I'm probably gonna buy an e-bike soon, mostly as a way to shield myself from fuel shortages in the near future and ensure a certain degree of mobility, probably will use it for occasional sport too. Also there's juicy subsidies right now so it's the perfect moment (for context I live in Spain).
Unfortunately, capitalism will capitalism and most e-bikes come with the integrated battery in the chasis, of which I'm 90% certain there's no standard among manufacturers, and even many of the pedal-type motors run with proprietary wiring and even protocols that only allow certain batteries to be installed.
Given this, I'd like to shield myself from this (and also increase repairability) by purchasing a bike with a normal battery outside the chassis, something like the Zazawork CF29:
These e-bikes feature the non-proprietary generic batteries and hub motors that increase repairability and don't keep you forced to an ecosystem that you're not sure will have replacements in 5 years.
However, these batteries are also much easier to steal, and they're not cheap to replace. I can mitigate this to a degree installing an alarm on the battery, but idk if that's enough. My use case isn't the bike sleeping on the street overnight, but rather being able to leave the bike worry-free for some hours during the day if I go to, say, the cinema, or something akin of duration.
What do y'all think?
0% chance I'll give even 1€ to Bosch and get into the proprietary ecosystems. The fire hazard is not there if you buy batteries from reputable brands like Hailong. I don't believe there's anything the G*rman industry can come up with that will compete with Chinese technology at similar prices.
As for no-brand bikes, I partially agree, but there's two big factors: a 400€ difference and the non-repairability of branded bikes. I would loathe having to spend 150€ on a screen replacement if mine breaks for any reason instead of having the option of buying a 40€ generic replacement on Ali. I can see the electronics of a branded bike failing earlier than the mechanics of a no name brand like Zazawork
Cargo-bikes are mostly not an option because motors above 250W require license plate over here and I'm not willing to
I'm not saying only Bosch, just a brand with the same safety standards and level of reliability. You want a properly built and certified battery which you won't find on a bike like this. When I looked up the manufacturer, I think this bike or a similar-looking one sold for around 800 euros. The battery on my Aventon costs 435 euros by itself and it isn't a particularly nice one. It's just trustworthy enough that I can confidently ride with my entire penis above the most dangerous and flammable thing I own. Somewhere in the production Zazawork is cutting corners to sell at such a low price point. If that's the electronics you risk a fire you can't easily predict or extinguish, if it's the mechanics you really need to think about this purchase from the perspective of a much heavier bike at a much higher speed than normal. The vibrational stress is much more intense and shakes everything loose, small accidents like bumping a curb or pothole experience way more force, and the brakes have to work extra hard.
Buying a used/overstock ebike from Upway.be is your best bet for saving money and getting something you won't regret. I think they're the best prepper purchase someone could make right now, but reliability and utility have to be chief concerns if that's the intention. An unreliable bike that's unpleasant to ride and not rated for the task will cause you more problems than it solves. The same economic crisis is going to make those generic replacement components more expensive and harder to ship if you're stuck repairing a bad bike more frequently, and then they'll probably feel crummy to use over their shorter lifespan.
Unfortunately I can't really buy a used bike, I believe it has to be new for the subsidy to apply.
I get what you mean, I'm just not gonna buy a bike above 1200€. Local resellers such as Decathlon offer good looking bikes for 1200€. I'm just afraid that I'll be paying the extra money not in quality but in less mass-production and more proprietary standards