Originally Posted by
TiHabanero
Bonzo Banana you make a solid point with e-bike purchases. Aside from the typical bicycle parts, the drive train and controllers are not as simple and easy to dig into and service. Bike shops are welcoming e-bikes just like they did with mountain bikes, albeit, not at such a large volume. The mechanics I know are excited to service them as well as servicing the electronic shifting systems. It is a new skill they can develop and charge higher labor rates for that skill.
E-bikes are also benefiting from the George Foreman grill factor--a new thing that looks useful enough that people want them. The stores may taper off on the amount of floor space for them if the market gets saturated, like happened with Foreman grills and Keurig coffee machines. Jury is still out on whether a lot of these are going to end up barely used in the garage.