Ebikes are a safe, environmentally friendly and economical mode of transportation, but are they easy to maintain? Absolutely. With proper maintenance tips for your E-bike, your electric bike in Vancouver will take you anywhere you need to go for years to come.
Ebike maintenance can sometimes seem daunting for new riders. However, maintenance is often similar to a traditional bike but with a better return on your investment since ebikes are more versatile. It is also far easier and more affordable than car maintenance. Here we will look at how to care for your ebike including cleaning and storage best practices.
Cleaning and Maintenance Tips for Your E-bike’s Most Important Parts
There are 6 primary components of your ebike that require maintenance and/or cleaning. These include: brakes, tires, battery, drivetrain and frame. Let’s look at what it takes to best care for your ebike parts:
Brakes
If you only maintain one part of your bike, it should be your brakes. Remember, your ebike can travel at similar speeds to a car which makes your brakes critically important. To make sure your brakes can do their job, follow these maintenance tips:
- Check your Brakes Before Every Ride: Wear and tear can appear suddenly. Visually inspect your brakes before every ride to avoid accidents and inconveniences. Look for a brake pad thickness of around 1.5 to 2mm. This is about the thickness of most coins.
- Clean Your Brake Pads: Sometimes noisy brakes are due to a build up of dirt, oil or other debris. If your brake pads are still new and have enough thickness to them, try cleaning them to address noises. Take these steps to clean your pads:
- Clean your hands or, ideally, use gloves to handle pads.
- Use a small cloth dampened with alcohol.
- Gently scrape away the top layer of the pad with a fine grit sandpaper.
- Give the pads a final wipe with alcohol.
- Listen for Changes in Noise: Even with proper maintenance, wear can be uneven or a brake pad can be faulty. Along with a visual inspection before each ride, listen for changes. A squeaking, screeching or any other new sound can mean you need your brakes looked at. Finding a brake problem early can help you avoid more expensive repairs.
Tires
Inspect your tires for wear regularly and inflate them to their recommended fullness. Each tire will vary slightly and it is important you are as precise as possible.
Both over and under inflated tires can prove hazardous and affect performance. You will find the proper inflation in your user manual.
Battery
Maintenance tips for your e-bike battery are largely about how and when to charge your battery. As a general rule, you should never leave your battery on the charger nor should you let the battery run down to 0%.
Even when you are not using your ebike, your battery should still stay partially charged. We will cover this more in the next section about maintenance during storage.
Drivetrain
Caring for your ebike drivetrain is all about cleaning and lubricating the chain regularly. Start by inspecting the chain for any buildup of dirt, rust or abnormalities in the chain links. Most of the time you will be able to spot clean your drive train with a small brush – a toothbrush will do the trick.
For this, simply brush over any trouble areas and then apply a small amount of lube before wiping the area down, leaving a thin layer of lubrication.
If you are riding your electric bike in Vancouver parks off the beaten path, you will need to perform cleaning tasks more often. While there are guidelines for the frequency of maintenance, your bike may need work more or less often.
Every few months you will also want to fully remove your bike chain and soak it in a solvent. Then, wipe down the chain, reapply lubricant and reinstall it on your bike.
Frame
Caring for your ebike frame will vary from model to model based on several factors including what kind of paint your bike has. However, all bike types should get a wipe down after going through mud, once they are dusty or before they go into storage.
For most cleaning jobs, a sponge and bucket or a garden hose with a spray attachment are the best water sources. Power washers are typically not recommended.
Note: Both the brakes and drivetrain can be cleaned with a brush but you should not use the same brush on both. Each part can become contaminated with dirt and oil from the other. Instead, have a dedicated brush for each.
Caring for Your EBike in Storage
A big part of knowing how to care for your ebike properly is understanding how to store it. While an ebike can be ridden through most kinds of weather, long winters like we often get in Canada will make storing your bike a necessity.
Here we’ll look at how to store your battery and frame to prevent corrosion and other issues that can occur when a bike is left idle.
Cleaning Before Storage
Make sure your bike is dirt and moisture-free before storage to prevent parts from sticking and rusting before your next ride. To clean your bike properly before storing it, follow these steps:
- Remove your display and battery before cleaning
- Follow a thorough cleaning regimen for wheels, brakes, etc.
- Thoroughly dry your ebike. Drying is always important, but especially so before your bike is set to sit in storage.
- Prepare your battery for storage as covered in the next section.
Maintaining Your Battery in Storage
Caring for your ebike battery is an essential part of maintenance. Batteries are the most expensive component of your bike, and proper maintenance extends their viability. Follow these maintenance tips for your e-bike battery in storage:
- Store your battery with a partial charge. A charge of 40% to 80% is ideal.
- Do not store your battery with a full charge. This is better than no charge, but a partial charge is best.
- Check your battery’s charge at least once a month to ensure it has not run down to zero. Letting your battery run down to zero, especially on a consistent basis, will reduce its lifespan and possibly prevent it from holding a charge.
- Your battery should be stored at close to room temperature or slightly on the cool side – below 20°C.
- Do not keep your battery on the charger in storage. This can overcharge your battery and affect its ability to hold a charge.
- If your ebike battery has a “storage” mode, turn this on. This will help prevent it from losing charge quickly.
- Store your battery separate from the bike. Storing it on the bike will drain the battery more quickly and possibly limit your options on where you can store the battery. This is because while the battery needs to be at room temperature, the bike frame will not be harmed by a greater range of temperatures.
When to Seek Expert Help for Your Electric Bike in Vancouver
Caring for your ebike is fairly straightforward once you know the steps. However, there are times when professional help is needed. This is especially true when your brakes are involved.
Your brakes are the most important safety feature on your ebike and an expert can tell you if something like an odd noise just means you need new brake pads or something more.
This will also save you money as catching a brake problem early usually means replacing a pad versus buying a whole new rotor. Simply put, when in doubt, have an expert check it out.
This is why it is ideal to purchase your bike locally from a dedicated bike shop where you can find an expert who also rides and maintains an electric bike. In Vancouver, the Epic Cycles team not only sells ebikes, we are true ebike enthusiasts. For all your questions on how to care for your ebike and how to choose an ebike that’s right for you, contact us today!
