Exactly the kind of candid video we need, Sam. Can confirm that here in the UK my Specialized motor was replaced within 2 weeks, and my Bosch motor was changed in around a month. I've heard some horror stories about Shimano motors, including some around 6 months! You pay your money... Edit: should also add that my Specialized motor was replaced 2 months out of warranty free of charge!
Same here re Speccy - changed first motor under warranty in under 2 weeks (UK) Then replaced the second motor 3 months after end of warranty - for free. Shout out to The Bicycle Chain bike shop in Taunton. friendly and great service. Looking at this list of answers pretty shocked at how vague and unfriendly Bosch sound. But hats off to Giant/Yamaha as they sound pretty reasonable. I also think the third party motor repair shops popping up now are very good news, now I'm a year out of warranty😀
Specialized has had my Levo for over 2 weeks. Still not sure when it's expected to arrive at our lbs. Also we are not one year out of warranty and only got 20 percent off. I also have an issue about the motor warranty. The 2020 year motors are known to be defective. My motor went in 400 miles. My wife's motor is the one that just died, she doesn't ride much it died with only 780 miles. Specialized increased the warranty for 2 more years on these motors. There should have been a recall . They knew it was a crap motor. They should have offered new motors to everyone who bought one. So I won't be buying another specialized e bike again.
I was second owner and bosch were happy to warranty the motor within the same 2 year warranty period. They just asked i could provide original invoice from first owner. Good service from bosch and took around 4 weeks to have the work completed
with buffang you can cheaply and easily fix anything that goes wrong yourself they sell everything from gaskets to upgraded motors. Upgraded controllers with custom firmware. You can do it all
I had a great experience with Shimano. When my Canyon Spectral On was 2,5 years old, the Shimano EP8 motor died with the well known E010 error. I was on a bike trip in Austria. When i got back, i wrote Canyon in Denmark. They got back to me the day after, that they spoke to Shimano that would cover it on good will. 2 days after i got a new motor and did not have to ship the old one back. Spend 20 mins to switch then around, and my bike was back in business.
In my opinion the motor and the system as a hole should be reparebale by the local shop/dealer mechanik. The owner should be able to change the bearings of the electronics (in a shop by a mechanik) of the motor and the other component of the system and so on.
Great vid Sam, thank you for being a monster source of info on e-bikes. As someone in the market for a new e-bike I 100% agree with the transparency in pricing with replacement motor, it’s one of the big factors influencing my choice of bike.
If these questions get asked by everyone than hopefully the answers start getting better for the people buying the bikes. We buy them trusting they will last a long time. The batterys are another thing and only Giant gave actual warranty guide lines.@@SamsBikes
I would have to agree. If I was to buy new it would probably be Specialized due to support and transferability of warranty. I got a quote from Giant through a dealer that it would be about $1,400 with installation for a new motor (out of warranty) if torque sensor went bad. They couldn't even fix it. Definitely agree with the extended warranty. Make it for 3 years WITH transferability. Otherwise you need to figure in the cost of a new motor when buying used.
This is the #1 topic in the eBike world IMO. Thanks for covering it. I cancelled my order on an EP8 equipped back after finding out what a horror their after sales support was. It's a shame that our governments let these companies sell us unrepairable "sealed" proprietary shite. We're talking about an electric motor, not a rocket ship, there's no reason why they shouldn't be easily serviceable like every other piece of the bike.
The reality is that with Specilized you will wait a couple of weeks, and bafang is usually in stock in the shop, or you can buy it for ~500 euro. The problem is that the rest of bike with bafang is not something you would like to buy :D
Id much rather pay $2500 less and replace my bafang motor or battery for $500 if it ever does die. So far thousands of miles and never had to do either.
#bosch motors can do 60 thousand miles The batteries can do 2 thousand charges and after a 2 year warranty there fix the motor for $400 and takes 2 to 7 days
So glad someone finally looked at this as most of the industry ignores this rather conveniently... Now address who will supply replacement parts to fix motors please.. Would you buy a 10K motorbike with no parts support!
Don't see many of then around but I've seen with polini you can get every part for it and service it yourself, all manufacturers should be forced to do this. Dread to think how many ebike motors have ended up in landfill sites.
This video presents some of the most informative and useful information e bikes ever . 👍 Bosch should be ashamed of themselves for such evasive nonsense answers .
4:24 My KSL was 6 Month in Store... for two Motorchanges. I returned it to the Dealer. Now, my KSL 2 ist there again... since 6 Weeks, because of a Motorproblem.
I’ve been waiting 4 weeks for a Shimano replacement motor, The dealer told me Shimano are super busy and that I’ll just have to keep waiting, Based on this a Shimano motor won’t be on my next EBike
I`m glad someone has done this as everyone just ignores this.. And the industry don't want people realising there 10K investments have very little support sometimes..
According to UK consumer rights a product should be fit for purpose, I question of this is true if an e-bike motor fails under 4 years / 4000 kms. You can call a consumer rights helpline to get advice. They can also refer your complaint to local Trading Standards Officers who may then investigate on your behalf.
I've got a 2022 Giant Reign E+ with the Yamaha PW-X3 (amazing bike) and the crank spindle bearings got really noisy at about 2000kms and the motor was replaced under warranty. The fact that the replacement motor is covered by another 2 year warranty is an exeptional standout in the market. With this warranty top up I dont need to baby my new motor or worry that the new motor might have a manufacturing defect that could brick my bike. The new motor has over 3000kms and is still strong. I wouldnt buy any EMTB without a warranty or without knowing the cost of the repacement motor.
I currently have a bike with Shimano motor, I have anxiety about what happens if it shits itself out of warranty. I will definitely be looking at buying Giant/Yamaha next time after reading their response. Or hopefully a Pinion, they look extremely serviceable.
I guess if you need an e-bike for the type of riding you do, it's 1 thing. I think if you are buying an e-bike for fun and have the money for out of warranty replacement it's another thing. If you are buying an e-bike and are always strapped for cash, you probably need to stay away. It's kind of like a car. Maybe you can buy it but can you pay for everything that comes along with it.
Good after sales experience with Shimano. My e8000 Died 3 times, had it changed within 2 weeks each time. Shimano's guarantee starts from scartch each time (Shimano France ).
I feel like e-bikes are being sold as disposable commodities. I personally wouldn’t keep one past the warranty period at this time. Good luck keeping one running for years. Unlike traditional bikes these things have obsolescence built in. Personally I think there needs to be plans for retrofit/upgrade possibilities for people that keep them.
#bosch motors can do 60 thousand miles The batteries can do 2 thousand charges and after a 2 year warranty there fix the motor for $400 and takes 2 to 7 days
@@SamsBikes It was a fairly big Giant dealer, a smaller Giant dealer quoted him slightly more! I may be down to the shop as to what they want to charge, possibly.
I thought Giant used to warranty batteries for 80% in 2 years / 800 charge cycles... I don't think i've got that old document downloaded... Also to note, are you able to get a response from Giant about how they will brick a motor with the 6A error code, even if a motor has never been tampered with? They generally won't warranty a motor that gets the 6A error code, and there is no easy way for a customer to clear this.
Im riding Ep6. A bit slower than my buddies in levos. Im looking to upgrade. Rocky Mountain or Specialized. I just think Specialized are kind of ugly. But hey, if they stand behind their stuff. I can get used to the looks.
Both the response from Specialised as well as the lived experience puts them way out front. Other products are equal and possibly better in certain respects but as a total package it's Specialised all day long.
Please be advised the one dealer compared to another. My choice was Specialized and My dealer is great with good turnaround on parts as one Specialized dealer charged me £25 on a warranty as he had the part in stock and changed a new motor even though it was faulty my Dealer was told of this and he give me back the £25 as he said that wasn't fair.
Thanks Sam another really informative article. I agree with you regarding transparency. It’s all a bit vague on after care and support from some of these brands. As consumers we deserve first class warranties with a no fuss process. Extended warranties would be great if you plan like me to keep my Levo for sometime. 👍
Food for thought for those using a jet wash!! Still, £€$1000 for a new motor and probably the same for a new battery, controler etc, is still cheaper than buying a new bike.
I want to be able to go on line and look up the price of a new motor for my 2020 stance e2 or other ebikes. There is no good reason you shouldn't be able to do that. I understand if it's a new motor that just came out or that the price subject to change and that you may be able to receive further discounts but, really in most cases it should be that simple.
Would be interesting to hear about yamaha motors. My current Haibike has the pwx3 motor. Previous haibike had the bosch cx motor. I know giant uses yamaha motors, but they are a company of their own. Only had to have one warranty claim for the cx motor and that was on my cube ebike. During the pandemic aswell. The shop sent the motor off and bosch sent a new one. 2weeks later bike was sorted.
Glad I've got a levo, replacement out of warranty is cheaper than the shock I just bought for it. My decoy is a mystery, I should call yt and see if there is a discount price.
Be very careful off giant.the process is to start at a local dealer which appears to do anything to get out of upholding the warranty.from any modifications to no racing ect.
@@SamsBikes Shimano aren't bike manufacturers or retailers, they are parts manufacturers. Surely in the case of ebike parts, they sell the parts to the manufacturers of the bikes and the bike manufacturers would set their own retail prices. The same with Bosch. It's then up to the individual bike brand to provide the service.
You're not buying a bike, you're buying the support network that backs up the bike. You're bang on about Specialized - you'd have to be a fool to buy anyting else unless you are made of money (or just don't care). The outright lack of repairability, essentially renders the used 'serious' e-mtb market a fool's paradise. Why would anyone buy a used e-mtb that's out of warranty, or if in warranty - not transferable?
In the uk,if your motor is out of warranty,you could send it to independent repairers to het fixed,which is much cheaper than buying a new motor a completely rebuilt motor costs around £300
interesting that bosch dribble out some rubbish. they dont want to give out new motors ar all . a few friends have broken/ problematic bosch smart systems. they dont seem to let dealers have the bits without a masdive complaint from the riders
