The Ultimate Guide for Buying an E-Bike | BikeFair

In the Netherlands it is becoming clearer and clearer that electric bicycles are the future. Last year, more than half of all bicycles sold were electric. That's why it's time for a guide with answers to all your pressing questions about e-bikes! We investigated your questions about prices, brands and models. Including the most important one: How do you get the very best e-bike for your situation?

What types of electric bicycles are there?

Nowadays, there is an e-bike for every occasion! More and more manufacturers are bringing out electric equivalents of their existing models, meaning you will see not just electric city and touring bikes, but also folding bikes, cargo bikes, mountain bikes and other sports bikes equipped with batteries and electric motors.

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Key differences

You have the choice of e-bikes with a built-in or removable battery. Always pay close attention to how much life the battery has left. Balance testing is crucial, especially for those who are less tall or strong. It's also important to test how you cope with the weight of the bike itself, for example with cargo bikes that weigh much more than your everyday bike. Here are some tips about measuring the battery radius.

Man chilling in the nature with his bike

Which electric cargo bikes are there?

Electric cargo bikes have proliferated in number and you can now see bicycles from Babboe, Cangoo, Vogue, Troy and Urban Arrow zooming around the city.

These bikes (just like their non-electric counterparts) have a lightweight frame, which makes it possible to effortlessly transport several children plus pets at the same time. Accessories, such as covers and seat belts, keep everyone onboard safe and dry. In terms of costs, you have to take into account at least €2,000 in the lower segment to €4,000 for well-known brands and their best models. Cargo bikes are durable and in good condition they cost about 25% less than the new price.

Which electric folding bikes are there?

Electric folding bikes come in one size. Almost all models use a mid-drive motor, which adds weight but makes it a lot easier to keep your balance. Several brands are recommended: Brompton, Sparta, E4Motion and Lacros often come out well in testing. Top tip: Only choose budget models if cost saving is really important to you.

An electric folding bike

What are the advantages of electric folding bicycles?

Electric folding bicycles are easily portable and offer a long range. Additionally, you can pack it into your car and travel with it on trains or even planes with ease. Most buyers use it for short distances, but the range is remarkably large: you can often go 50 to 75 kilometres on a single charge, or even double that distance if you really conserve the battery!

Finally, you can also easily store it inside, or fold it up and keep it next to you at a café or in a shop. Thieves will have a hard time getting their hands on your electric folding bike!

Which brand of electric bicycle is the best?

The Stella, Gazelle and Merida brands were regarded as the best by the ANWB in their prestigious award of electric bicycle of the year. In the AD national electric bicycle test, less prominent brands also won, such as Dutch ID (electric city bike), Ampler (sporty home/work), Cangoo (electric cargo bike) WATT (lifestyle e-bike), Stromer (speed pedelec) and ECO (folding e-bike). It is striking that the popular bicycle brand VanMoof does not appear at the top of the lists. Their best-selling model S3 comes out as 'average' in the bike tests.

Which electric bicycle is the lightest?

The most lightweight electric bikes use carbon frames - the most popular material of choice for weight weenies. They weigh about 20 kg including all the electrical components. In particular, Trek, Gazelle and Specialized have carbon models in their e-bike range. Of course, the bicycle type is also important, for example an electric racing bicycle or city bicycle will be a lot lighter than a speed pedelec or electric transport bicycle.

What is the best electric bike of the year ?

In several tests (including ANWB, AD bicycle test) the Stella Morena MDB FI came out on top in . The bike has a price tag of €3,289. The bike uses a Bosch mid-drive motor and has automatic gears, which makes it fast AND easy to ride.

→ Check out our hand-picked selection of the best e-bikes

→ Or search for Stella electric bicycles

Which electric bike is the best for you?

Before you can determine the quality, you will have to think about what you are going to use the e-bike for. Will you be using it for long or short distances? How many times a week? Will they be intensive journeys or a relaxed pace? If you write this down and then look at these 4 factors with the bicycle: battery life, support on flat surfaces, stability and braking. Other important factors to take into account are budget, appearance or design.

A reasonably priced Batavus or Gazelle is suitable and sustainable for short trips to the supermarket. For longer or sporty rides, the quality of the frame, battery and motor become more important. On an Amsterdam canal full of loose bricks, something sturdier like an Ostrichoo would be more useful - while a route with smooth asphalt and bicycle paths is ideally suited for touring bikes from Stella, to name one brand.

Although a battery can be replaced, it is often expensive and therefore a good estimate of your use is important. Read more in our blog about the use of batteries in electric bicycles and which one is right for you.

Still haven't found the right e-bike for you? We will be happy to help you choose! Take a look at our range of second-hand e-bikes. You're sure to find one that suits you.

What is the cheapest electric bicycle?

Second-hand options will always be cheaper than new. However, when taking quality into account, you would want a reliable second-hand model that has been tested by a professional. Currently, it makes more sense to buy a used e-bike that had an RRP over €1,000 but now costs under €1,000, in comparison to a new model with the same price. This is because in almost all budget e-bike tests, new models under €1,000 continue to come out as a bad buy.

For more Chinese Ebikesinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.

The reason for this is that the technology is new, and the components are still expensive. The price of a decent quality e-bike is usually €2,000 or more. Nonetheless, the price for better quality e-bikes is expected to fall within a few years, once manufacturers can find ways to reduce the supply costs and more concrete trends for providing good quality bikes emerge.

Which e-bike brands should I look for?

With some research, you can find some good models for a fair price. For example, the ANWB advises Popal, PRO e-bike, Anyway and the B'twin Elops 500. Buying through Chinese sites can be more risky because the e-bikes do not undergo the same testing as European e-bikes. As a result, they have no quality marks or quality guarantees. If it breaks, you can often lose your money or have to pay for the repair yourself.

How expensive is a good e-bike?

For a decent e-bike you pay between €2,000 and €3,000. The best e-bikes fall into the above segment, and from €3,000 you can assume that every purchase is a top model, or has unique properties such as having a belt drivetrain or is a cargo bike.

Offroad electric bike

How much does a folding e-bike cost?

A decent new electric folding bike will cost you at least €1,250. At the moment, the number of electric folding bikes has proliferated because many cheaper alternatives have entered the market from China. However, these often do not have a long life. In addition, you sometimes pay import costs on top of your purchase, which can sometimes be a hidden cost when purchasing the bike.

Used electric folding bikes are a solution for those on a tighter budget. The price may look attractive, but this could likely be at the expense of the range - which might be much smaller than you'd want.

How much battery capacity does my electric bicycle need?

On average, e-bike batteries offer 400 Wh (watt hours) and for every 100 Wh you can receive 10 to 20km of assistance. The battery  lasts 4 hours, about 50 to 75 kilometres. We have developed an amazing tool and blog answering this question in more detail for you in our blog about e-bike batteries.

Are e-bikes unsafe?

No, not necessarily. Electric bicycles do not go much faster than normal bicycles (25 km/h). There are faster models, such as ​​pedelecs that can go faster.

Who is most at risk?

The risk of an accident is comparable to a light moped. There is a higher risk of accidents happening in densely populated areas than outside of them, because it is busier and space is limited, so you may need faster reaction times to respond to hazards.

The most at risk group for e-bike accidents are the elderly in the 75+ age group. Because their physical condition is generally not as good as it used to be in terms of reaction times and they can drive faster, there is an increased risk. These risks are less of a factor in age groups under 75. It really depends on your behaviour on the road - similar to drivers or when riding a regular bicycle. The best way to stay safe is to ride safe.

Are e-bikes safe?

E-bikes are becoming safer and now hardly pose an increased risk of accidents. At the moment there is only a small difference between accidents with and without electrical assistance.

The bikes themselves are improving in quality which makes them safer to ride. For example, old models that are 5-10 years old are a lot heavier than new ones, because they now use much lighter frames. Moreover, the motor is now placed in the middle of the bike, which improves the stability when riding the bike.

Man riding new black e-bike in the city

Is an electric bike worth the money?

In short: yes. Of course it depends on what you use the bike for, but there are increasingly fewer disadvantages with e-bikes. Safety is constantly improving, practically they are very useful as you can ride longer, faster and with less effort - while the costs are only getting lower. Finally, manufacturers are following this increased demand for e-bikes by focusing on the production of these bicycles, so that the available designs are often more stylish than those of classic models. Therefore, they are becoming more attractive options especially compared to cars or other vehicles, but even sometimes above traditional push bikes!

Are you looking for more advice? Contact us via the live chat, our bicycle experts are happy to help you. Or take a look at our marketplace with new and second-hand electric bicycles!

FIND OUT MORE:

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Contact us to discuss your requirements of Electric Bikes Supplier. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

I will begin with a bit of my back story. I've been living in a small town the better part of my life where there's just 40k+ people living. I have always considered myself driven and had a bunch of different jobs but I always wanted to start something of my own.

Now I got an idea where I plan to make regular bikes into e-bikes, since I feel there is a need for it around here. There's a lot of long commutes and most of the town lives outside of the city. but I had some questions to begin with:

1. Is it possible to make any bike into an e-bike?
2. I find a lot of different setups but what setup is the most durable and cost efficient one?
3. Is there any brand that offers cheap and lasting set-ups? Maybe one that does so for different bike sizes?

I'm still working on the business model but I'd be really glad to hear anything you guys have to add, all comments, pointers and critique you got would be really appreciated. If it's something you think I haven't thought about then please let me know I'm not going to address your 3 questions because they are subjective and you will get a different answer from from every ëxpert" here."

The real question is, can you make a living doing this, and I think the answer to that, is probably not.

Here's a few things to consider";

To achieve any sort of profit margin, you will need to be able to buy bikes, motor kits, batteries, etc. at a deep discount, so I guess that would be Alibaba.
Do you have the money to buy quantities? Would you be comfortable buying from them? Are you willing to spend big $$$ on inventory only to find that things don't work out and you will be stuck with a basement of Ebike parts?

How would you market the finished product? Brick and mortor store or Craigslist?
Both are problematic. For a store, beside rent and utilities, you will need a city business license and have to pay whatever way the city can get money out of you. Possibly insurance of some sort too.
How will your neighboors feel about your storing Lithium batteries.
Will you advertise? Advertising is very expensive.

Concerning Craigslist, well, here we would have to talk about human nature a bit.
You sound young, but at any age, one never knows the buying public until you are selling something.
In a nutshell, people will waste your time. Oh, they will öoh and aah" and tell you how neat the bike is, but when it comes time to reach into the back pocket, well....
They will try and talk you down in price. They will want to horse trade. And do you want a continuing stream of people coming to your house(or your folk's house)?
Will you offer a warrenty? people will expect it and more than a few will take that to mean that you will fix it free forever.

A town of 40K may sound like a lot of people, but I live in a city of a million, and I have seen maybe three Ebikes in the last year and those were ready built.
And speaking of ready built, how many people will look at your bikes, then go order something on-line? More than a few, I would wager.

It's not my intent to "rain on your parade", but I'm speaking from experience. Like you, I wanted to go it alone doing something that I loved. So, in I opened a motor scooter shop. At that time, little Japanese scooters were all the rage. I couldn't get a dealer's license because the bond was more than I could scrape together, so I did repairs and accessories. My customers were university students and they didn't have any money. The only money I ever made was from "flipping" titles and selling used parts.

Ok, If I haven't totally discourged you, here is what I would recommend;
Start small and build a couple bikes at your house and try to sell them on Craigslist. I think you will find that it's more trouble than it's worth.
But you will fall in love with Ebikes, of that I'm sure. But like so much in life, better to make that your hobby and make a living doing something of which you will be sure to be financially rewarded.
Whatever you do, good luck.

entretooth said: 1. Is it possible to make any bike into an e-bike?
2. I find a lot of different setups but what setup is the most durable and cost efficient one?
3. Is there any brand that offers cheap and lasting set-ups? Maybe one that does so for different bike sizes?

I'm still working on the business model but I'd be really glad to hear anything you guys have to add, all comments, pointers and critique you got would be really appreciated. If it's something you think I haven't thought about then please let me know

1. Not every bike can be converted, but most can. There are so many details to this question, however, that a full answer of what works and what doesn't could fill several volumes of books. In very general terms, most 7 to 21 speed, non suspension mountain style bikes are easy to convert. The Trek 800 is a good example of an "Ideal" generic donor bike
2. None. there are a lot of setups because none are perfect fr every situation. Just like there are no "Perfect automobiles", because everyone has different needs and expectations, there are no perfect Ebikes. Every person's situation will be unique, and no setup can meet everyone's needs.
3. Chinese business models work much different than the US. if you want to make money, you're going to need to go to the manufacturer. they may sell you the exact same parts as another "brand" uses, or in some cases many "brands" use.
to put it in Americanized standards, Chinese manufacturing is like Chrysler decides to stop selling cars. instead they make a lot of generic cars with swappable body shells. Both Ford and Chevy decide to stop making cars, and instead they both buy cars from Chrysler, having Chrysler add their names and a few custom parts. But both Ford and Chevy are still in fierce competition with each other. And to confuse it even more, Chrysler has gotten so big doing this, they dictate to Ford and Chevy what cars they will get, changing models and parts any time they please. So Ford introduces a line of cars calling it the Ford Fux0r. This month it's a hot hatch back. Next month it's last year's pickup truck. 3 months from now it will be a wheezy diesel sedan that's only available in brown, beige, or electric pink. a month later it's a convertible muscle car, all being sold as Ford Fux0rs.
Chevy has to go through the Same thing. They call theirs the Chevy Rawxtar, and even though the vehicle is clearly different every month, they keep selling it by quoting the original specs from the first car they took delivery of. So that 2 door 3/4 pickup truck with a 7 liter V8 is being sold as a 5 door hatchback economy car that gets 47mpg.
And that's the Chinese way of doing business. If you want to make it in the Ebike business, you'll have to learn to adapt to it, and be able to adapt it to western consumers.


Before you get too far into this idea, I'd suggest converting a couple bikes for your self. See first hand what the bikes are capable of. Good ones are very good. Cheap ones are very bad. usually. Write them off as research.
Also, If you aren't a bicycle mechanic, hire yourself a good mechanic as a consultant. motors put many times more stress on a bike than they were designed for. They will break and you will be doing warranty work. Good mechanic skills, or having access to a good mechanic will be the difference between making it and going under.

motomech said: I'm not going to address your 3 questions because they are subjective and you will get a different answer from from every ëxpert" here."

Maybe he's doing research for a book.

motomech said: The real question is, can you make a living doing this, and I think the answer to that, is probably not.

First question: Is this a "Retirement Job." If you don't HAVE to make a living. . . . Or are you in agriculture, part of the year it being parttime, etc.?

Can you or can't you convert any bike? YES. Do you WANT to? Are people REALLY going to be happy with it? Are you hoping that people will pay you to convert whatever bike they have? They'll probably want it fixed at the same time.

". . . .the most durable and cost efficient . . . ?" Enduring WHAT? How is the cost efficiency established? It's not cost efficient to put a huge battery on if they won't ride half that far, or a big motor to haul a load up hill if they won't. You have to suit the need.

That cheap and lasting setups question makes me think you're not ready for this business. What you're saying is you want the Chinese equipment they ACCIDENTALLY built well.

I was born in a town of a population of 23,000, with other towns not so far away, but my Mother had been making 15-20 mile drives to buy clothes for her kids. It's now approaching 200,000, touching one around 400,000, others at or near 100,000. So I thought I'd have memories when I saw my Mother's new town, popluation 10,000 in a county of 40,000, which she lives 15 miles from the city limits of. It's a different world, now. And it continues to change, Mom's town is more and more like the big city every time I go to visit.

I can't say it's a safe trip riding into town from Mom's house. Part of it narrow country roads with blind turns, part of it highway with fast moving cars and 18 wheelers. A lot of people wouldn't like the idea of riding into town.

Around town, I suppose there's a few of the elderly riding 3 wheelers just like everywhere else, some might want a motor on theirs. But they don't even have a bike shop there, unless you count WalMart.

I'll give you a business model. Buy premade bikes, as people said. Sell on eBay. Hang a few flyers around so people go to look at your eBay store, but don't get your face identified with it. If you make money you'll have far more sales away from your small town than you will at home.