"Why Should I Buy Your e-Bike When I Could Go to Costco?" This is a great question. Why would someone pay $5,400 for an e-bike when there are many lower-price option out there?
Yesterday, I got a phone call from an anxious woman desperately trying to find someone who would fix her e-bike.
“What kind of bike do you have?” I ask.
“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” She blurts out in frustration. “Aren’t they all the same?”
I am her fifth call. No one has the parts for her bike. And they aren’t familiar with it so they aren’t willing spend the time to fix it.
“The price was so good at Costco but it’s become such a headache.” The woman admits.
My Grandfather was a carpenter and home-builder. He taught me a very important lesson:
“You get what you pay for. If you buy cheap products, you’ll spend more time to fix it or more money to replace it”.
He taught me the value of spending more to get something that lasts.
I want to help this woman. She deserves an e-bike she loves to ride but I can’t get access to the parts she needs to fix her bike.
I give her the name of an enthusiast who may be able to help her, but I’m not hopeful. Unfortunately, after 2 years, the bike’s useful lifespan is probably over. The sad reality is that lower-end e-bikes are contributing to our generations’ growing glut of e-waste.
We know that everyone has a different budget and that's OK. But I wish I could go back in time before this woman bought her e-bike to tell her these 7 reasons to save up for a higher-quality bike.
It would have saved her time, money, and huge amounts of frustration.
7 Reasons to Spend More on A Higher-Quality e-Bike
1. Service If something is off with your bike, knowing a mechanic will work on it is invaluable. Whether the issue is a slight adjustment or you require a replacement part, having a qualified person who is willing to clearly identify what’s going on will save you time, money and stress. 2. Maintenance The quality of the parts on the bike determines how often your bike will require maintenance and the kind of maintenance it needs. Higher quality parts last longer and are easier to maintain or replace. Bike mechanics prefer working on e-bikes that have components from reputable manufacturers. Many lower-end e-bikes use no-name brand parts that make maintaining your bike more of a headache than it’s worth. 3. Performance The best way to understand quality is to experience it. A good friend of mine and I are on a ride. He’s riding his fat-tire Costco bike, I’m pedaling my TuffHill ebike. He’s surprised that I’m hardly using any assist compared to him. We switch bikes half way through the ride. “Oh! This is way different. What the heck!” From battery capacity to motor power to overall comfort of riding it, the components on your bike affect your riding experience. 4. Longevity Better quality parts last longer. Your bike will last as long as its weakest link. We’ve heard too many horror stories of a lower-quality e-bike becoming unrideable due to one part that is difficult to replace. 5. Resale Value Premium bikes hold their value for a long-time. If you ever plan to upgrade or know you’ll age out of riding within 5-10 years, a lower quality e-bike won’t be worth much. But an e-bike with better components will have plenty of life left to pass on to another rider. 6. Long-Term Savings Higher quality parts last longer and breakdown less. Spending more upfront will save you from constantly replacing cheap parts as they wear out and paying the labor to do it. 7. Time A new neighbor moves in next to us. Our first conversation was about e-bikes. “I spent 8 months waiting on a replacement part for my e-bike.” He admitted to me. “My wife has been riding, but I haven’t.” He missed 8 months of making memories riding with his wife. He also spent hours on the phone trying to get help from a company whose reputation is to sell e-bikes but not service them well. You're buying an e-bike to enjoy it, not to spend hours or, in some cases, months, troubleshooting to be able to ride it. How precious is your time?
We wish we could sell our bikes at the same approachable price as a Costco e-bike, but we couldn’t survive selling our bikes for less than the price of the components themselves.
During the design phase of our bikes, as we learned about landfill waste of lower-end e-bikes, we knew that the world doesn't need another lower-end electric bike on the market.
That's why we are proud to offer Canadians a premium, long-lasting e-bike built with world-class components at a competitive price.
Are you unsure if spending the extra money is really worth it?
The only way to know what's best for you is to experience it. Book a free, no pressure test-ride with us today to experience the TuffHill difference.
Yours in biking,
Sean
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