Second hand e-bike; would you?

Well you can get motors repaired/replaced now... but personally NO.

I looked into a service on our Yamaha motor... it was more than my Transit 😀 😀

I very, very nearly did. In the end I decided that the warranty was worth paying for and I found a "last years" model for a decent price. I also wound up needing a new motor inside of 200km, whether or not you'd be need new electronics seems to be a roll of the dice.

As much as they are very popular, there still seems to be too many failures for me to be comfy with a 2nd hand ebike...still a few years off being reliable enough for my preference.

We've just done the calculations on Cyclesheme Vs second hand.
New on Cyclesheme won.
Second is the Scottish interest free loans for eBikes which can be used new or second hand via a shop.
Third was second hand.

19/20 levo motors should have a 4 year warranty (*but check) which I believe is transferable.

If the price and general condition/etc etc etc was right yes* ( but only with a brose, Yamaha or Bosch gen 2 motor as they are apparently the easiest/most repairable motor at this point in time). You might as well get something that can be fixed out of warranty, based on numbers I’d probably stick with brose/Bosch. I’d treat it more like a car purchase in that the ‘owner’ and traceability/history would be more a more important part of the purchase.

Full motor overhaul 250-350

Fork service is ?? 130 ?? Isn’t it ?

If I was buying from someone I knew and it still had some warranty then maybe otherwise no ****ing way they are just too unreliable.

There are so many good deals on ebikes at the moment, my LBS has some up to £2500 off RRP! It's not worth the risk and hassle of a 2nd hand, not serviced properly and out of warranty bike

Secondhand usually means paying the full cost with cash whereas you can buy new over 4 years.

You may make a saving upfront but can you afford to repair it if the motor fails after a week/month?

"Second is the Scottish interest free loans for eBikes which can be used new or second hand via a shop."
They were closed, alas!

Thanks everybody; I think I now know what I will be buying, now to decide between Anthem and Rail.

I wouldn't - I don't know many folk with ebikes, but every single one of them has had an issues with motor or electrics at some point. Warranty please.

Not helpful when I actually have a decent ebike to sell on behalf of my late F-in-L. Too small for me but given the pitiful amount it'd likely sell for, its probably worth more to keep it for Mrs a11y.

Thanks everybody; I think I now know what I will be buying, now to decide between Anthem and Rail.

Easy: NOT the Giant. Ebike plus Giant warranty... good luck with that.

We have had emtbs since 2017. All Turbo Levos. Our last two have been second hand, with very low mileage and massive savings on price compared to new. Both warranties have been transferred to us using the Specialized online service.

We have also sold two of the older ones locally and both are still going strong.

If its the right bike at the right price and  needed another I would do it again

I did consider buying an Orbea Rise secondhand with 100 miles on it.

The bloke wanted £3k, I could buy a brand new one for £4k. It would have needed to be £2k to make it a good deal for me.

I think you need £1k in the bank for insurance for when a motor stops working.

Warranties tend not to be transferable.

Many new ones only come with 2 year warranty which is appalling on something that is a premium product (yes any bike that cost £3k > should have a better warranty) . Ive been after one for a couple of years and every time I get close to buying I always hold back as the risk is still very high for something that has a lifetime of 2 years.

Yes I know folk will come on and say every mtb has serviceable parts that go wrong, but the failure rate appears massively high and even if it is warranty, you can be without a bike for weeks/months.

People wouldnt accept EV cars being so unreliable.

So E-Bikes = landfill after a couple of years use as no one wants them? Yeah, go E-Bikes (or not if the motor is knackered! 🙂 ).

Warranties tend not to be transferable.

Admittedly I forgot what @Tracey says about Specialized transferable warranties. I revise my statement: I'd buy an ebike that had transferable warranty. So that's Specialized... who else?

Warranty is transferable on a car, why should a bike be any different?

Yeah, have bought a secondhand ebike. Bought a just under a year old Specialized Turbo Vado SL for Mrs SSS.

When it went in for a firmware update tho, the mechanic did say he recommnds selling it before the warranty runs out and buy a new one (with new warranty).
Thats what we did, Sold it a few months ago and bought a new Specialized Turbo Vado SL.
Mainly because she wanted a next size up, but the warranty age thing was a factor

That said, ive not had any issues with the Specialized or Bosch motors ebikes we have. Id buy used again.
Just ensure if you do go for used, get one which is easily servicable if outwith warranty period

So E-Bikes = landfill after a couple of years use as no one wants them? Yeah, go E-Bikes (or not if the motor is knackered! 🙂 ).

No but you need to keep a slush fund of £1k in your back pocket for when it goes wrong. ie your £5k ebike was actually £6k. That with depreciation to me makes me think you have to keep an ebike a long time to make it vfm. My current analogue bike is a 2013 model. Will an ebike last 10 years?

Also it is very clear at the moment that people think their 2nd ebikes are worth a lot more than they are. Ok yes its a buyers market, but even then I still think sellers perceive that because they spend loads on their ebike, they will get a lot of that expense back.

For reference, these guys - ebike Motor Repair, formerly Performance Line Bearings - repaired and upgraded a Brose motor from a Turbo Levo for me for £234, which seems pretty reasonable. They also work on other brand motors apart, I think, from Shimano. So out of warranty motor repairs can be feasible at a reasonable price, depending of course, on what needs doing. I guess if it were under warranty, Specialized would have replaced the motor and either junked or reconditioned the original, depending on what you choose to believe. Personally I find it hard to imagine that it's commercially viable to recondition warrantied motors - very labour intensive, quite skilled work - but who knows.

Ebike Motor Repair were great to deal with, quick and very professional. Tbh, I'd be more concerned about battery issues and circuit board failures, batteries are massively expensive, more than £1k for the latest Spesh ones and there seem to be few options in the UK for repair.

https://ebikemotorrepair.com

I would only buy second hand if it was from a dealer and not a private sale.

I've used Race Co Cycles and their customer service was spot on.

BWD, they seem to be US based ?

maybe, depending on the deal

the ones i would avoid, hands down.. are the 160mm bikes that some numpty has bought to commute on and says in their ads never been used on a trail...Nope, these bikes have spent all of their life at full power for extended durations

I wouldnt go near them with a barge pole. As well as the motor issues others have mentioned above I would want to know how much a new battery is going to cost and how easy they are to swap out on the specific. A quick google show that a new battery can be anything upto £1000 whIch is a big chunk of change to factor in

<p>It sounds like it’s just better to hire one as and when instead of buying one. The economics sounds awful. </p>

Yes of course I would. BUT, I'd also do the sorts of checks that anyone would when buying a second hand anything. Do your research, have your price fixed, choose as wisely as you can, be cautious, ask questions.

If you're asking would you buy any old 2 hand e-bike the answer is no, but if it's well looked after, receipts, good condition, straight forward seller, then yes, of course.

but if it’s well looked after, receipts, good condition, straight forward seller, then yes, of course.

Yeah but motor failure (on some brands) appears to be completely random and Russian Roulette. I was reading a review of Orbea Rise this morning. The bike was sent straight from the manufacturer to the magazine. Instantly the motor was ****ed. 2nd hand you could do all your due diligence, ride it 5 miles and it decide to stop working.

Ive read countless stuff about people riding in really bad conditions through mud / rivers etc and having no issues, and then those who have done 20 miles and its gone. Some motors just appear to be luck of the draw, nothing more.

I've purchased 3 e-bikes for family members, all used and all Bosch since they seem to have a decent reputation when you factor in how many exist compared to other options and crucially parts are easy to come by at reasonable prices. I even bought one with a duff battery and scuffed screen and swapped both out, not had any issues whatsoever in thousands of miles, so I'd definitely do it again, but you do have to pay a fraction of the new cost to make the risk worth it.

Have done. Would again. Only specialized though, definitely not anything with a Shimano.
People seem to think you need to spend £1000 on a new motor if it fails. There are a few specialists in the UK that can fix them for very reasonable prices.
A spare used 500 battery can be had for £350.
All a small price to pay to avoid wasting time and effort riding a legacy pedalbike uphill.

Yep, no issue with it (in fact I did, whilst I waited for my new one to turn up).

Admittedly I forgot what @Tracey says about Specialized transferable warranties. I revise my statement: I’d buy an ebike that had transferable warranty. So that’s Specialized… who else?

Trek.

My only caveat is I wouldn’t buy a secondhand bike with a Shimano motor on it, because they can’t be fixed. That said I wouldn’t buy a bike new with a Shimano motor on it, as they are rubbish 🙂

Lots of people have no issue in buying second hand ebikes, I’ve sold probably 5 over the last few years.

BWD, they seem to be US based ?

Sorry, my bad. I meant Ebike Motor Centre who are very definitely UK. Bloody Safari autocomplete 🙁

https://www.ebikemotorcentre.com

Yeah but motor failure (on some brands) appears to be completely random and Russian Roulette.

Sure, but that's the chance you take, you're trading cheapness for risk. If your appetite for risk is low, then don't buy 2nd hand

The biggest concern for me would be has the bike been chipped.

my experience is with shimano

bought secondhand, seller is legit and stated through his position the speed had been altered to U.S limits using dealer software, had it switched back to Uk.

bought bike, loved bike, motor threw up a torque sensor error. Aaaargh!

took it to a shimano dealer, they interrogated it but motor returned a message of the bike being chipped. Therefore no warranty, bye bye.

cutting a long story short, motor was replaced free by shimano after clearing up what happened.

the excellent ebike motor repairs team worked as the intermediary after looking to repair motor (was a write off due to water ingress)

i ‘think’ you’ll be looked after if the motor doesn’t return messages you’ve been tinkering with it, that said I believe shimano to be the worst/ hardest to repair currently.

I very nearly bought one secondhand but the potential for warranty issues put me off.
The piss-poor reliability for something costing so much is insane. To make secondhand worthwhile for me it would need to be ridiculously cheap.
I’ve not seen that many cheap secondhand e-bikes, in fact in some cases sellers are asking new bike money for them.

Sure, but that’s the chance you take, you’re trading cheapness for risk. If your appetite for risk is low, then don’t buy 2nd hand

No I am suggesting its Russian Roulette even if you buy an ebike new ! To have to pay £5k + for a bike that will only work for 2 years is just ridiculous. Thats why you have to factor in the cost of the bike plus £1k slush fund.

Car EV's warranty their motors and batteries for 8 yrs or so.

I’ve not seen that many cheap secondhand e-bikes, in fact in some cases sellers are asking new bike money for them.

Those are the cheap ones. Rather a few seem to be asking new+ . Though that seems to be the 2nd hand market in its entirety at the moment, lots of people trying to recoup lockdown expenditure I guess along side the cost of living.

I had considered it when buying mine earlier this year, but the deals you can currently get (and probably will still be able to get for a year or so) on brand new put me off buying 2nd hand when every seller wouldn't drop their price to compensate for the current market. Ended up buying a 2022 wild with a 2k discount form the original RRP  - I counted 14 2nd hand on FB marketplace at the time that were the same or worse model within £500 of what I bought mine for.

I also find it strange that there are very very few 2nd hand ebike framesets on eBay. If I were selling I'd look at getting a premium buy splitting as there's very little competition but must be a market place for people wanting an 'upgrade' from a regular bike.

I also find it strange that there are very very few 2nd hand ebike framesets on eBay. If I were selling I’d look at getting a premium buy splitting as there’s very little competition but must be a market place for people wanting an ‘upgrade’ from a regular bike.

Other reasons aside, I think the big driver for that is you can't easily replace "frame set" only as there's not many after market options, so you're replacing the whole bike in any event.
I mean, you can buy an sworks frame sure, but not something a bit more run of the mill.

Thing that worries me mostly about ageing ebikes or second hand ebikes is battery cell repair - I see places that can repair/service motors but not if you get a battery problem outside of warranty or even want to replace an old battery that is losing performance.

I also find it strange that there are very very few 2nd hand ebike framesets on eBay. If I were selling I’d look at getting a premium buy splitting as there’s very little competition but must be a market place for people wanting an ‘upgrade’ from a regular bike.

I tried to sell my Whyte as a frame package but had no interest, no even an “is this still available”.
Sold it within a week on FB advertised as a complete bike.
I think the issue is there’s no way of testing it to make sure it works. As it was I was able to give a test ride up and down a blocked off drive.  I was lucky to have bought three years ago before new prices rocketed and got back 40% of what I paid.

I do wonder what the future for all e-bike sales is. No one will be upgrading if they can’t sell their last one. Current sales are being seem to be driven by price but that can’t last. The people I know who’ve bought one recently, only have because of the sale prices.

the ones i would avoid, hands down.. are the 160mm bikes that some numpty has bought to commute on and says in their ads never been used on a trail…Nope, these bikes have spent all of their life at full power for extended durations

Conversely, I'd be happy with a 160mm bike someones commuted on. I don't think motors break from being used like that. It's more crank strikes, big drops/jumps or water ingress from jet washing.

Thing that worries me mostly about ageing ebikes or second hand ebikes is battery cell repair – I see places that can repair/service motors but not if you get a battery problem outside of warranty or even want to replace an old battery that is losing performance.

Someone has made a guide for the Shimano batteries (scroll down to see the pics).

It's a pretty long process, you'll need a spot welder, and if you get something wrong the battery might explode, but it's possible:

https://www.emtbforums.com/threads/re-build-ande-re-cell-of-shimano-batteries.32031/

Car EV’s warranty their motors and batteries for 8 yrs or so.

they warrenty them for 8 yrs offroad use??? thats amazing!

No one will be upgrading if they can’t sell their last one.

People replace their 1k phone and just stick the old one in a draw.

A [fancy e-]bike is still a consumer toy, I don't think that many people will care about resale similarly the number of people who will buy one and run it into the ground isn't really reflected here but outside of trail centres and races I see a lot more old bikes than <3 years old. There is of course a saturation point to that market though.

People replace their 1k phone and just stick the old one in a draw.

A bike is still a consumer toy, I don’t think that many people will care about resale similarly the number of people who will buy one and run it into the ground isn’t really reflected here but outside of trail centres and races I see a lot more old bikes than <3 years old. There is of course a saturation point to that market though.

Valid point on the phone but at the end of a typical three year contract, the value of a 1k phone is a couple of hundred at most. Even in today’s climate an ebike is still worth a lot more after that time. People look at a phone as an ongoing expense, not really looking at the fact that most of your monthly payment goes to paying for the phone. Even on zero percent deals, I can’t see the average rider parking an ebike at the end of the contract and simply buying a new one.

I also see a lot of older e-bikes on the local cycle paths as well but they tend to be ridden by a very different demographic to those I see on newer ones. Over three years ago there weren’t that many that were comparable to a normal mtb. Today it’s seems most are sold are, rather than being commuter or utility bikes.

People replace their 1k phone and just stick the old one in a draw.

Why the heck would anyone want to win someone else's old phone?

I also find it strange that there are very very few 2nd hand ebike framesets on eBay

Becasue flogging a frame only is essentially a really niche way of buying/selling a thing that only real enthusiasts are willing to look at. I think the vast majority of all e-bikes (not just e-MTBs) are being bought by the sorts of folks who're back into cycling after a pause, or are casual users, I don't think they're "strip parts of old frame and build onto new frame" or "buy it all separately and build it yourself" kinda folks.

at the end of a typical three year contract, the value of a 1k phone is a couple of hundred at most

Largely because the battery can't be trusted...

The only residual value in anything, be that a bike, a car, a phone or a bag of haribo is the material is made from and how easy that is to extract. Anything else is simply market.

People accept the market for a 2nd hand phone is poor, up until a few years ago people willingly bought a £40k car knowing it would be worth £25k by the time they put number plates on it or drove home.

Being able to realise a significant portion of the purchase price of a bike is a relatively new thing (-50% - 10%pa, remember that?) and I can't see it lasting to be honest. It doesn't help that rrps have jumped by huge proportions (even allowing for 15% inflation) in the last 18 months and the second hand market is full of people who either paid rrp and want 50% of that (I find this very unlikely given the bike market is like DFS) or are trying to resell for marginally less than they paid (or more than, especially now that c2w can buy you an 8k bike, reduced to 6k paid for at 45% discount.)

In regards to the op, yeah I'd buy one, but I wouldn't pay what many people think they're worth.

Why the heck would anyone want to win someone else’s old phone?

Worse still, you can have a knicker draw. Probably popular in Japan.

“buy it all separately and build it yourself”

pretty much impossible to do this with an eeb. as no one sells frame only kits and certainly not without the motor/controller/battery. the motor/battery is the main cost. a manufacturer can chuck some cheap OEM parts on and sell it much easier.

i bought the cheapest new EEB i could and have upgraded parts and suspension over the last 2.5 yrs as required.

there is no way i could afford an eeb with top end kit.

 I don’t think they’re “strip parts of old frame and build onto new frame” or “buy it all separately and build it yourself” kinda folks.

The cost of full bike is one of the things that put me off (and many many others) for the past couple of years - its only this year where massive discounts have been available on complete bikes where I've been able to invest in one.

& I only manage it as I did it on 0% and swapped out and sold pretty much every component on the bike with my existing bike (which had better parts) and had the finance paid within a month.

If a decent 2nd hand e-frame come up for sale I'd much rather have had that option.

Bike are generally always worth more in parts, I'll quite happily buy a cheap 2nd hand bike and strip it for parts and make a few hundred - it surprises me that this just doesn't happen when it comes to good quality emtb's.

Thing that worries me mostly about ageing ebikes or second hand ebikes is battery cell repair – I see places that can repair/service motors but not if you get a battery problem outside of warranty or even want to replace an old battery that is losing performance.

Another reason why I think there is a market for EEB's on utlity bikes with easily replaced or upgraded battery and motor tech.
I really liked the Cotic Cascade prototype with all the gubbins in a frame bag and easily replaceable/routed.

I sold my Scott e-genuis 2015 a few years ago but I replaced all the motor bearings beforehand and got a full dealer report to aid in the selling.

it surprises me that this just doesn’t happen when it comes to good quality emtb’s

That's because a 9k ebike comes with rs 35 silver forks, nx gears and shimano non series brakes which have the after market value of precisely SFA^(0.5)