kimm

I bought a barely used (85 miles) 2016 Raleigh Sprint ie from a good friend last year to commute to work. It didn't fit her well and she had a different ebike she liked better. It took me about the same amount of time to go from home to work as to drive or take the bus. I usually ride a traditional road or mountain bike, but the ebike was great for the commute. Faster and I could carry more (clothes, computer, food) to and from the office. Loved it! I put about 600 miles on it. No problems.

This summer I only rode it a couple more times (no commute due to covid), then one day in June I got an error message on the display that the display could not communicate with the motor. It could be the cable, the controller, or the motor I was told. First they replaced the cable thinking there was a crimp in it, but that didn't work. So they ordered the controller, and that fixed it. EXCEPT that in addition to the burned out controller, something physical broke inside the motor (TransX motor) that causes the chain to slip. It can't be repaired, so while the electrical part of the motor worked, I still needed to replace the whole motor to fix the flywheel problem.

So here's my dilemma. I paid $1200 for the bike (which seemed fair at the time) and it has about 700 miles on it. The diagnostic was around $110, the cable $30, the controller $260, the motor $880. Plus the labor & tax I don't even have a number for yet. It will total more than I originally paid. They have not ordered the motor yet and they said they could take the controller out and return it if I don't want to fix the bike.

I think I have 3 choices:

• Toss it (which seems a shame as it's in otherwise perfect condition and the battery still holds a full charge)
• Rebuild it, keep it, and hope for the best. I'm worried that the technology is just crappy and it will eventually break again.
• Rebuild it and try to sell it and get some of my money back. Try to buy something with newer technology later.

What would you recommend? Is it possible to sell it without fixing it and let it be someone else's project? If I can't sell it, how do I get rid of it if I don't fix and keep it?

2old

I don't think you'll get your money back if you put $260 (controller) plus $880 (motor) into the bike, and wouldn't pay that amount to repair it for personal use. You might try to sell as is. Maybe someone has a similar bike with problems but a good motor. Surprising the motor can't be repaired. You might try to contact the manufacturer and find out why.

MarcusT

Either sell it as-is for a couple hundred bucks or as separate parts, might get you a few dollars more.
Considering how prices for Ebikes have dropped , for little more than price of repair you can buy new.

alloo

Get a new ebike. Better technology, more bang for the buck, better batteries, better power, better range, better powertrain.