20 at the time. shortly after it was revealed that it would only last for 50,000 hours if you turned it on once, and left it on for it's lifespan, in perfect lab operating conditions of 20 degrees C and 0% humidity and a whole host of other strict conditions.
then the first year thereafter when loads of people were surprised to see their "super bulbs" not working anymore, it was also revealed that turning it on or off was classed as a switching cycle and doing so reduced it's lifespan by half a percent, every time you did it. and that was in the small print all along apparently ?‍

however, I do sort of agree that the battery and motor will probably outlast the geometry and suspension of the bike so i'm not sure what i'm arguing about