Are 2nd hand ebikes pretty much worthless?!

[Rotwilder]

We sold my wife’s Cube ebike and made a £700 loss over 2 years. It would cost more to hire one! New cost £2.200, sold £1500 with just over a 1000 miles on. On my Rotwild I’ve replaced the battery and motor(trice!) and the drivetrain 4 times now. Plus seat; brakes; tyres. 22000 miles since 2017. I bought a Specialized Creo gravel a couple of years back and still ride both in different ways. At 73 I don’t need a new bike yet, although I know I don’t ride the way most on here do; being held together by rods and pins nowadays

 

[irie]

The only thing(s) original on my 2020 Rail 9.7 is the frame, motor and battery. I’m not even going to consider selling at this time.

I’m satisfied with the feel and geometry of the Rail. I’m not sure if a newer model or different manufacturer would make much of a difference.…

Same with our alloy Rails on which only frame, motor and battery is standard*, and are set up for our riding conditions.

Edit: I tell a lie, wife's MT420 brakes are standard but will probably be replaced in 2025.

 

[steve_sordy]

New for old on my house contents policy. I had to specify the bike as a separate item because the standard cover was £300 for a bike. My premium did not go up. My garage is not proof against a determined burglar prepared to make some noise, but it will deter everyone else. and then he has to steal the bike! It is really well secured.

 

[Truckee Robert]

I’m looking for a trail bike used right now. The prices are really low. Here’s some things to consider. First with the new motor services available $200-400 you may not need a “new motor” after all. Second where has the bike been ridden is important. I’m in N Ca and bikes here don’t see a lot of water encounters but winter weather is a big consideration, did they store the battery at a proper level indoors?
Many of tbe bikes I’m seeing are coming with big upgrades. I also converse with the seller to get a sense of the type of rider he is. I almost pulled the trigger on a trek rail but after talking to the owner I realized he’s a really good rider and likes big jump and a lot of HD at N Star bike park.
My other option is to buy new carbon wheels for my Reign and run it with no inserts and my smaller battery for trail riding.

 

[kevtp19]

I was going to sell my Rise to buy a DH bike, but you then find things like this

Pardon our interruption...

I'm not convinced mine is worth selling lol. That's a bargain!

Yeah that does look a great deal tbf! I think I will just keep mine... hasn't missed a beat yet... but no doubt it will at some point, I will have to bite the bullet and (try) and get a new motor / battery. I was thinking, you could in theory buy a motor and battery on the cycle to work scheme, I may do that!

 

[Gareth]

Morning all, I am coming to the end of my c2w scheme on my 2022 H30 Orbea Rise. Was thinking of selling it and getting a new one, on a new scheme. But watching a few bikes on FB marketplace, nothing appears to be selling. There is Rise the same as mine, but with hardly any miles (300 or something), and some tasteful upgrades (XT 4 pot brakes). They can't seem to get £2400 for it, it looks new! Mine is in great condition, but must be worth barely £1500 on that basis (2500 miles, will go up). That's a £2500 loss in 2 years! Has anyone else noticed 2nd hand ebikes are hard to sell / very low re-sale value?

Not sure what you are worrying about. At the end of the day you bought the bike on the C2W scheme, so how much did it actually cost you?

So, say the bike was £5 retail when you bought it, and you saved 45% through the scheme, your bike cost you £2750. So, if you sell it for £1500, your bike has cost you £625 a year.

Frankly, considering the reliability issues with ebikes (failing motors etc) and general maintenance required, the cheapest option I’d say is to trade in or sell for £1.5 ish and order a new one for 3K on the cycle to work scheme. A new bike is only gonna cost you a few 100 quid if you can manage to get 1.5K for your current bike.

Happy days.

 

[High Rock Ruti]

Yup!…and that sucks. The only thing(s) original on my 2020 Rail 9.7 is the frame, motor and battery. I’m not even going to consider selling at this time.

There’s nothing out there that could replace this bike (or money pit) for a reasonable price. So I’m doing a full rebuild and service. The motor, forks and shock will be an outside service. I’ll do the rest of the service myself. I expect a service to my motor, shock and fork to cost me about $1000.

I’m satisfied with the feel and geometry of the Rail. I’m not sure if a newer model or different manufacturer would make much of a difference.…other than bottom bracket clearance.

As far as the battery(625w) goes …maybe I got lucky. I charge each ride (250-300 a year) and have completely submerged the bike several times. (River crossings)

High Rock Ruti

Twice I've had new bikes 700 ish miles disassembled completely, rebuilt suspension, brakes pad/rotors reassembled. It would be hard to over describe what difference it made, cost $1200 not just better like a different bike altogether. Just about to have my 23 orbea wild ltd rebuilt. They're expensive to buy, expensive to maintain, but having them perform the way they're supposed to is worth it.

Warm Regards Ruti Robart

 

[DieBoy]

From the comments and tone of everyone replying here, I'm assuming everyone here also only buys cars brand new? lol

I don't own a car, and aside from a 1973 camper van decades ago, I never have.

At the risk of being Captain Bloody Obvious, an ebike is not a car. While lots of things can go wrong with a car, the 2 things most likely to go wrong with an ebike are also the 2 most expensive parts, and you can't tell by casually looking at them if they'll be fine for 2 years or die 2 weeks later.

Incidentally, as I tried to illustrate in one of my earlier posts in this thread, a low mileage on a ebike for sale is not automatically a plus point (unless it's only a couple months old).

 

[Stihldog]

I always thought that a visit to the LBS or a computer printout could be helpful when buying or selling an eBike. Some of that information could be useful. Bike shops, in our area, will not take a trade in but they may be willing to print out that information for the sake of a new sale.

Selling privately on Pink Bike, or whatever, can be a nightmare. One friend had his eMTB stolen at the time of sale, and my neighbor has dropped his price by thousands (overpriced imo) and still hasn’t sold.

 

[Tetley]

Secondhand LevoSL buyer here.
From the comments and tone of everyone replying here, I'm assuming everyone here also only buys cars brand new? lol
I've only ever bought used cars, and I've had good luck over 11 vehicles. And because of people's fears of a scary used car/bike, if you buy new you take huge depreciation, especially in the first couple years.
I have owned my used Levo SL for a couple years now. It has been perfect in every way, and I bought it at a ~50% discount to new.
But yes, bikes do depreciate, you got your use out of it, and new tech comes along that makes your older bike less valuable.
Also consider it's probably the worst time of year to sell a bike, and the best time of year to buy one... normal riding season is over, retailers are discounting to get rid of unsold inventory, and prices will have some downward pressure until April or May.

There's a big difference between cars and EMTB's - Cars are massively more reliable than the bikes! You don't expect to have between one and five new engines and transmissions in a car in the first handful of years of ownership, but this seems pretty normal with EMTB ownership. And don't forget, cars are usually used for daily transport, most bikes only go out at the weekends, so the hours of use is a lot less than cars, making the failure statistics even more horrendous. Most cars will do 10 years / 100,000 miles, or more, without needing a new engine or transmission.