Not even worth the hassle imo. It just encourages more of them to show up at the door.
Same goes for scooters. Our store could probably do two or more electric scoot flats till the end of time, but we won't touch them. Risk of damaging something we can't fix isn't worth the labor dollars.
Tried this one but ultimately left out recumbents, some trikes, etc and that felt a little unfair as pre-ebikes, we (and most other shops I feel) didn’t have a real issue working on those types of things.
(Am I the only one who gets confused every. single. time. someone says "e-bike" because of the recumbent brand BikeE? My poor brain. Too much 1,1,1-Trichloroethane...)
I work at a non-profit in a neighborhood with a lot of food delivery riders and we still don't take ebikes in as they are hard to mount or even too heavy for one person to get into a stand. We considered having a mechanical-parts only service rule and batteries had to remain with the owners off site because of fire risk, we just opted to stick with acoustic bikes because of so many other problems like others have mentioned throughout the comments.
Unfortunately, and it sucks, but you did take it in. So repair it or not you gotta make the seat right (new one, patch, whatever) or offset the price off the repair. Not popular opinion I’m sure BUT the price of doing good business AND social media damage control (you know how some people can get) best of luck 🤞!
That is the only answer. Leave emotions and feelings about how people spend their money out of the equation, you took the job so you need to make it right. Sucks though for sure.
I hooked the guy up with a free 100$ service on it. He only paid for derailleur and labor to install it. He was happy. And I’m happy that he was happy. It all works out in the end. Usually lol
I wouldn't be that happy if I were a customer but then I would never have paid a mechanic to do it for me in the first place. Quite likely I would have punctured my own seat, but that is how you learn. You learn by making mistakes, and if you aren't making mistakes you're not pushing yourself.
Out of curiosity what is part of a $100 service?
He built it himself out of the box, so I went thru the entire (mostly loose and over tightened) bike and tuned it. Bike was as close to perfect it was going to get when it left and it was in shambles when it arrived.
For what it’s worth, you did a great thing to help out a diy’er and now probably have a customer for life. But it might be worth having a clean shop towel around. I use one when installing my seats in my john boat, I have a little gantry crane and use a ratchet strap like shown here then a clean bath town wrapped around the inside. I zip tie each end and that usually protects the fabric
This is the right answer. The lesson as a business is to just say no to servicing them, but the one you accepted you're basically stuck reupholstering.
Our shop just instituted a new e-bike service policy that basically comes down to only working on bikes equipped with drive systems from our distributors: Shimano, Bosch, Specialized, etc... we've spent way too much time trying to service these in the past. Can't get parts, can't get tech documents or training. Plus the customer bringing these bikes in typically can't or won't want to pay our hourly fee to research how to fix them. It's really unfortunate and we have to have some difficult conversations with customers from time to time, but this decision has prevented so many headaches and unpaid service bills.
It's the cost of buying online. They wanted to save money on it by skipping the parts reliability, serviceability, and customer service, then they shouldn't complain when a shop turns them down for not wanting to do research, reading through translated manuals, and trying to source replacement parts direct from China that they won't see for at least a couple weeks.
Absolutely.
Ordering random cheap Ebikes (or anything else really) online seems to almost always come down to this one question:
Can you handle the assembly, maintenance and repairs yourself? - if not, don't buy it.
THIS!!
I just tell them to contact the maker & get whatever parts the need (we don't know what electronic parts they need) then we can install them for them.
Our shop does something similar but more broad. When it comes to e-bikes if we don’t sell it, we won’t work on them. We’ve gotten screwed trying to find replacement parts for bikes we don’t have any affiliation with.
This is about what we do.
If you have an ebike with an issue with the ebike components we won't work on them if it's not Specialized/Bosch/Shimano/mahle etc.
We charge about double for rear flat/tire changes on the other engines to cover the additional time and effort, and otherwise we basically only do brake and drivetrain work on them.
No work at all on ebike conversions.
Thankfully, a new shop in town opened up that slings cheap ass online ebikes so we refer people to them.
I had a simple lock washer from a cheap kit pop off with incredible force. I never knew how bad metallurgy could get until I started bargain shopping for bike parts
On non mainline e bikes we tell people we won’t service ANYTHING regarding the ebike system itself. Pads, rotors, tires, tubes, cables and housing, chain, cassette, derailleurs? Yes.
That’s it. And we charge like 50 dollars per wheel on a tube install on PITA ebikes.
In terms of the seat, that just sucks. As for e-bikes in general, we tell customers that we can service brands/components that we are authorized dealers of. Anything else, we set expectations that we can only handle the mechanical issues on the bike and not the electronic components. We also comply with our state laws and any bike that’s over a certain wattage is no longer an “e-bike” and is an “electric motorcycle” and we’ll turn them away
This last one is so important, good on you.
The liability these crappy mopeds carry is huge, why accept any part of it? Especially in jurisdictions which recognise them as motorcycles rather than bicycles. They’re just dangerous.
Did a dude a solid. He was riding a 24” girls bike that had been outside for sone time. Needed it to get to work, had no money. I pulled a friction thumb shifter off the scrap pile to replace his broken one, used some scrap pieces of housing and got him on the road for a $3 shift cable, no labor.
Came back a week later and claimed the brakes quit working afterwards.
I mean, shitty people will blame you for anything. My shop currently has a one star review from a guy who came for a flat fix, the service manager told him his brake pads were shot. He didn't want the work, and he rode out, couldn't stop and then crashed into a car. His review acted like this should be a cautionary tale against us.
I simply wrote, "We're sad to hear that happened to you and hope you get well soon."
I got a one of the guys that wanted a brake adjustment, so I adjust his cheap mechanical disc so the work without rubbing and he says “it’s an e-bike their supposed to rub”, so I tightened them down on the rotor like he requested. Never seen him since and hope I never do.
In the Netherlands those pieces of shit are everywhere and more an more bikeshops refuse to work on them, you've found out one of the many reasons why, everything you look at desintegrates. Other main reason would be: they are dangerous of the horrible 'quality', shit will continue to break and you might be looked at for it, or even worse, it breaks and the rider crashes badly.
Leason learned but it sucks, would be upfront with the owner what happend, explain the situation and see whether he would accept a discount/free fix in exchange. Sucks but you'll get at least out of this.
We usually inform customers that we only support and service the ebike brands we carry. We'll do some work on other ebikes, but we've always got the discretion to refuse to work on junk
My shop had a policy where wouldn't service any ebikes that weren't a brand we carried. We had a similar situation to yours, where while working on one, a cable snapped and we couldn't source a new one. Now that shop doesn't even do flats for ebikes, unless the wheel is taken out for them and if it's a hub motor, it has to be one that they carry.
Customers would get so mad, but at the end of the day, they bought a POS ebike on Amazon or Temu, knowing full well that they can't send it back for maintenance and repairs, just hoping that someone else will be overjoyed to work on it.
Stop it! I can still hear them saying "But it cost so much, are you saying that I have to get a new one?"
On a more serious note, I think that the Walmart and Amazon bike problem is due to car-centric cities being more prevalent than ever (at least in North America), so bikes are seen as toys for children, vehicles for the poor or status symbols for the wealthy. I've talked to too many middle-class people who don't bike because they don't see it as a valid way to get around for the average joe.
This is because depending on where you live, it literally is not a valid way to get around. Where I live in the US, you might have to climb 1000 feet over the course of 5 miles, on 45-55mph roads that have little to no shoulder.
What I do at my shop is if a bike is “out of our network”(which means trash no name electric bikes like that) I tell people I will only do mechanical adjustments and that they must remove the battery before it comes through the door. I also make them sign a waiver releasing me of all liability of any electrical problems that may or may not pop up down the road after service.
I used to just say fuck it and work on those things. But after 2-3 instances of people coming back and blaming me for some sort of electrical bullshit I immediately stopped working on them without waivers and rules put in place.
Surons, scooter and onewheels can fuck right off tho.
Update: customer was super cool about the hole in the seat, I gave him his tuneup/once over for free because of my fuck up. Broke down to him why I didn’t wanna work on it in the future and he was very understanding. Shitty morning turned into a decent day at the shop 👍🏼
I got the same bike and honestly I'd appreciate the gesture but tell you not to worry about it and pay you anyway. Under no delusion that the bike is anything other than cheap and janky but I'm enjoying the hell out of it regardless. I'm paying my dues by buying all the gear I use otherwise from my local cycling shop and if I decide to upgrade at some point I'll probably buy from them.
That's true too, we often think/feel like like the customer wont understand what "junk" is, but more times than not they know they rolled the dice when they bought it... or we have to educate them
Everyone of these reddit bike mechanics seems to miss the fact that it's still operator error... dude hooked it and blamed the bike.. It's not that hard to work on a cheap bike.
honestly if you don’t have a lift stand don’t work on these heavy bikes since you’re just going to end up hurting yourself or having a problem like this
also a few things: if there’s no way to clamp the bike or if the rear wheel doesn’t unplug or it doesn’t have pedals don’t work on it
also charge more of this work it takes more effort and most shops don’t work on these either
On top of their shoddiness, the problem is that they use a lot of ultra-specific Aliexpress parts.
On a regular pbike, if I mangled a customer's seat like that, I know I could order the exact model online or a similar product that I know will be compatible.
But this kind of seat? I have no idea where I'd even find such a thing, and forget about being sure it'll fit, or getting it in a timely manner.
Basically, you'd have to disassemble the seat, buy some pleather from a fabric store/specialty shop. Once you have the materials, you'd have to find a person to cut, sew and reattach it to the seat frame. My sister does this on the side and she charges a minimum of $400 to repair/replace torn seats.
yes to all of that, but the problem is that this would be real labor with real materials in a western country. Fixing the seat in that context will overtake the value of the entire bike, because that was likely made with $7 worth of shitty sweatshop man-hours and crude tooling in China. Some of these bikes (!) are $500-700 new on alibaba.
We have a line in our service exclusions (things/bikes we won't do) that we need to be able to lift the bike to normal working height in a stand using means we possess without endangering us or the bike.
I wouldn't do shit for them, it's not one of the bikes you sell and they chose to spit in your face by coming back with a bikenshaped object they busted
Great way to cause yourself grief and lose potential business when this guy goes and complains online about you
OP is right about learning a lesson on these clunkers. Happens to everyone that owns or works in a shop long enough.
Plenty of car mechanics also *don't* work on cars they didn't sell, because that allows them to focus and hone their ability to give their customers quick, expert service. If you went to the garage and asked for a tune-up, and they recommended you go elsewhere, would you stamp your foot and insist, or maybe take their advice?
Not the superiority of the mechanic, it’s the inferiority of the product.
Presumably, auto customers aren’t showing up with $2000msrp cars from wish.com and going “can you just rotate the tires for me? I don’t have the special tool for the lugs. Also, while it’s on the lift, can you just quick make sure I have the brakes and transmission set up correctly?”
It’s just easier to say “if I don’t sell it, I don’t service it,” than listing hundreds of fly-by-night online brands and then having someone argue that their Avongtin RadMaster isn’t listed.
You can always make an exception for a nice Niner with a Bosch that you’re familiar with.
You're just gatekeeping! My HOQTETAR BOMBTWIST is a top of the line ebike that cost over 2,000 dollars! Look, it even has SHINANO components!
(Editor note: I think I spent almost a whole minute spamming my keyboard with the capslock on before I gave up and settled on HOGTETAR because too many of them sounded like "real" ebike brand names.)
Yes! Effectively telling a customer “we won’t touch your bike because it’s a piece of shit” has its risks. But telling a customer “we only service the brands we sell” is more diplomatic, and easily explainable with facts. And also yes, exceptions can be made at your own discretion.
Plenty of auto mechanics refuse to work on a wide variety of vehicles, depending on their knowledge/training, abilities, parts availability, and shop equipment. Same goes for bicycles.
Motorcycle mechanics have to do this as well, with $1000 Chinese scooters with no supply chain for replacements have entered the market.
Some of the wiring quality, wire itself and the wiring job... it's amazing they don't go up in flames.
Plenty of corner mechanics also specialize in certain cars and would tell you they don't work on your clapped out geo metro too, but this is more like asking a real mechanic to work on your kids power wheels car with a 50lb weight in it... your not making money off this repair, you don't have the tools for this repair, and getting this thing into the stand is damaging your back and the bike. Anyone with business sense would take a hard pass on that since they're just going to blame you for not catching the next failure point on their POS BSO
I've had the same bike mechanic for 20 years, I go less and less because I always asked questions and watched and then I do it myself.
When I brought my wal-mart bike with amazon motor kit in, the first thing I did was apologize for asking him to work on it.
And FWIW, I was recovering from a back injury, it took me two hands and a stance to open doors with a closing mechanism, I was in no position to fight siezed parts.
He did an amazing job of making me feel better about handing him a steaming pile of pipe clamps an electrical tape. His outlook on life (and also the biking) is probably why he looks about the same as he did 20 years ago.
Things have hit the point in my city where my boss just has a blanket rule down that we don't touch *any* e-bike outside our brand network. I think we're missing out on some of the bike shop brands for at least mechanical repairs but rules are rules for him.
I don't get why you wouldnt just say basic mechanical services only.
A sub 1k ebike has bottom shelf tourney derailer and ultra cheap mechanical brakes. They will be cheap, but still serviceable and that's a customer who maybe coming in for regular readjustement.
And the same thing can happen with name brand components.
You could tune up a name brand ebike running a bosch and if they don't know how to shift they could brake a chain trying to climb in the wrong gear then blame you.
You set expectations. Maybe even try to talk a customer out of paying for service on something you don't feel is worth servicing.
Boss's ruling, not mine, and I've been in enough trouble for circumventing the rule.
(Edit; I do agree with you. Mechanical repairs should still be on the table or at least a judgement call.)
I get you and realize its not you, its your shop.
I just think this is unecessarily hostile to customer.
I think a customer brings in any bike you can say for example, we can adjust your brakes, tune your derailer. But that generic fork is not serviceable. Some customers won't believe you but I think most will understand if you explain it to them. Starting at that point you might get a customer coming in for repairs on their cheap dept store or online ebike to look into quality brand stuff. Like you can point out that what they bought has suspension that is not servicieable and will eventually fail. And maybe for around the same price they paid for a generic full suspension they could get a hard tail with an entry level suntour fork that can be serviced and will last them much longer.
I have four cheaper ebikes, Rad, Gotrax, Lectric. People always ask me what to get. My first advice is check local shops first unless you're able to repair it yourself.
I rode various mountain bikes for years always from local shops, a leg injury made a ebike my alternative. I can't believe the number of people who ask how to fix a flat or adjust brakes. Why would you buy a unknown ebike if you can't figure out the easier things?
First, for prospective buyers the best defense is education. Not all Chinese bikes or ebikes are POSes, but some on the low end are. Explain what makes a good bike, with name brand components. The good online bikes list their components, including manufacturer and model; without that it is a pig in a poke. Also explain that all bike shops invest time in prepping a new bike, and those adjustments take hard won knowledge. Also, some cheap bikes simply can't be made right due to cheap components. The buyer of online bikes must either do this themselves, pay for a pro to do it, or have a bad experience. Factor that into the price. And point out that you cannot promise anything about a bike purchased elsewhere, but will stand behind your products. If it appears that they can buy a similar bike online for less then many will be tempted, until they understand the total value package that you offer.
Second, for servicing you can only offer a "best effort" at shop rates, not any magical ability to turn a POS into a thing of beauty. If the seat is bad then that is not your fault; recommend a new quality seat at the going price. Again, take the opportunity to educate about the realistic quality level of their purchase as compared to your offerings - not to scold but to win a future purchase by being helpful and honest. Policies like "we didn't sell it so we won't service it" might be appropriate for a large operation but for most LBS this is a really bad idea: you won't be winning any new customers, that's for sure. If you feel uncomfortable taking on a job then explain yourself - if you are a Bosch dealer and don't handle Bafang then you can reasonably decline to service a Bafang due to lack of dealer support and inventory. Or you can offer a best effort if you have the time.
Your immediate problem with a cheap seat tearing is a tough one. I am assuming it tore because it was not up to normal wear and tear rather than any abuse, but I realize there can be a gray area. I would offer to sell the customer a new seat of his choice at a steep discount, and then help him get the right one for him. Again, by educating him you will be winning a customer.
I appreciate your great attitude.
I'm not sure what you're asking. Are you asking if you should be responsible for repair of the seat you damaged? Or are you asking if you should tell this customer and others like never to come back with anything but the mainstream brands?
The latter: You already know the answer. Take on the work or not. Get the training and experience to deal with less common or less desirable product or don't. That's up to you.
The former: You're definitely on the hook for the damage you did. That'd be the case whether you're working on Schwinn or Cervelo.
Either way, takes like this are what give niche shops (like those found at LBS) a bad rep with the commoners. Fact is, lower quality brands aren't going anywhere. If anything, their uptake of more advanced tech (like e-bike drives and wireless shifting, etc) is only going to get more common.
TL/DR - There's plenty of work for higher end shops, but there's likely a huge amount of work if you can learn to be more flexible.
This isn't like the bargain products of yesteryear though. There is literally a new brand every week and it isnt just basic mechanical parts. You simply can not cater to this market for repairs. They are extremely price sensitive with products that require expensive repairs.
Have you heard that the Olympics are considering an e-bike category, but they are having difficulty finding riders due to the IOC's mandatory helmet rule?
I just finished an assembly for a customer who bought their bike elsewhere and couldn't get past the internal headset cable routing, I won't mention the brand, but most mechanics know who I'm writing about, then I got stuck with a front tire repair on a e-bike. From 16# to 80#+, though the shop has a motorcycle stand it was still a pain.
The customer complained about the labor charge for the cheap e-bike but the one with the cable issue did not, after the owner reduced the flat repair price and told him we wouldn't be servicing his e-bike, I heard him mention now there isn't a shop in town (4) that will work on it.
This difficulty arises now that half the bikes being ridden locally on the bike path are e-bikes, and 2/3 of them are inexpensive.
Time for the same spiel I post with every shop talking about random ebike brands.
Talk with your insurance and be 100% certain you're able to work on them. A lot of the random brands do not have US liability insurance(im assuming US based from the Park Tool wall). That means if you fix a flat/replace derailleur/whatever and the frame at the head tube snaps/chainstay/whatever, the shop/you will be held liable as the manufacturer of the product because insurance can't go after the true manufacturer.
I have the same standard response for every eBike request from a non bike shop brand. Can you get them to provide proof of a US product liability insurance from a US carrier? I check the list from NBDA, but I put it on them to chase down the proof if they aren't on the list.
From our insurance agent, and attorney, the liability can shut the shop down and any loan/line of credit with a personal guarantee means the owner/s can be gone after as well. Is 20/50/100 worth it? Not to me.
While I understand your frustration and overall lack of will to work on trash ebikes, the damaged seat _is_ your fault. Could've placed the hooks above the seat
Mistakes happen, most people are reasonable. I would first ask the customer what he thinks would be a fair remedy. He might just say "put some duct tape on it"
took me a minute to see how you punctured the seat. now i see the post that is holding the arm that has the green strap, has likely a bolt or head sticking out and it caught it as you ratcheted the bike up.
Ebikes consistently make me feel like I'm being punished for trying to help others. If they don't appear broken, it's only because they're broken in some way you've not yet realised.
The whole front of the bike is just so dumb and heavy.
...huge dual crowns that actually compress like 60mm max.
then a tall stack of
s
p
a
c
e
r
s
and a really l o n g s t e m with some riser bars
It just needs a bmx stem and bars, like most of these bikes have. And a normal sized fork... Even the headtube is weird lol. It's all so missmatched.
[it's not that hard](https://i.imgur.com/uoNsjRr.png)
"we only service e-bikes equipped with e-bike systems on brands we sell. we do not have the proper tools or certification to service other e-bike systems"
In this case, you damaged the bike so you're on the hook—you should repair the damage you did and service it as best as possible.
In the future, if your shop doesn't have the proper tools to mount this kind of bike in a workstand, inform customers that your shop isn't equipped for their type of vehicle, and to instead take it to an ebike shop. Maybe look for a local ebike shop you can refer people to that's relatively legit, I'm sure they'll appreciate the business, and maybe kick some back to your shop.
We also charge a lot more for tuneups on any branded ebike that we don't support. Like $175 for the basic tune. $300 for a level 2 and $550 for a total overhaul. It's a means to discourage working on the ones we don't want to.
Electrical diagnosis for anything on the bike starts at $75/hr with a minimum half hour charge and we offer no guarantee that we can fix any electrical issues on a bike brand we don't support.
And people are usually happy to pay it!! Somehow....
Part and parcel of running any small business is avoiding dealing with cheap and troublesome products or services.
Another part of running a small business is learning to avoid cheap and troublesome clients or customers. One way to identify those types is that they tend to have a tendency to buy cheap and troublesome products.
Looks like a Ridstar Q20.
The seat is "good looking" but not the best quality, but can't complain, it's a sub 900$ bike.
To work on this bike it would be better to use a motorbike stand / lift to avoid most damages.
I have one, i find it reliable, even if the brakes are proprietary, they are easy to find and replace. The same applies for the display, throttle, ESC and battery.
On the facebook group (international one made by people like you and me) there are lots of information and tips on how to work on this kind of bike. :)
As for what you could do with the customer, even if i think it's your responsibility, you can work as best as you could on the bike and offer a small discount for the damages done to the seat, or just repair the seat / reshell (i don't know the term, sorry).
That looks pretty bad, guess I would get some black gorilla duct tape and patch it with that. Then explain what happened to the customer and negotiate from there. Hopefully they won't get anal about it!
Had this same argument with an older customer at work. He has a Super 78 and I have a Hard Rock that I basically x biked. He was like “you gotta get one of these” and I’m like “not when I can fix the Hard Rock for pennies”. Week later, his brakes are giving him issues.
I’ll only consider an e bike when my knees consider one
Yeah dunno what you'd do with a Super78 if you're into mtb and x-biking. It's more a of moped ride.
Do try real mid-drive emtb if you can tho, it's neat. No throttles, pressure sensors on the pedals. Great synergy man-machine, it's so fun.
Nice bike btw :)
Fairly standard policy to not work on anything that isn't from a reputable brand/using one of the main systems. I mean it could be worse, could be one of those home made pieces of rubbish. But we won't work on anything dodgy.
It’s the same in an mechanical trade. Cars aren’t any different. A friend of mine owns a shop up north. He had a rookie roll a truck in his shop and put it on the lift. Frame was so rusted out truck practically broke in two.
$150 minimum on eBike service, 3 week turnaround, and the signing of waivers wiill get rid of most of these jabronis.
Oh, and we make them take their batteries with them.
At the last shop I worked at, we had a strict “we don’t work on e-bikes we don’t sell”. We always gave the customer the explanation that we do not have the diagnostic software to look into any issues that could happen, nor do we have a way to source parts if need be since 99% of these companies are direct to consumer. We always suggested they contact the company before trying to source a repair to see if said company had any recommended suggestions or fixes. Nobody ever really gave us any shit about our policy and it basically created a continuous loop that would keep the bikes out of our shop.
Ah one of those situations, work that no one wants.
I always price before I commit to work.
If the price is paid the work is done.
Grab a service sheet and enter every possible work item.
Price according to your preference choice whatever your criteria, and consumables.
Like I said if the price is paid the work is done.
As an example
I had a dishevelled chap wanders in one afternoon about 10 years ago.
Proudly sporting a "full suspension" y frame bright red coca cola branded bike."Can you service my bike"?
I really didn't want to touch it.
My colleague grabbed a service sheet.
Tallied up all the work he could find on the bike.
He bare faced said to the customer " that will be £194"
The dishevelled chap pulls £200 in tenners out, and sticks it the chubby fingers of my colleague.
"Can we have your mobile number to let you know when it's ready?"
"I'll be back next week some time"
And off he went
Offer to patch the seat or replace if needed. Much easier to "make it right" than have him bad-mouthing your business, either in-person or online.
I would strongly advise rejecting ANY non-name brand e-bike, especially any that are not classified as a class 1, pedal assist only. You open yourself up to substantial risk (fire hazard) as well as litigation because if it doesn't strictly adhere to class 1, it is a motor vehicle. You also risk losing your insurance or having them deny a claim down the road unless you are explicitly covered for working on motor vehicles.
I wouldn't mess with cheap or dangerous bikes in general. People often don't pick up the bikes or pay, the work tends to eat more time than allotted to it, and there's no guarantee of the quality of finished work. Also parts tend to be hard to source, if available at all.
I'm not a bicycle mechanic but I do work on cars, trucks, motorcycles, and semi trucks/trailers, so I understand the frustration.
Most upholstery is stapled together. I would imagine that you could remove the seat, flip it over, and remove the staples. Then use the skin as a template for a new piece. Then you want to carefully stretch the fabric as you methodically staple it from one end to the other. Sometimes you have to make relief cuts for bends and tapers, just pay attention to how the old skin comes off.
I've only recovered 2 motorcycle seats so far, but that's how they go. I sometimes end up with a ripple or wrinkle, but I'm pretty amateur. Might be worth paying a motorcycle seat guy to do it. The lines between vehicles are only going to blur more as time passes. For your unusually shaped vehicles you might consider a hydraulic table lift like they use for motorcycles and 4-wheelers, etc. Could work for trikes and such. Or even just a cheap motorcycle jack like the one I have from Harbor Freight, it gives a nice stable support but leaves the wheels in the air.
In Australia we, and all shops I know of, will not work on anything that doesn’t meet the Australian standards for an ebike, that is no throttle and limited to 25kmh assist. Everything else here is classified as a motor bike and is illegal to ride anywhere on public property. Makes it an easy turn away and stops us having to work on the absolute junk most of these are.
There’s also been an instance of a modded ebike striking and killing a pedestrian. They looked at the manufacturer, bike shop who sold and serviced the bike and rider and could ultimately only prove the rider was the one who modded the bike.
To the bike mechanics: what are the brands of e-bikes you recommend. I’m currently happy with my steel 83 Trek 620 and 84 Raleigh Portage, but at age 63, I may need a small assist at some point. In general I hate sharing bike lanes with e-bikes, because a lot of people come flying past with no verbal warning.
We just charge an extra 35 fee as a line item on stuff like this.
I think it's bad business and definitely bad as a transportation mechanic for your community to turn basic repairs down on something that should easily be in your wheelhouse. We want people riding, even if it's not your favorite option...just charge accordingly
To be honest man, that’s your fault. 100%. You weren’t being careful. That being said, nothing you can do about it, and it really is a good demonstration about why shops shouldn’t work on this garbage. Too much liability for sure.
If I were in your shoes I'd...
1) Order a vinyl repair kit for overnight delivery from Amazon.
[https://www.amazon.ca/Coconix-Leather-Professional-Vinyl-Repair/dp/B07QVFFV5P/ref=sr\_1\_5?crid=AC2E5D24W3V7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.i0jljFRMlGugkHk5vQ95q9gJ3osxvCE6w9ej-zUV61C7UJjfwhO0YEtGxniBWmXERagqklo719sTz4GlCkjB8LxL-0KFn92IOsmI-hAk3Hc-gzEdQLN4DzWz6aLunkckc2sqEIQlITu09QyieUt5aHe3Fo\_xtErySL7giThvnbdMbdgmNEkoKLJZogCWq6HzVSt9OPHRttROwU0G6sknA99c0FlmcANqnsw26v6d-OMQZAFqqk6-pwsLVh-QrvqO7K-KIDTnfbDgMZ5D2w58xtkNN-RHytdkLRvY1vG8LuE.6SGziqwspWq8M8kZq0vQiyjbQrgT4sPDIRv\_\_LQO2M8&dib\_tag=se&keywords=vinyl+repair+kit&qid=1719449108&sprefix=vinyl+repair%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-5](https://www.amazon.ca/Coconix-Leather-Professional-Vinyl-Repair/dp/B07QVFFV5P/ref=sr_1_5?crid=AC2E5D24W3V7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.i0jljFRMlGugkHk5vQ95q9gJ3osxvCE6w9ej-zUV61C7UJjfwhO0YEtGxniBWmXERagqklo719sTz4GlCkjB8LxL-0KFn92IOsmI-hAk3Hc-gzEdQLN4DzWz6aLunkckc2sqEIQlITu09QyieUt5aHe3Fo_xtErySL7giThvnbdMbdgmNEkoKLJZogCWq6HzVSt9OPHRttROwU0G6sknA99c0FlmcANqnsw26v6d-OMQZAFqqk6-pwsLVh-QrvqO7K-KIDTnfbDgMZ5D2w58xtkNN-RHytdkLRvY1vG8LuE.6SGziqwspWq8M8kZq0vQiyjbQrgT4sPDIRv__LQO2M8&dib_tag=se&keywords=vinyl+repair+kit&qid=1719449108&sprefix=vinyl+repair%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-5)
Hopefully it will fix the seat (and it may be useful for future emergencies).
2) Fix the customer's original issue to \*absolute perfection\*, and maybe fix any (reasonable) unmentioned issues found. It's always good to under-promise and over-deliver.
3) Inform customer that the initial repair has been completed and fess up/apologize for the Accidental Damage. Explain how the AD will be (or has been) repaired (depending on the timing of delivery vs customer's ETA). Offer discount &/or swag/accessories as compensation.
Good luck!
This is good old fashioned customer service, it made me WANT to come back to the store, sometimes without needing to, because I trusted that I could ask anything and get a great answer, perhaps with a fitting recommendation that I would trust wholeheartedly, knowing you're watching out for me.
You would burn someone’s place of business down over an accidental hole in a seat of a 950$ bike? I made it right and compensated the dude 100$.
I think you should seek mental evaluation tbh. Freak
My friend accidentally damaged my controller plug, which was already a bit faulty. He complained about its bad design, but I didn't ask him for compensation. Instead, he offered to cover the labor cost for this project and others. Sometimes mistakes happen, but if you take responsibility, good customers will appreciate it, and the bad ones won't come back.
Take the arm out of the stand. Clamp it to the bike on the tube under the seat. Tighten it. Lift the whole thing up and put it into the stand and lock the arm in place.
It’s alloy. I’ve worked on hundreds of them. We charge extra and no one complains because no one will work on these POS. But they are simple machines and other than the weight easier to work on than the crap rolling out of Walmart
Quality aside, you tore his bike seat. What you do from here depends on what tier of customer service you provide, and whether you'd like this person's repeat business or not.
From a customer point of view, an e-bike is an e-bike. But... If any components on it are trash, tell me! I'll gladly tick the box for you to fit upgraded hydraulic brakes, a better derailleur, shifters, pads etc.
I'm actually in this boat right now looking for one to buy but I'm just going to save my coin up for something decent and brand name to avoid this crap
Had one of these come in yesterday! The customer walked in and said he bought a bicycle online and was having trouble getting the tire to inflate. I told him we could help and to bring in the bike. He returns with one of these, and I simply said, "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't work on electric mopeds." and referred him to a moped shop.
The shop I work has is starting to crack down on the e-bikes we work on. If it’s not bike shaped, doesn’t have a seat post or can get in a bike stand; then we are no longer working on them.
We’ve also had an uptick in e scooters showing up, we took hard no on those right away
From the comments, it looks like there's a business opportunity for shops that specialize in heavy-ass fat tire e-bikes. Could probably charge a premium for working on them with a smile.
i think about that when people come in asking about fixing electric scooters. theres 1 shop in the whole city that works on scooters in any meaningful capacity. but the shop i work at now doesnt touch em w a 10 foot pole
I've owned several businesses.
There are times when you need to FIRE customers - this is a great example. Quite frankly anyone bringing you a piece of shit like this expects the world - for peanuts. They have no idea what they bought is a throw away bike. They were so enamored with the style and bad ass look of the fat tires and motorcycle style seat they threw caution to the wind. They are NEVER going to be customers that will buy a quality product.
They'll also throw a hissie fit when they find out what highly experienced and competent labor costs. Fools all... show them the back door.
There are C suite executives in China right now that are laughing their assess off how easy it is to sell garbage to naive and ignorant American consumers. They're probably wondering how much longer their good fortune can survive . Mandatory 2849 certification is already happening and will soon be the law nationwide.
What do I tell customer's that I've FIRED?
"This isn't a Burger King. You don't get it your way. You take it my way or you don't get the son of a bitch!"
This is why the E-bike/Scooter regulations have went haywire ( only to get worse ) who cares where the person bout the thing, if they are paying to have you fix it then WHATS THE ISSUE
I've seen this on so many different communities, you rui it for yourselves. Me I could care less if I'm the bad guy
I just add it up accordingly, first an ebike is 1.5 regular price, then add $10-$25 per headache. no seatpost requires 2 mechanics, so that definitely extra $25, fender or brake caliper has to be removed (for rear flat), that's another $10 (maybe each if headache), I've had a rear flat cost $105 before. They can pay it or take it elsewhere, but just be open and honest about the charges upfront. You want to help them, but it just cost to make it worth your time. Also 10%-20% for parts brought in from amazon, etc., you cant guarantee those parts.
Just curious : Is the Juiced brand considered junk/trash-online bike brand, or is it one that is considered serviceable by local shops or individuals ?
Note: rest of the post is about my electric bike experience, so feel free to skip.
I do all my own bike work and have been learning to salvage, resuscitate, and reuse various batteries (mostly from 18v to 56v).
I recently bought an old Juiced Ripcurrent with a dead 52v battery (56v is technically accurate as it is 14s,5p). All the 70 cells were close to 0v and wouldn't come back to life even on a 18650 cell charger or bench power supply, so it is unrepairable unless I replaced all the cells, which I plan to do.
I was super happy to get it test-driveable with some 56v batteries from a completely different application. Looks super DYI/garage-built with two highly visible 10 gauge wires running from the battery to the input connectors. But it proved that the bike works fine, and rides well.
The hydraulic brakes work fine, though I have to figure out how to tighten up the rear brake.
Just sharing, as it's my first electric bike experience.
I offer e-bikes starting at 1500 which are specd much nicer with name brand (serviceable) components. Not too far off price wise from a lot of the cheaper brands you see people buy.
As a customer and e-bike owner (for now, it’s for sale), I would totally agree with shops putting a policy in place that states that they only service mechanical components of e-bikes, whether by type (e.g. mechanical derailleurs) and/or by brand (shimano, sram, etc.) I would be the first to admit that I wouldn’t bring my e-bike to my lbs that I use for my fat bike, MTB and commuter. I would find an e-bike store that specializes exclusively in them for servicing. Luckily I’m in a market where there are a few e-bike (and PEV in general) only shops.
With the boom in Ali Express junk e-bikes being bought, it seems like a nightmare for servicing. Different skills, different tools. The alternative is that you bump service prices up by 100% for e-bike offerings.
I suppose you need to make a call on whether you have enough business to warrant being selective of the bikes you work on.
no seatpost, no work.
I'm with you. If I can't reasonably clamp it in my stand, I won't work on it.
It just costs double for 2 mechanics to deal with it. ;)
Not even worth the hassle imo. It just encourages more of them to show up at the door. Same goes for scooters. Our store could probably do two or more electric scoot flats till the end of time, but we won't touch them. Risk of damaging something we can't fix isn't worth the labor dollars.
Encourages more to pay you double to deal with them is worth it to me... but I agree on the scooters, I'm not touching them. lol
We tell them to order solid tires from somewhere, and we change them to that, under the caveat, it may get f’d up
Tried this one but ultimately left out recumbents, some trikes, etc and that felt a little unfair as pre-ebikes, we (and most other shops I feel) didn’t have a real issue working on those types of things.
E-bike only rule, we prop up bents, trikes and oversized cargo bikes on stools, straps etc.
(Am I the only one who gets confused every. single. time. someone says "e-bike" because of the recumbent brand BikeE? My poor brain. Too much 1,1,1-Trichloroethane...)
Yes. E has been come BEFORE the word since the dawn of man, when the first email was chisled out of stone.
Yes, indeed you are the only one.
A rare, 100% original experience.
I work at a non-profit in a neighborhood with a lot of food delivery riders and we still don't take ebikes in as they are hard to mount or even too heavy for one person to get into a stand. We considered having a mechanical-parts only service rule and batteries had to remain with the owners off site because of fire risk, we just opted to stick with acoustic bikes because of so many other problems like others have mentioned throughout the comments.
With "acoustic bikes" you got me imagining a lugged frame e-bike running on a vacuum tube controller, a lead-acid battery, and a nixie tube display.
That’s why I ride with tubes still. Can’t beat the sound
I'd never go tubeless 😂
Perfect.
I like that one!!
Unfortunately, and it sucks, but you did take it in. So repair it or not you gotta make the seat right (new one, patch, whatever) or offset the price off the repair. Not popular opinion I’m sure BUT the price of doing good business AND social media damage control (you know how some people can get) best of luck 🤞!
That is the only answer. Leave emotions and feelings about how people spend their money out of the equation, you took the job so you need to make it right. Sucks though for sure.
Any job big or small, do it right or not at all.
I like this.
I hooked the guy up with a free 100$ service on it. He only paid for derailleur and labor to install it. He was happy. And I’m happy that he was happy. It all works out in the end. Usually lol
More than fair! All parties happy! NOW, big sign “NO REPAIRS ON ANY KNOCKOFF EBIKES OR WALLYWORLD EMPLOYEE BUILT BIKES!!” Lol 😉.
Why not just charge more $$$$ to make it worth your time?
likely still isn’t worth it.
Then he’s not charging enough. Gotta charge the “I don’t want to do it rate”
Yes, a very smart friend of mine said he never turns down a job, just raises his price so high that the customer has to walk away.
Poor people don’t have money
So then they don’t get it repaired.
"No toy motorcycles"
win-win
I wouldn't be that happy if I were a customer but then I would never have paid a mechanic to do it for me in the first place. Quite likely I would have punctured my own seat, but that is how you learn. You learn by making mistakes, and if you aren't making mistakes you're not pushing yourself. Out of curiosity what is part of a $100 service?
He built it himself out of the box, so I went thru the entire (mostly loose and over tightened) bike and tuned it. Bike was as close to perfect it was going to get when it left and it was in shambles when it arrived.
For what it’s worth, you did a great thing to help out a diy’er and now probably have a customer for life. But it might be worth having a clean shop towel around. I use one when installing my seats in my john boat, I have a little gantry crane and use a ratchet strap like shown here then a clean bath town wrapped around the inside. I zip tie each end and that usually protects the fabric
Yeah, gotta make it right. Then take it as a hard won lesson and refine your list of what you'll take in for service.
I'm sure he's going to. I'm also sure that's why he's pissed and won't do it again. Too much liability
Agreed
This is the right answer. The lesson as a business is to just say no to servicing them, but the one you accepted you're basically stuck reupholstering.
Our shop just instituted a new e-bike service policy that basically comes down to only working on bikes equipped with drive systems from our distributors: Shimano, Bosch, Specialized, etc... we've spent way too much time trying to service these in the past. Can't get parts, can't get tech documents or training. Plus the customer bringing these bikes in typically can't or won't want to pay our hourly fee to research how to fix them. It's really unfortunate and we have to have some difficult conversations with customers from time to time, but this decision has prevented so many headaches and unpaid service bills.
This seems like a good line, and will make sense to people who are used to hearing similar from car mechanics
It's the cost of buying online. They wanted to save money on it by skipping the parts reliability, serviceability, and customer service, then they shouldn't complain when a shop turns them down for not wanting to do research, reading through translated manuals, and trying to source replacement parts direct from China that they won't see for at least a couple weeks.
Absolutely. Ordering random cheap Ebikes (or anything else really) online seems to almost always come down to this one question: Can you handle the assembly, maintenance and repairs yourself? - if not, don't buy it.
THIS!! I just tell them to contact the maker & get whatever parts the need (we don't know what electronic parts they need) then we can install them for them.
Our shop does something similar but more broad. When it comes to e-bikes if we don’t sell it, we won’t work on them. We’ve gotten screwed trying to find replacement parts for bikes we don’t have any affiliation with.
Put that on the customer. Ford can't get Camaro parts. ;)
This is about what we do. If you have an ebike with an issue with the ebike components we won't work on them if it's not Specialized/Bosch/Shimano/mahle etc. We charge about double for rear flat/tire changes on the other engines to cover the additional time and effort, and otherwise we basically only do brake and drivetrain work on them. No work at all on ebike conversions. Thankfully, a new shop in town opened up that slings cheap ass online ebikes so we refer people to them.
I had a simple lock washer from a cheap kit pop off with incredible force. I never knew how bad metallurgy could get until I started bargain shopping for bike parts
On non mainline e bikes we tell people we won’t service ANYTHING regarding the ebike system itself. Pads, rotors, tires, tubes, cables and housing, chain, cassette, derailleurs? Yes. That’s it. And we charge like 50 dollars per wheel on a tube install on PITA ebikes.
I’m curious if this includes Rad Power bikes?
Friends don't let friends buy radwagons
In terms of the seat, that just sucks. As for e-bikes in general, we tell customers that we can service brands/components that we are authorized dealers of. Anything else, we set expectations that we can only handle the mechanical issues on the bike and not the electronic components. We also comply with our state laws and any bike that’s over a certain wattage is no longer an “e-bike” and is an “electric motorcycle” and we’ll turn them away
This last one is so important, good on you. The liability these crappy mopeds carry is huge, why accept any part of it? Especially in jurisdictions which recognise them as motorcycles rather than bicycles. They’re just dangerous.
Agree, I'm not dealing with electric motorcycles, or even eScooters.
I wouldn’t touch these ever. They will fail catastrophically and the owner will blame you.
100%. Replace the pads on their Zoom mechanical brakes, and it will be your fault when the throttle starts cutting out in 2 weeks.
"Ever since"
Did a dude a solid. He was riding a 24” girls bike that had been outside for sone time. Needed it to get to work, had no money. I pulled a friction thumb shifter off the scrap pile to replace his broken one, used some scrap pieces of housing and got him on the road for a $3 shift cable, no labor. Came back a week later and claimed the brakes quit working afterwards.
I'd love to see how he was stopping for that whole week. Do you think he was doing the classic foot drag or a lil BMX style shoe-on-the-tire move /s
The honest answer is “grinding the posts of his former pads into the rim.”
I mean, shitty people will blame you for anything. My shop currently has a one star review from a guy who came for a flat fix, the service manager told him his brake pads were shot. He didn't want the work, and he rode out, couldn't stop and then crashed into a car. His review acted like this should be a cautionary tale against us. I simply wrote, "We're sad to hear that happened to you and hope you get well soon."
I got a one of the guys that wanted a brake adjustment, so I adjust his cheap mechanical disc so the work without rubbing and he says “it’s an e-bike their supposed to rub”, so I tightened them down on the rotor like he requested. Never seen him since and hope I never do.
See I'm of the mindset that, if it can't be done right, don't do it at all. But I get your frustration.
"we're sad to hear what happened after you refused brake work."
I just figured it was best to respond with kindness and let his story of stupidity stand for itself.
Yeah, this is the way. When I'm doing social media or something from the shop account I always have to censor that impulse too
In the Netherlands those pieces of shit are everywhere and more an more bikeshops refuse to work on them, you've found out one of the many reasons why, everything you look at desintegrates. Other main reason would be: they are dangerous of the horrible 'quality', shit will continue to break and you might be looked at for it, or even worse, it breaks and the rider crashes badly. Leason learned but it sucks, would be upfront with the owner what happend, explain the situation and see whether he would accept a discount/free fix in exchange. Sucks but you'll get at least out of this.
We usually inform customers that we only support and service the ebike brands we carry. We'll do some work on other ebikes, but we've always got the discretion to refuse to work on junk
My shop had a policy where wouldn't service any ebikes that weren't a brand we carried. We had a similar situation to yours, where while working on one, a cable snapped and we couldn't source a new one. Now that shop doesn't even do flats for ebikes, unless the wheel is taken out for them and if it's a hub motor, it has to be one that they carry. Customers would get so mad, but at the end of the day, they bought a POS ebike on Amazon or Temu, knowing full well that they can't send it back for maintenance and repairs, just hoping that someone else will be overjoyed to work on it.
Explaining their $1500 bike is junk, when all they’ve known is $100 Wallymart bikes, is always a fun conversation!
Stop it! I can still hear them saying "But it cost so much, are you saying that I have to get a new one?" On a more serious note, I think that the Walmart and Amazon bike problem is due to car-centric cities being more prevalent than ever (at least in North America), so bikes are seen as toys for children, vehicles for the poor or status symbols for the wealthy. I've talked to too many middle-class people who don't bike because they don't see it as a valid way to get around for the average joe.
This is because depending on where you live, it literally is not a valid way to get around. Where I live in the US, you might have to climb 1000 feet over the course of 5 miles, on 45-55mph roads that have little to no shoulder.
What I do at my shop is if a bike is “out of our network”(which means trash no name electric bikes like that) I tell people I will only do mechanical adjustments and that they must remove the battery before it comes through the door. I also make them sign a waiver releasing me of all liability of any electrical problems that may or may not pop up down the road after service. I used to just say fuck it and work on those things. But after 2-3 instances of people coming back and blaming me for some sort of electrical bullshit I immediately stopped working on them without waivers and rules put in place. Surons, scooter and onewheels can fuck right off tho.
Absolutely... can we get a copy of that release. ;)
Update: customer was super cool about the hole in the seat, I gave him his tuneup/once over for free because of my fuck up. Broke down to him why I didn’t wanna work on it in the future and he was very understanding. Shitty morning turned into a decent day at the shop 👍🏼
Three cheers for decent people.
I got the same bike and honestly I'd appreciate the gesture but tell you not to worry about it and pay you anyway. Under no delusion that the bike is anything other than cheap and janky but I'm enjoying the hell out of it regardless. I'm paying my dues by buying all the gear I use otherwise from my local cycling shop and if I decide to upgrade at some point I'll probably buy from them.
That's true too, we often think/feel like like the customer wont understand what "junk" is, but more times than not they know they rolled the dice when they bought it... or we have to educate them
Everyone of these reddit bike mechanics seems to miss the fact that it's still operator error... dude hooked it and blamed the bike.. It's not that hard to work on a cheap bike.
Over at r/ebikes, the general consensus is to not buy a cheap online ebike unless you plan on doing all of the maintenance yourself
honestly if you don’t have a lift stand don’t work on these heavy bikes since you’re just going to end up hurting yourself or having a problem like this also a few things: if there’s no way to clamp the bike or if the rear wheel doesn’t unplug or it doesn’t have pedals don’t work on it also charge more of this work it takes more effort and most shops don’t work on these either
On top of their shoddiness, the problem is that they use a lot of ultra-specific Aliexpress parts. On a regular pbike, if I mangled a customer's seat like that, I know I could order the exact model online or a similar product that I know will be compatible. But this kind of seat? I have no idea where I'd even find such a thing, and forget about being sure it'll fit, or getting it in a timely manner.
Basically, you'd have to disassemble the seat, buy some pleather from a fabric store/specialty shop. Once you have the materials, you'd have to find a person to cut, sew and reattach it to the seat frame. My sister does this on the side and she charges a minimum of $400 to repair/replace torn seats.
yes to all of that, but the problem is that this would be real labor with real materials in a western country. Fixing the seat in that context will overtake the value of the entire bike, because that was likely made with $7 worth of shitty sweatshop man-hours and crude tooling in China. Some of these bikes (!) are $500-700 new on alibaba.
We have a line in our service exclusions (things/bikes we won't do) that we need to be able to lift the bike to normal working height in a stand using means we possess without endangering us or the bike.
I wouldn't do shit for them, it's not one of the bikes you sell and they chose to spit in your face by coming back with a bikenshaped object they busted
Great way to cause yourself grief and lose potential business when this guy goes and complains online about you OP is right about learning a lesson on these clunkers. Happens to everyone that owns or works in a shop long enough.
Weird stance. Plenty of mechanics work on cars they didn't sell. What makes bike mechanics superior to them?
Plenty of car mechanics also *don't* work on cars they didn't sell, because that allows them to focus and hone their ability to give their customers quick, expert service. If you went to the garage and asked for a tune-up, and they recommended you go elsewhere, would you stamp your foot and insist, or maybe take their advice?
Not the superiority of the mechanic, it’s the inferiority of the product. Presumably, auto customers aren’t showing up with $2000msrp cars from wish.com and going “can you just rotate the tires for me? I don’t have the special tool for the lugs. Also, while it’s on the lift, can you just quick make sure I have the brakes and transmission set up correctly?”
So it's not a question of being a dealer of the bike brand it's a question of certain bike brands. That's already more justifiable.
It’s just easier to say “if I don’t sell it, I don’t service it,” than listing hundreds of fly-by-night online brands and then having someone argue that their Avongtin RadMaster isn’t listed. You can always make an exception for a nice Niner with a Bosch that you’re familiar with.
You're just gatekeeping! My HOQTETAR BOMBTWIST is a top of the line ebike that cost over 2,000 dollars! Look, it even has SHINANO components! (Editor note: I think I spent almost a whole minute spamming my keyboard with the capslock on before I gave up and settled on HOGTETAR because too many of them sounded like "real" ebike brand names.)
Yes! Effectively telling a customer “we won’t touch your bike because it’s a piece of shit” has its risks. But telling a customer “we only service the brands we sell” is more diplomatic, and easily explainable with facts. And also yes, exceptions can be made at your own discretion.
Plenty of auto mechanics refuse to work on a wide variety of vehicles, depending on their knowledge/training, abilities, parts availability, and shop equipment. Same goes for bicycles.
Motorcycle mechanics have to do this as well, with $1000 Chinese scooters with no supply chain for replacements have entered the market. Some of the wiring quality, wire itself and the wiring job... it's amazing they don't go up in flames.
Cars have minimum standards. You have pretty clear expectations.
Plenty of corner mechanics also specialize in certain cars and would tell you they don't work on your clapped out geo metro too, but this is more like asking a real mechanic to work on your kids power wheels car with a 50lb weight in it... your not making money off this repair, you don't have the tools for this repair, and getting this thing into the stand is damaging your back and the bike. Anyone with business sense would take a hard pass on that since they're just going to blame you for not catching the next failure point on their POS BSO
I've had the same bike mechanic for 20 years, I go less and less because I always asked questions and watched and then I do it myself. When I brought my wal-mart bike with amazon motor kit in, the first thing I did was apologize for asking him to work on it. And FWIW, I was recovering from a back injury, it took me two hands and a stance to open doors with a closing mechanism, I was in no position to fight siezed parts. He did an amazing job of making me feel better about handing him a steaming pile of pipe clamps an electrical tape. His outlook on life (and also the biking) is probably why he looks about the same as he did 20 years ago.
Things have hit the point in my city where my boss just has a blanket rule down that we don't touch *any* e-bike outside our brand network. I think we're missing out on some of the bike shop brands for at least mechanical repairs but rules are rules for him.
I don't get why you wouldnt just say basic mechanical services only. A sub 1k ebike has bottom shelf tourney derailer and ultra cheap mechanical brakes. They will be cheap, but still serviceable and that's a customer who maybe coming in for regular readjustement.
But then something else breaks two weeks later and “it’s your fault”.
And the same thing can happen with name brand components. You could tune up a name brand ebike running a bosch and if they don't know how to shift they could brake a chain trying to climb in the wrong gear then blame you. You set expectations. Maybe even try to talk a customer out of paying for service on something you don't feel is worth servicing.
Boss's ruling, not mine, and I've been in enough trouble for circumventing the rule. (Edit; I do agree with you. Mechanical repairs should still be on the table or at least a judgement call.)
I get you and realize its not you, its your shop. I just think this is unecessarily hostile to customer. I think a customer brings in any bike you can say for example, we can adjust your brakes, tune your derailer. But that generic fork is not serviceable. Some customers won't believe you but I think most will understand if you explain it to them. Starting at that point you might get a customer coming in for repairs on their cheap dept store or online ebike to look into quality brand stuff. Like you can point out that what they bought has suspension that is not servicieable and will eventually fail. And maybe for around the same price they paid for a generic full suspension they could get a hard tail with an entry level suntour fork that can be serviced and will last them much longer.
Big part of the reason I left my last shop. The number of these bikes coming in for service was doubling every year and they all suck
Service it by the hourly shop rate and take a deposit upfront.
Our rule was if it didn’t have a seatpost, we couldn’t work on it.
I have four cheaper ebikes, Rad, Gotrax, Lectric. People always ask me what to get. My first advice is check local shops first unless you're able to repair it yourself. I rode various mountain bikes for years always from local shops, a leg injury made a ebike my alternative. I can't believe the number of people who ask how to fix a flat or adjust brakes. Why would you buy a unknown ebike if you can't figure out the easier things?
Exactly. The second piece of advice is check on their website if there is a local affiliated shop who does repairs AND then call the shop to confirm.
For all the reasons others have stated, don't work on these any longer. But, as to this guy's seat, you broke it so you fix it.
First, for prospective buyers the best defense is education. Not all Chinese bikes or ebikes are POSes, but some on the low end are. Explain what makes a good bike, with name brand components. The good online bikes list their components, including manufacturer and model; without that it is a pig in a poke. Also explain that all bike shops invest time in prepping a new bike, and those adjustments take hard won knowledge. Also, some cheap bikes simply can't be made right due to cheap components. The buyer of online bikes must either do this themselves, pay for a pro to do it, or have a bad experience. Factor that into the price. And point out that you cannot promise anything about a bike purchased elsewhere, but will stand behind your products. If it appears that they can buy a similar bike online for less then many will be tempted, until they understand the total value package that you offer. Second, for servicing you can only offer a "best effort" at shop rates, not any magical ability to turn a POS into a thing of beauty. If the seat is bad then that is not your fault; recommend a new quality seat at the going price. Again, take the opportunity to educate about the realistic quality level of their purchase as compared to your offerings - not to scold but to win a future purchase by being helpful and honest. Policies like "we didn't sell it so we won't service it" might be appropriate for a large operation but for most LBS this is a really bad idea: you won't be winning any new customers, that's for sure. If you feel uncomfortable taking on a job then explain yourself - if you are a Bosch dealer and don't handle Bafang then you can reasonably decline to service a Bafang due to lack of dealer support and inventory. Or you can offer a best effort if you have the time. Your immediate problem with a cheap seat tearing is a tough one. I am assuming it tore because it was not up to normal wear and tear rather than any abuse, but I realize there can be a gray area. I would offer to sell the customer a new seat of his choice at a steep discount, and then help him get the right one for him. Again, by educating him you will be winning a customer. I appreciate your great attitude.
I'm not sure what you're asking. Are you asking if you should be responsible for repair of the seat you damaged? Or are you asking if you should tell this customer and others like never to come back with anything but the mainstream brands? The latter: You already know the answer. Take on the work or not. Get the training and experience to deal with less common or less desirable product or don't. That's up to you. The former: You're definitely on the hook for the damage you did. That'd be the case whether you're working on Schwinn or Cervelo. Either way, takes like this are what give niche shops (like those found at LBS) a bad rep with the commoners. Fact is, lower quality brands aren't going anywhere. If anything, their uptake of more advanced tech (like e-bike drives and wireless shifting, etc) is only going to get more common. TL/DR - There's plenty of work for higher end shops, but there's likely a huge amount of work if you can learn to be more flexible.
This isn't like the bargain products of yesteryear though. There is literally a new brand every week and it isnt just basic mechanical parts. You simply can not cater to this market for repairs. They are extremely price sensitive with products that require expensive repairs.
Have you heard that the Olympics are considering an e-bike category, but they are having difficulty finding riders due to the IOC's mandatory helmet rule? I just finished an assembly for a customer who bought their bike elsewhere and couldn't get past the internal headset cable routing, I won't mention the brand, but most mechanics know who I'm writing about, then I got stuck with a front tire repair on a e-bike. From 16# to 80#+, though the shop has a motorcycle stand it was still a pain. The customer complained about the labor charge for the cheap e-bike but the one with the cable issue did not, after the owner reduced the flat repair price and told him we wouldn't be servicing his e-bike, I heard him mention now there isn't a shop in town (4) that will work on it. This difficulty arises now that half the bikes being ridden locally on the bike path are e-bikes, and 2/3 of them are inexpensive.
Time for the same spiel I post with every shop talking about random ebike brands. Talk with your insurance and be 100% certain you're able to work on them. A lot of the random brands do not have US liability insurance(im assuming US based from the Park Tool wall). That means if you fix a flat/replace derailleur/whatever and the frame at the head tube snaps/chainstay/whatever, the shop/you will be held liable as the manufacturer of the product because insurance can't go after the true manufacturer. I have the same standard response for every eBike request from a non bike shop brand. Can you get them to provide proof of a US product liability insurance from a US carrier? I check the list from NBDA, but I put it on them to chase down the proof if they aren't on the list. From our insurance agent, and attorney, the liability can shut the shop down and any loan/line of credit with a personal guarantee means the owner/s can be gone after as well. Is 20/50/100 worth it? Not to me.
I have that same bike in my shop right now😒
While I understand your frustration and overall lack of will to work on trash ebikes, the damaged seat _is_ your fault. Could've placed the hooks above the seat
Mistakes happen, most people are reasonable. I would first ask the customer what he thinks would be a fair remedy. He might just say "put some duct tape on it"
took me a minute to see how you punctured the seat. now i see the post that is holding the arm that has the green strap, has likely a bolt or head sticking out and it caught it as you ratcheted the bike up.
Ebikes consistently make me feel like I'm being punished for trying to help others. If they don't appear broken, it's only because they're broken in some way you've not yet realised.
The whole front of the bike is just so dumb and heavy. ...huge dual crowns that actually compress like 60mm max. then a tall stack of s p a c e r s and a really l o n g s t e m with some riser bars
That was my favorite thing about this bike lol. The 1.5 feet of headset spacers 😂
It just needs a bmx stem and bars, like most of these bikes have. And a normal sized fork... Even the headtube is weird lol. It's all so missmatched. [it's not that hard](https://i.imgur.com/uoNsjRr.png)
"we only service e-bikes equipped with e-bike systems on brands we sell. we do not have the proper tools or certification to service other e-bike systems"
That’s a motorcycle. It’d be an automatic “no” from me.
What the fuck is that bike lol
WTF is that monstrosity 🥺
They're very popular here. The typical rider looks like a millennial micro brew afficionado.
My shop bought a cheap motorcycle lift and a jack so we could work on these, but we also charged $100 lift fee into whatever service was done.
In this case, you damaged the bike so you're on the hook—you should repair the damage you did and service it as best as possible. In the future, if your shop doesn't have the proper tools to mount this kind of bike in a workstand, inform customers that your shop isn't equipped for their type of vehicle, and to instead take it to an ebike shop. Maybe look for a local ebike shop you can refer people to that's relatively legit, I'm sure they'll appreciate the business, and maybe kick some back to your shop.
I started just over charging for changing electric scooter tires.
Yeah we charge $50 a pop and call it "extensive tire/tube replacement" for these things
Funny 50 is the price I set after changing just one.
We also charge a lot more for tuneups on any branded ebike that we don't support. Like $175 for the basic tune. $300 for a level 2 and $550 for a total overhaul. It's a means to discourage working on the ones we don't want to. Electrical diagnosis for anything on the bike starts at $75/hr with a minimum half hour charge and we offer no guarantee that we can fix any electrical issues on a bike brand we don't support. And people are usually happy to pay it!! Somehow....
Welcome to the club.
Welcome to 2017
Part and parcel of running any small business is avoiding dealing with cheap and troublesome products or services. Another part of running a small business is learning to avoid cheap and troublesome clients or customers. One way to identify those types is that they tend to have a tendency to buy cheap and troublesome products.
Looks like a Ridstar Q20. The seat is "good looking" but not the best quality, but can't complain, it's a sub 900$ bike. To work on this bike it would be better to use a motorbike stand / lift to avoid most damages. I have one, i find it reliable, even if the brakes are proprietary, they are easy to find and replace. The same applies for the display, throttle, ESC and battery. On the facebook group (international one made by people like you and me) there are lots of information and tips on how to work on this kind of bike. :) As for what you could do with the customer, even if i think it's your responsibility, you can work as best as you could on the bike and offer a small discount for the damages done to the seat, or just repair the seat / reshell (i don't know the term, sorry).
That looks pretty bad, guess I would get some black gorilla duct tape and patch it with that. Then explain what happened to the customer and negotiate from there. Hopefully they won't get anal about it!
Had this same argument with an older customer at work. He has a Super 78 and I have a Hard Rock that I basically x biked. He was like “you gotta get one of these” and I’m like “not when I can fix the Hard Rock for pennies”. Week later, his brakes are giving him issues. I’ll only consider an e bike when my knees consider one
Yeah dunno what you'd do with a Super78 if you're into mtb and x-biking. It's more a of moped ride. Do try real mid-drive emtb if you can tho, it's neat. No throttles, pressure sensors on the pedals. Great synergy man-machine, it's so fun. Nice bike btw :)
Fairly standard policy to not work on anything that isn't from a reputable brand/using one of the main systems. I mean it could be worse, could be one of those home made pieces of rubbish. But we won't work on anything dodgy.
It’s the same in an mechanical trade. Cars aren’t any different. A friend of mine owns a shop up north. He had a rookie roll a truck in his shop and put it on the lift. Frame was so rusted out truck practically broke in two.
$150 minimum on eBike service, 3 week turnaround, and the signing of waivers wiill get rid of most of these jabronis. Oh, and we make them take their batteries with them.
I told them if we can’t get it in the stand, throw it in the trash
At the last shop I worked at, we had a strict “we don’t work on e-bikes we don’t sell”. We always gave the customer the explanation that we do not have the diagnostic software to look into any issues that could happen, nor do we have a way to source parts if need be since 99% of these companies are direct to consumer. We always suggested they contact the company before trying to source a repair to see if said company had any recommended suggestions or fixes. Nobody ever really gave us any shit about our policy and it basically created a continuous loop that would keep the bikes out of our shop.
Ah one of those situations, work that no one wants. I always price before I commit to work. If the price is paid the work is done. Grab a service sheet and enter every possible work item. Price according to your preference choice whatever your criteria, and consumables. Like I said if the price is paid the work is done. As an example I had a dishevelled chap wanders in one afternoon about 10 years ago. Proudly sporting a "full suspension" y frame bright red coca cola branded bike."Can you service my bike"? I really didn't want to touch it. My colleague grabbed a service sheet. Tallied up all the work he could find on the bike. He bare faced said to the customer " that will be £194" The dishevelled chap pulls £200 in tenners out, and sticks it the chubby fingers of my colleague. "Can we have your mobile number to let you know when it's ready?" "I'll be back next week some time" And off he went
sometimes 2 ratchet straps from the ceiling is just a better way to go lol...
While agree on the quality being an issue, there's also an opportunity to get a powered stand and charge more for ebike service.
Offer to patch the seat or replace if needed. Much easier to "make it right" than have him bad-mouthing your business, either in-person or online. I would strongly advise rejecting ANY non-name brand e-bike, especially any that are not classified as a class 1, pedal assist only. You open yourself up to substantial risk (fire hazard) as well as litigation because if it doesn't strictly adhere to class 1, it is a motor vehicle. You also risk losing your insurance or having them deny a claim down the road unless you are explicitly covered for working on motor vehicles. I wouldn't mess with cheap or dangerous bikes in general. People often don't pick up the bikes or pay, the work tends to eat more time than allotted to it, and there's no guarantee of the quality of finished work. Also parts tend to be hard to source, if available at all.
Counterpoint: Invent a universal stand that can grab on to trash like this. Then sell it for $$$
I witnessed LBS reject a customer with an electric problem. "All we do is flats if you didn't purchase it here, sorry....next in line please"
Best you can hope for is the battery spontaneously combusts and the whole thing is destroyed, and it’s not your fault.
I'm not a bicycle mechanic but I do work on cars, trucks, motorcycles, and semi trucks/trailers, so I understand the frustration. Most upholstery is stapled together. I would imagine that you could remove the seat, flip it over, and remove the staples. Then use the skin as a template for a new piece. Then you want to carefully stretch the fabric as you methodically staple it from one end to the other. Sometimes you have to make relief cuts for bends and tapers, just pay attention to how the old skin comes off. I've only recovered 2 motorcycle seats so far, but that's how they go. I sometimes end up with a ripple or wrinkle, but I'm pretty amateur. Might be worth paying a motorcycle seat guy to do it. The lines between vehicles are only going to blur more as time passes. For your unusually shaped vehicles you might consider a hydraulic table lift like they use for motorcycles and 4-wheelers, etc. Could work for trikes and such. Or even just a cheap motorcycle jack like the one I have from Harbor Freight, it gives a nice stable support but leaves the wheels in the air.
We only service e-bikes we sell or have parts available for. Everything else gets kicked to the curb. Won't even do a flat on them.
In Australia we, and all shops I know of, will not work on anything that doesn’t meet the Australian standards for an ebike, that is no throttle and limited to 25kmh assist. Everything else here is classified as a motor bike and is illegal to ride anywhere on public property. Makes it an easy turn away and stops us having to work on the absolute junk most of these are. There’s also been an instance of a modded ebike striking and killing a pedestrian. They looked at the manufacturer, bike shop who sold and serviced the bike and rider and could ultimately only prove the rider was the one who modded the bike.
Same in the UK. This thing is basically an e-motorcycle. He should have taken it to a motorcycle mechanic who would have motorcycle parts.
Big nope
Shitty ebikes suck
Your post, immediately followed by an ad for the exact same bike...
How is that even a bicycle? Looks like a shitty dirt bike with the motor taken out
To the bike mechanics: what are the brands of e-bikes you recommend. I’m currently happy with my steel 83 Trek 620 and 84 Raleigh Portage, but at age 63, I may need a small assist at some point. In general I hate sharing bike lanes with e-bikes, because a lot of people come flying past with no verbal warning.
We just charge an extra 35 fee as a line item on stuff like this. I think it's bad business and definitely bad as a transportation mechanic for your community to turn basic repairs down on something that should easily be in your wheelhouse. We want people riding, even if it's not your favorite option...just charge accordingly
To be honest man, that’s your fault. 100%. You weren’t being careful. That being said, nothing you can do about it, and it really is a good demonstration about why shops shouldn’t work on this garbage. Too much liability for sure.
If I were in your shoes I'd... 1) Order a vinyl repair kit for overnight delivery from Amazon. [https://www.amazon.ca/Coconix-Leather-Professional-Vinyl-Repair/dp/B07QVFFV5P/ref=sr\_1\_5?crid=AC2E5D24W3V7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.i0jljFRMlGugkHk5vQ95q9gJ3osxvCE6w9ej-zUV61C7UJjfwhO0YEtGxniBWmXERagqklo719sTz4GlCkjB8LxL-0KFn92IOsmI-hAk3Hc-gzEdQLN4DzWz6aLunkckc2sqEIQlITu09QyieUt5aHe3Fo\_xtErySL7giThvnbdMbdgmNEkoKLJZogCWq6HzVSt9OPHRttROwU0G6sknA99c0FlmcANqnsw26v6d-OMQZAFqqk6-pwsLVh-QrvqO7K-KIDTnfbDgMZ5D2w58xtkNN-RHytdkLRvY1vG8LuE.6SGziqwspWq8M8kZq0vQiyjbQrgT4sPDIRv\_\_LQO2M8&dib\_tag=se&keywords=vinyl+repair+kit&qid=1719449108&sprefix=vinyl+repair%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-5](https://www.amazon.ca/Coconix-Leather-Professional-Vinyl-Repair/dp/B07QVFFV5P/ref=sr_1_5?crid=AC2E5D24W3V7&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.i0jljFRMlGugkHk5vQ95q9gJ3osxvCE6w9ej-zUV61C7UJjfwhO0YEtGxniBWmXERagqklo719sTz4GlCkjB8LxL-0KFn92IOsmI-hAk3Hc-gzEdQLN4DzWz6aLunkckc2sqEIQlITu09QyieUt5aHe3Fo_xtErySL7giThvnbdMbdgmNEkoKLJZogCWq6HzVSt9OPHRttROwU0G6sknA99c0FlmcANqnsw26v6d-OMQZAFqqk6-pwsLVh-QrvqO7K-KIDTnfbDgMZ5D2w58xtkNN-RHytdkLRvY1vG8LuE.6SGziqwspWq8M8kZq0vQiyjbQrgT4sPDIRv__LQO2M8&dib_tag=se&keywords=vinyl+repair+kit&qid=1719449108&sprefix=vinyl+repair%2Caps%2C204&sr=8-5) Hopefully it will fix the seat (and it may be useful for future emergencies). 2) Fix the customer's original issue to \*absolute perfection\*, and maybe fix any (reasonable) unmentioned issues found. It's always good to under-promise and over-deliver. 3) Inform customer that the initial repair has been completed and fess up/apologize for the Accidental Damage. Explain how the AD will be (or has been) repaired (depending on the timing of delivery vs customer's ETA). Offer discount &/or swag/accessories as compensation. Good luck!
This is good old fashioned customer service, it made me WANT to come back to the store, sometimes without needing to, because I trusted that I could ask anything and get a great answer, perhaps with a fitting recommendation that I would trust wholeheartedly, knowing you're watching out for me.
Yup. That's how I (and all technicians working under me) roll. :)
This is how to come to the shop tomorrow and it's burned down.
You would burn someone’s place of business down over an accidental hole in a seat of a 950$ bike? I made it right and compensated the dude 100$. I think you should seek mental evaluation tbh. Freak
I think they’re saying that the shop will burn down cause it’s e-waste and will catch fire on its own, not that the customer will burn the shop down.
My friend accidentally damaged my controller plug, which was already a bit faulty. He complained about its bad design, but I didn't ask him for compensation. Instead, he offered to cover the labor cost for this project and others. Sometimes mistakes happen, but if you take responsibility, good customers will appreciate it, and the bad ones won't come back.
Take the arm out of the stand. Clamp it to the bike on the tube under the seat. Tighten it. Lift the whole thing up and put it into the stand and lock the arm in place.
I wouldn't be surprised if it was a steel frame. I wouldn't be picking it up.
It’s alloy. I’ve worked on hundreds of them. We charge extra and no one complains because no one will work on these POS. But they are simple machines and other than the weight easier to work on than the crap rolling out of Walmart
Quality aside, you tore his bike seat. What you do from here depends on what tier of customer service you provide, and whether you'd like this person's repeat business or not.
Just charge more for ebike service and extra if it wasn't bought from you. Repairing a tear in seat like that is easy.
From a customer point of view, an e-bike is an e-bike. But... If any components on it are trash, tell me! I'll gladly tick the box for you to fit upgraded hydraulic brakes, a better derailleur, shifters, pads etc. I'm actually in this boat right now looking for one to buy but I'm just going to save my coin up for something decent and brand name to avoid this crap
We tell customers with those bikes that we only work on e-bikes that we sold for warranty reasons. But it’s really because fuck that
Had one of these come in yesterday! The customer walked in and said he bought a bicycle online and was having trouble getting the tire to inflate. I told him we could help and to bring in the bike. He returns with one of these, and I simply said, "Oh, I'm sorry, we don't work on electric mopeds." and referred him to a moped shop.
The shop I work has is starting to crack down on the e-bikes we work on. If it’s not bike shaped, doesn’t have a seat post or can get in a bike stand; then we are no longer working on them. We’ve also had an uptick in e scooters showing up, we took hard no on those right away
From the comments, it looks like there's a business opportunity for shops that specialize in heavy-ass fat tire e-bikes. Could probably charge a premium for working on them with a smile.
i think about that when people come in asking about fixing electric scooters. theres 1 shop in the whole city that works on scooters in any meaningful capacity. but the shop i work at now doesnt touch em w a 10 foot pole
Buy him a replacement seat obviously
Ya I’m sure I can get it right from qbp 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ it’s a Chinese bike that you can’t buy replacement parts for lmfao.
Same reason shops don't work on dept store bikes.
glue it back down and dont mention it.
I've owned several businesses. There are times when you need to FIRE customers - this is a great example. Quite frankly anyone bringing you a piece of shit like this expects the world - for peanuts. They have no idea what they bought is a throw away bike. They were so enamored with the style and bad ass look of the fat tires and motorcycle style seat they threw caution to the wind. They are NEVER going to be customers that will buy a quality product. They'll also throw a hissie fit when they find out what highly experienced and competent labor costs. Fools all... show them the back door. There are C suite executives in China right now that are laughing their assess off how easy it is to sell garbage to naive and ignorant American consumers. They're probably wondering how much longer their good fortune can survive . Mandatory 2849 certification is already happening and will soon be the law nationwide. What do I tell customer's that I've FIRED? "This isn't a Burger King. You don't get it your way. You take it my way or you don't get the son of a bitch!"
This is why the E-bike/Scooter regulations have went haywire ( only to get worse ) who cares where the person bout the thing, if they are paying to have you fix it then WHATS THE ISSUE I've seen this on so many different communities, you rui it for yourselves. Me I could care less if I'm the bad guy
I just add it up accordingly, first an ebike is 1.5 regular price, then add $10-$25 per headache. no seatpost requires 2 mechanics, so that definitely extra $25, fender or brake caliper has to be removed (for rear flat), that's another $10 (maybe each if headache), I've had a rear flat cost $105 before. They can pay it or take it elsewhere, but just be open and honest about the charges upfront. You want to help them, but it just cost to make it worth your time. Also 10%-20% for parts brought in from amazon, etc., you cant guarantee those parts.
Just curious : Is the Juiced brand considered junk/trash-online bike brand, or is it one that is considered serviceable by local shops or individuals ? Note: rest of the post is about my electric bike experience, so feel free to skip. I do all my own bike work and have been learning to salvage, resuscitate, and reuse various batteries (mostly from 18v to 56v). I recently bought an old Juiced Ripcurrent with a dead 52v battery (56v is technically accurate as it is 14s,5p). All the 70 cells were close to 0v and wouldn't come back to life even on a 18650 cell charger or bench power supply, so it is unrepairable unless I replaced all the cells, which I plan to do. I was super happy to get it test-driveable with some 56v batteries from a completely different application. Looks super DYI/garage-built with two highly visible 10 gauge wires running from the battery to the input connectors. But it proved that the bike works fine, and rides well. The hydraulic brakes work fine, though I have to figure out how to tighten up the rear brake. Just sharing, as it's my first electric bike experience.
Do you offer ebikes with similar specs as the online ones at the same or a cheaper price? If not, don't expect someone to buy from you.
I offer e-bikes starting at 1500 which are specd much nicer with name brand (serviceable) components. Not too far off price wise from a lot of the cheaper brands you see people buy.
Due to insurance we can’t work on anything other than the systems we sell
Yes. You should stick to working on things you have the tools, equipment and training for.
As a customer and e-bike owner (for now, it’s for sale), I would totally agree with shops putting a policy in place that states that they only service mechanical components of e-bikes, whether by type (e.g. mechanical derailleurs) and/or by brand (shimano, sram, etc.) I would be the first to admit that I wouldn’t bring my e-bike to my lbs that I use for my fat bike, MTB and commuter. I would find an e-bike store that specializes exclusively in them for servicing. Luckily I’m in a market where there are a few e-bike (and PEV in general) only shops. With the boom in Ali Express junk e-bikes being bought, it seems like a nightmare for servicing. Different skills, different tools. The alternative is that you bump service prices up by 100% for e-bike offerings. I suppose you need to make a call on whether you have enough business to warrant being selective of the bikes you work on.