Whether you’re considering your first eBike or planning an upgrade, getting the right bike for you requires looking beyond just looks and price.

As a climate anxious 21-year-old who felt guilty driving half a kilometre to the supermarket, I used all my life savings, then a measly $1,500, on an eBike plus a multiyear servicing plan. I chose the $1,250 model not only to alleviate my climate anxiety – it was quite simply the only brand new electricity-assisted bicycle I could afford to buy outright on my student budget. Compared to my mates who bought cars at the same time, though, my choice of transport was a very smart idea. Buying an eBike didn’t suck me into a financial black hole – in fact, compared to driving or using public transport, it’s saved me thousands of dollars. Since I bought it, my bike has set me back less than a couple of months’ worth of gas in charging, parts and servicing costs.

Although going cheap worked for me, when choosing the model of eBike that suits you best, there are more factors to consider than just price. If you want a bike that will provide you with years of worry-free riding, things like reliability and build quality should be your primary concern, alongside the range of its electric battery. To find out more I spoke to Maurice Wells, who runs Auckland’s specialist eBike store Electric Bike Team. This is what I learned.

Quality is everything

“The kind of thing I’d tell a friend,” says Wells, “is that not all eBikes are equal by a long shot. And I’d say that’s now the case for eBikes more than almost any other technological product.” It’s a big call, but Wells has a compelling argument to back up his claim. “You could buy the cheapest toaster on the market and it’ll still toast your bread [for years],” he says. A cheap eBike, on the other hand, will get you from A to B, but you’ll likely start noticing the quality issues from the get-go. This rings true for me: I’ve already run my cheap eBike into the ground and will need to replace it soon. Invest in a high quality bike, though, and you can look forward to many years of worry-free riding, as long as you keep up with maintenance.

Go for trusted eBike brands

While Wells admits recommending higher quality bikes is “an easy way for me to say expand your budget”, he points out that they’re also a better store of value, fetching much higher prices on the resell market. Another major reason to consider buying a better bike is that they include reliable parts from trusted brands like Bosch. Compared to their cheaper counterparts, high-quality parts last longer – but their benefits go far beyond that. High quality batteries provide better efficiency and power; top-of-the-range displays give more accurate battery level, range and speed readings. Trusted brands are also reliably stocked at reputable bike mechanics nationwide, so parts are never in short supply. The same cannot be said for cheap or off-brand products.

I’ve seen this first hand when comparing my cheap bike to the one my partner rides. Pretty much the only place that can service my bike’s niche parts is the store where I bought it, but even then they have to order the parts from overseas. Conversely, my partner’s bike can be serviced nearly anywhere. Another thing: despite having essentially the same 20km daily commute, my cheaper parts wear faster and require replacing sooner than hers.

Think about connectivity

Ebike manufacturers are increasingly integrating sensors and apps to enhance the riding experience through features like real-time performance monitoring, navigation and battery management. Once you start to explore everything a fully connected eBike offers, you’ll find it hard to look at cheaper eBikes in the same way again. Bosch, a manufacturer of premium quality eBike systems, has gone all-in on making eBikes smarter with its advanced connectivity features, including its proprietary smart system and Flow app.

With the eBike Flow app, you can customise settings, track your ride stats (and connect to exercise trackers like Apple Health and Strava), get real-time performance updates, and even update your eBike’s software remotely, all from your phone. The smart system links everything – from the drive unit to the battery to the control unit – so your bike is always in sync. The cherry on top? Bosch keeps rolling out software updates, so your eBike only gets smarter with time.

Remember to consider battery range

What sort of range should you expect from your eBike? Wells says giving a definitive answer is difficult, especially given that riders often lack hard evidence about what their bikes can do. “What I find is that people don’t know how far their range is because they haven’t tested it to its limit.” Realistically, determining range is best done through trial and error since it’s affected by so many outside factors. Essentially, how and where you ride your bike causes different outcomes. Slow recreational riders who stop to smell the roses will maximise their range, Wells says, while people hooning around at top speed tend to deplete their battery faster.

Other factors like how many hills you are conquering and the combined weight of you and your cargo impacts range too. Wells adds that battery behaviour changes over time and that some bikes display range more accurately than others – again, it comes down to quality components. At the end of the day, “how far you can go is under your control, as long as you choose an eBike which fundamentally suits your needs,” says Wells. Translation: it’s crucial to choose a bike with an appropriate battery for the length of your daily ride.

Prioritise security

It’s an unfortunate truth that bikes are some of New Zealand’s most stolen items – and eBikes are particularly high-value targets for thieves. Wells says that makes security considerations paramount when selecting a new eBike. Traditionally, “bikes have had very little self defence, with most security features being add-ons sold separately,” he says. But for eBikes in particular, that’s changing fast as in-built security becomes the norm.

The intuitiveness and ease of use with these features makes all the difference, says Wells. For example, all bikes with Bosch smart system come with the mobile app-enabled eBike Lock, which automatically checks that your phone is nearby. Only then will your bike be unlocked. With eBike Alarm, another Bosch service, a local alarm is triggered when your locked eBike is moved. With the Bosch ConnectModule (sold separately), the eBike’s position can be tracked on your phone while a theft report is automatically created with all relevant information about the incident.

Think hard about what kind of eBike you need

These days, all types of traditional bikes are available in electric variants, from cargo, commuter and cruiser/Dutch styles, to mountain, road and trail bicycles. If you’re struggling to filter through the many models out there, one way to narrow your search is to only consider trusted brands like Bosch, best known for their reliable whiteware. While Bosch don’t make eBike frames, their eBike system – including drive units, batteries, displays, security features and sensors – are part of many quality models.

Among experts, Bosch is considered the go-to brand for high-performing systems. Beyond the quality of the parts themselves, Bosch’s local servicing centres, including in New Zealand, mean parts are never in short supply (and nor is the expertise to fit them). With a Bosch-supported eBike, all the key electrical components work seamlessly together. Having an integrated system can be particularly important for security, Wells says. If a remote-locking feature is off-brand, it may not properly link up to the rest of the components, leaving your bike vulnerable to thieves. He adds that many eBike mechanics “find comfort from the more organised closed systems, like Bosch’s”.

Don’t forget to test ride!

Being a smart eBike buyer isn’t as simple as ordering a model online just because it has a Bosch system. Thoroughly testing out an eBike in person is crucial to identify which one truly suits your needs. If you’re an Aucklander, there’s no better option than the specialist expertise available at Wells’ Electric Bike Team, located centrally on East Street off Karangahape Road. As part of my research for this story, I test rode some top end models featuring Bosch components. They genuinely wowed me – but after experiencing what a really great eBike feels like, it was harder than ever to get back on my cheap beater bike. On the plus side, when I do finally have the means to upgrade, I’ll know exactly what I want.