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I'm considering buying a mid range e-bike for commuting (3 miles one way, all city road/bike lane). it's about £1000 to buy the bike, but how much is it to service the bike? I don't need an exact number, but some ballpark would be very useful. Is it less than £100? £100-300? or £300+?

Also, do e-bike repairs usually get done same day?

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  • Annual maintenance costs will depend on how much and how hard you use the bike (hills, acceleration, riding in bad weather etc). The majority of most e-bikes are serviced in exactly the same way as regular ones, the controller, motor and battery pack are what's special.
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Commented Jan 24, 2019 at 20:27
  • @ArgentiApparatus, it's all city road/bike lane, one bridge. I'll have to ride in any weather to go to work of course, but the parking places are indoors.
    – jf328
    Commented Jan 24, 2019 at 22:16
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    Most of these questions are localised - SE is global and you won't want info on servicing in Australia or Austria. Whether your LBS can turn around work in a day or not is again completely dependant on them and their workload and stock.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 2:52
  • The service costs of an ebike in your area should be about the same as the service costs of a conventionally powered bike, everything else being pretty equal. Perhaps tyres wear 5% faster because more weight, but the chain lasts longer because less pressure. The only real extra cost is to budget for a replacement battery pack every 2-4 years. Comment cos Not An Answer.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 2:55
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    If the motor is at the crank, the rest of the drivetrain and rear wheel is the same as a regular bike.
    – Argenti Apparatus
    Commented Jan 25, 2019 at 11:25

2 Answers 2

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I have a Cube ebike with a bosch system. I have had it for a little over a year and done 5000km on it.

The expenses have been replacing the regular bike parts. Over 5000km I have had to buy

  • 2 chains
  • 1 cassette + chain ring
  • 6 pairs of brake pads
  • 1 handle bar grips
  • 2 tires
  • 1 bottle of chain lube
  • 1 inner tube

I have used this bike about 50% on road and 50% on mountain bike trails. Your tires and brake pads would last longer on just road usage although thin road bike tires have less rubber and wear out even faster. Work out how much these parts cost to replace on your bike and you will have somewhat of an idea on how much it costs to maintain. Also factor in if you will be doing repairs yourself or getting a store to do them.

The actual ebike parts are a little hard to price. None of them have broken for me and I don't expect them to break any time soon but if they did they are very expensive and non standard. The battery is probably the most likely to wear out and a 400Wh bosch battery costs something like $800AUD

Also, do e-bike repairs usually get done same day?

Depends what it is and how busy the store is. Something like a puncture repair will usually be done same day but a full service will be booked in usually a week in advance (but still finished the day you drop it off)

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    You should learn to do puncture repairs yourself. It's not at all difficult and doesn't take long.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Feb 25, 2019 at 22:39
  • @DavidRicherby yeah I do fix the tubes but I needed to keep one spare because I would rather swap the tubes while riding and fix them at home. I also find that after a bunch of patches they tend to slowly leak and need to be pumped up every 2 days.
    – Qwertie
    Commented Feb 25, 2019 at 22:54
  • I was addressing your last paragraph, which talks about getting puncture repairs dones at the shop. I certainly agree that road-side puncture repairs are a last resort, so I always ride with a spare inner tube, too.
    – David Richerby
    Commented Feb 25, 2019 at 22:56
  • @DavidRicherby Ah yeah, I was just pointing out some smaller things the store will often fix on the spot but large services need to be booked in. Personally I do all my maintenance myself but I'm guessing OP doesn't know how yet.
    – Qwertie
    Commented Feb 25, 2019 at 22:58
  • Shops don't generally bother with patching punctures - they'll just fit a new tube.
    – Criggie ♦
    Commented Feb 26, 2019 at 1:29
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Whilst it very much depends on the area you ride in and the usage conditions, we can give an estimate.

6 miles per day, ~250 days per year (assuming working 5 days a week) = ~1500mi

So approximate costs per year:

  • 1 Major service inc new inner cables, wheels trued, bearings greased, brakes bled etc = ~£100
  • 1 Chain ~£20
  • 2 Tyres ~£60
  • 1 Brake pads ~£15
  • 1 Bottle of lube ~£5
  • 1 Inner tube ~£5

Costs every other year:

  • 1 Cassette ~£30
  • 1 Chainring ~£30

Costs every third year:

Note this is a very approximate estimate based on a googled lifetime of 500-700 charges or 3-5yrs

  • 1x E-bike battery ~£400

So adding this all up comes to a very approximate cost of ~£368/yr

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