Note that when they first came out, they were actually pretty affordable; since then, competition and mass production spun up and you can get an e-bike for <€1K now, and they'll be less custom made, more generally available parts too. The brand's USP then became that they look and are pretty unique, which is cool on one hand, but they weren't able to make it financially viable. Probably because they relied on VC money, and spent it on people who knew they had VC money to burn.
I'm in Europe, I don't want to buy a Mercedes S Class. Who sells the Volkswagen Golf of electric bikes? I just want decent build quality, decent comfort, decent features, good repairability and easy maintenance.
The electric bike market seems immature to me. I want 20-30 big bike brands that I can compare, just like the car brands here, for example:
In the Netherlands at least most of the established brands (Gazelle, Sparta, Batavus) have been selling e-bikes for 15-20 years now with sales really taking off in the last 5-10. Most are comfortable city bikes that use standard bike parts. Battery performance has improved a lot over the years and most models allow you to remove (and replace) the battery.
Depending on where you live they may be sold under different brand names. I saw that Sparta is for instance sold as Hercules in Germany.
€2+k would be a Golf-class e-bike. A decent non-electric bike is around €1k, add to that the battery, motor, display, charger, etc. and you get to €2k quickly. High-end e-bikes easily go for €4-6k.
Well, I guess I want a robust EV, from what I see with a Bosch electric motor, probably a belt drive. Commuter bike, low frame, disk brakes. Transmission, dunno, Bosch or from what I see, maybe Pinion? I think Shimano doesn't make belt drives.
I have an e-bike like that, belt driven commuter bike, removable battery in the frame (you want this, as it lowers the center of gravity compared to a battery under the cargo rack), disc brakes, 7 speed transmission, from a A-brand, etc. Basically this bike: https://www.batavus.nl/elektrische-fietsen/finez-e-go-power-... (although this is the 2023 model and mine is a few years old now)
The listed price (€3699) is about the same as what I paid for it back then. I made one upgrade to it, by replacing the standard display with a Nyon (which includes satnav among other things) which added €400 to the price.
Awesome bike, absolutely the best bike I’ve ever owned. Rock solid, nothing rattles even on rough terrain or going over speed bumps. I highly recommend the satnav if you plan on touring around. You can pre-plan routes on your PC and upload them to the display (it has wifi). And with the belt drive it’s completely silent, which is nice if you like to tour through nature like me.
Those requirements will make the bike expensive. Belt drive you don't really see on bikes below €1000. A pinion gearbox is €1000 by itself.
So what you're saying is you want a S class for the price of a VW golf.
In the Netherlands all the big bike brands are doing a lot of E-bikes, and there's a gazillion small competitors who do cheap bikes with mostly off-the-shelf components. The bigger brands include Gazelle, Giant, Batavus and Sparta.
I have this - Tenways C600 for EUR 1400. My work subsidised it by EUR 500, so it was a EUR 900 e-bike for me. It is almost perfect for my commuting needs.
https://www.tenways.com/products/cgo600
