No Stupid Questions

What was I trying to get across in my original comment? Like I said at the beginning: a candid, honest, respectful take on the question OP asked. I was aware my opinion was in the minority. I wasn’t confused about your comment, I am confused about e-bikes in general. I am getting less confused now though.

I’m surprised to hear your bike lasted only 10 years. I am certain that as long as it hadn’t suffered a fatal crash, if you had brought it to a community bike shop (if you live in a big city I can almost guarantee there are several to choose from) then you could have had it repaired for dirt cheap. CBSs are volunteer run and have parts donated and are a fantastic way to get educated about bicycle repair. In fact, a lot of the parts — especially frames — that CBSs get are from landfills, so it’s likely that if you threw your 10 year old bike away, it’s been either stripped for parts, or someone rebuilt it. As a volunteer myself, 10 year old bikes are a gem and are considered “new”.

Not long ago I finished rebuilding my grandfather’s bike which he bought in the 1930s. It runs like it’s brand new. I was able to take apart every single piece, clean it, and put it back together freshly lubed. I only had to replace the spokes, tubes, chain, and tires, all of which are considered disposable. Many of the bikes that I’ve ridden are older than me (I was born in the 80s) and when I pass them down to their next owner -sometimes a thief- they’re in much better shape than when I bought them originally. I just don’t see that happening with e-bikes and that makes me sad, and admittedly sometimes angry.

Having to send parts back to the manufacturer is a big red flag for me. Is the manufacturer obligated to continue to repair these parts forever? Think about how upset people get about John Deere, Tesla, or Apple, and how they make it nearly impossible to repair an object without going to them? How is this different? Centralized repair is almost always a disaster. To clarify what I am confused about: why isn’t this aspect of e-bikes talked about more? Cycling and bicycle maintenance tend to go hand in hand, but it is not something talked about in e-bike circles, as far as I am aware. Is e-bike jailbreaking a thing?

I will say, though, after reading some of the comments, including yours, I am starting to get the appeal. I know that they’re not for me, but I can understand why some people are drawn to e-bikes, and can see the vision that e-bikers might have when they get on their e-bike. But until there is a way to ensure that every e-bike can be repaired at home, I will be sad about the expensive e-waste that will inevitably be created as a result of companies obfuscating their patents with proprietary parts and software. The right to repair is something often overlooked for a shiny new toy, but when the time comes to have to throw away that toy because a company considers a part to be “antiquated” (the word Apple used to describe my at-the-time 5-year-old laptop that they refused to fix, and whose part was completely unavailable on the internet) I think people may start to feel differently about the industry.