Pop N Wood

Would any of you hesitate to buy an expensive ebike on close out?

A year or two back Jenson was selling these Breezer city bikes at less than half price. Hydro brakes, internal gears, front dyno with integrated lights, fenders, racks, super nice bike at a price so low it was practically theft. Tried to talk a buddy into buying it, but he uncovered threads saying many of them needed the hydraulics refurbished that leaked dry in the 2-3 years between the bikes being made and finally sold.

Right now REI is selling a Cannondale ebike closeout at 25% off. Got me thinking I wonder how long the batteries have been sitting and if that affects the ultimate lifespan?

linberl

I think you have to try to figure out why they are closing it out. Is REI going to start selling their own branded e-bikes? Then closing out a competition makes sense and doesn't reflect on the condition. Are they getting a newer model? Or is it stock that just didn't sell and has been sitting on the warehouse floor since manufacture? How much does a battery degrade if stored for a year under proper (limited charge) conditions? And what's the cost of early replacement compared to the cost of the discounted bike? What's the warranty on the battery - how many years and at what %? Gotta do the math...

cat0020

Shouldn't be difficult to find replacement batteries for name brand e-bikes if you get a doozy.
Just factor the cost for a replacement battery to begin with. If there is room to negotiate, even better.

late

I bought a leftover ebike, saved over a grand doing it. The company has since stopped making ebikes, although they were still making them when I bought it.

They got a lot of things right, but the handling is not great. Do I regret it? Not at all. It got me outside and riding, I did about 900 miles last year, and that was fantastic.

Is the bike something you actually want? Will Cannondale still offer replacement parts in a few years. It's a legit question, ask around. Specialized doesn't always support their ebikes after they stop producing them.

Is the battery proprietary? That makes a replacement more expensive. Who made the motor, and what's their rep for reliability?

I did that, and it worked out. But there are potential pitfalls.

Rixtory

I am almost positive that the NEO 1 is a Class 1 ebike - Max out at 20MPH. You might also check that these are brand new and not demos or rentals that might usually end up in their attic sale - yes, I am dating myself.... (Though the REI near me doesn't rent E-bikes that I am aware of)

Edit -Just found this in another forum - Hope it helps:
"It looks like Cannondale has discontinued the expensive 2019 Neo 1 and has renamed the (much) cheaper 2019 Neo 2 as the 2020 Neo 1. It's really too bad that Cannondale didn't include the new 4th generation Bosch motor for 2020. Maybe the new motor will show up in 2021.
Thanks for the reply. I did contact Cannondale and they did the mumble part of what was different. Did not realize it is the much cheaper Neo 2. However, I think thy are looking at keeping the weight of the bike down, and the price of the bike down, which is why I think they are doing this. The new Bosch motor would have been nice, as that is supposedly a lighter motor. The 600 w battery is slightly heavier than the 500 w but the reduction in the weight of the motor vs the increase weight of the battery would have cancelled each other."

unterhausen

REI has a service department at their stores. Buying a complete bike from Jenson is a definite crap shoot. A bike shop wouldn't sell a bike that had brakes that didn't work, and they would fix them if they had such a bike in stock. I don't think I would buy any ebike from a mail order source unless I was prepared to maintain it myself. This includes the normal bike maintenance stuff like hydraulic brakes. Which is one thing I can't do at home right now, so I would make sure I had access to a local bike shop that could do it for me.

These considerations have to be taken into account when deciding if a bike is worth the price. I think that parts availability is not the major problem.