Any advice on a used Orbea Gain D50 from an Ebay seller

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I am looking at an Orbea Gain D50 being offered by an ebay seller who appears to be a professional bike trader.

It is advertised as 2021 model with only 60 miles "on the clock", so I am slightly concerned about battery condition as has it been left with a flat battery or left on charge?

Is there anything that I should be asking that is specific to Orbea Gains?

Thanks

Ian

 

[ColinJ]

@Dadam has one and might have some advice?

 

[Dadam]

I have a D40, it's only the groupset that's different.

If they're an official Orbea dealer they will have the Orbea shop system that can talk to the bike controller, like buying an approved used car from a main dealer you'll get more assurance it's ok. If not but as a professional and hopefully reputable trader should they should either show you the info from the Mahle MySmartBike phone app on their phone or let you do download and pair for yourself before you commit to buying the bike

The app tells you info like the number of charge cycles it has had and the voltage it's putting out which should give you an indication of battery health but only an indication.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning.

Thanks ColinJ and Dadam.

The seller is not an official dealer and sounds a bit vague as if ebikes are new to him, so I have found the link to the app and asked him to do a charge, go for a ride and then post a screen shot.

At £1,350 it seems like a good price if the battery is in good nick, as replacement batteries seem to be around the £650 mark battery condition is important . As my main reason for purchase is to see if an ebike of this type will offer what I am hoping for, a slight easing of the commute workload by "flattening" the hills a bit without making the rest of the ride harder, I would be happy with a battery that lasted a year before needing replacement.

With the Ribble ALe coming in a £2,499 and the local shop wanting £2,754 for a new D50 it could be quite a loss if I found that I didn't like the bike and had to sell it. At least the Ribble is Tiagra (inc. chainset) and hydraulic disk compared to Claris and cabled disc on the D50,

I did ask Ribble what they thought of my planned mileage and they were quite cautious saying something like it should be okay but it might not be.

Of course if I do buy it Ribble will have a sale in January offering £1,000 the ALe!

Bye

Ian

 

[Dadam]

Ask him to do a full charge, show you the battery voltage, then do a ride and show it again.

Be aware too that the reported number of miles might not be accurate. There's a known issue where the mileage reported in the app keeps resetting. I have this issue too but not bothered doing anything about it yet as the bike is on the c2w scheme so I'll be keeping it for at least the 3 years. So the number of charge cycles is the best indicator of usage, and the battery output voltage the best indicator of general health. Nothing will tell you how long it's sat with a flat battery though or otherwise abused.

As my main reason for purchase is to see if an ebike of this type will offer what I am hoping for, a slight easing of the commute workload by "flattening" the hills a bit without making the rest of the ride harder

It would certainly do that. You'll still have to work quite hard for the steeper hills but while it's obviously heavy for a road bike it rolls really well and I did my first ever 60 miler last spring with @ColinJ. I had the assist turned off for most of the time as it was flat and we were mostly riding above the cutoff speed.

 

[ColinJ]

It would certainly do that. You'll still have to work quite hard for the steeper hills but while it's obviously heavy for a road bike it rolls really well and I did my first ever 60 miler last spring with @ColinJ. I had the assist turned off for most of the time as it was flat and we were mostly riding above the cutoff speed.

I was pretty impressed by @Dadam's e-bike. I don't need one yet but if/when that day comes, it is the kind of bike that I would consider buying.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

As my main reason for purchase is to see if an ebike of this type will offer what I am hoping for, a slight easing of the commute workload by "flattening" the hills a bit without making the rest of the ride harder

I'm not sure if this helps: here in Glasgow we have some Ebike retailers that will allow you to try an Ebike for a week, for a charge, of course.
Maybe this is on offer in your area too?
We also have a fleet of E "Boris Bikes" that anyone can rent out.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Thanks everyone for the help.

The seller came back and said 9 charges and 63 miles so that ties with the original description and there are now photos and they match that usgage. I now need to decide if I am certain enough to buy to follow up on the ask to go for a ride and check voltage suggestion or should wait for a new year sale from Ribble.

Having just said the above I did a "last look" at Ribble and the ALe is down to £1,999, it's a decent step up in spec and it is new and it doesn't have a one of those press fit BBs. But Based on your currently selected specification your estimated dispatch date is 21 Jan - 28 Jan 24 seems a long build time if they actually have the bits.

I am very much leaning towards the Ribble as it is new with a warranty and much better spec, but if the seller came back with the Gain at £1k which I don't expect...... and will Ribble deliver on time.........

The trial sounds like a great idea, but I do have a problem with the D50 at full or almost full price from the local dealer, £2,750 for a Claris equiped road bike plus a motor. I would struggle to justify to myself £750 for the base bike, so adding another £2k for Mahle system grates.

I was also considering one of these for £2,999 for using once or twice a week, I could ride it on a CBT and apparently they are a lot better than people might expect, the bike mags review them like someone used to Dura-Ace might review a Tourney equipped bike.

Bye

Ian

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

I was pretty impressed by @Dadam's e-bike. I don't need one yet but if/when that day comes, it is the kind of bike that I would consider buying.

I am only 62 so I too thought that e bike days were long into the future.......

It's not that I can't do the mileage, I have done it for two years, 18 miles in the morning and evening, 48 weeks of the year and it is looking like the same for another 2 years. It's the relentless lack of rest and recovery that makes it tiring and not fun.

I really notice this after a bank holiday weekend where I feel much more energentic and I have taken to doing a half marathon every Friday or Saturday and I am really struggling. This is in addition to a mid week run and 3/4 gym sessions as I have an office job so am short of upper body exercise.

I don't have or need a car otherwise so that would be an expensive purchase and I tried the train

• 2 x Train cancelled after I bought the ticket on the day, this is about 10 minutes before it was due.
• 1 x Train cancelled before I bought the ticket on the day but after I left home
• 1 x Train cancelled before I left left home
• 1 x Train cancelled part way through the journey leaving me with a £20 taxi fare and a 4 hour commute.
• 3 x completed full journey successfully, including one time when I made the connection with 20 seconds rather than 10 minutes to spare
• 3 x completed intended partial journey (Worcester to Bromsgrove) successfully, this leaves a nice 7 mile flat out blast along almost deserted hilly roads.

If I could rely on the train being there for the partial journey it would be a viable option, but there are too many cancellations. That's not a disaster as I simply ride the whole route but it means that I arrive at work 30 minutes later than intended and irritated.

Also as the train is so full on the return journey there is no room for a full size bike and even folders are iffy so it is nothing like a full rest day, added to which the train is slow, taking as long as riding the whole route.

Bye

Ian

 

[Ridgeback Roller]

I understand your tiredness concerns - when I was commuting it was only 9 miles each way but I still found the cooler months very tiring.
The Tiagra Ribble ALe looks a very attractive option at that price however I'm not sure how good a winter commuter it would be. The ALes that I've seen have very limited clearance for mudguards, pretty sure that 25mm tyres would be the limit with mudguards, 28mm without. I'm also pretty certain that Ribble use press fit bottom brackets on their e bike range, unlike the threaded BBs on the rest of the range.
The motorcycle looks interesting, not sure what insurance is these days though?

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Sadly you are correct and I missed it, they do indeed inflict press fit BBs on ebike buyers.

I approach winter riding in a different way, I ride 25c without mudguards all year round and when it rains shorts and no socks along with a "boil in the bag" water proof jacket, a sliced load wrapper either on the outside of the shoe or in place of socks finishes off the stylish look.

Yonks ago I decided that it is too much effort to try and remain dry and sweat free so I don't even attempt it.

As for insurance, gulp..... TPO starts at £520, TPFT at £620 and with huge excesses fully comp is cheaper at

That makes the 125 a lot less attractive.

I still haven't commited as the lack of a warranty on an a used ebike could easily leave a big bill meaning the new bike is a much better buy and the more I am indecisive the more I wonder if all the ebike will do is make a small part of the journey less efffort at the expense of the rest of the journey being harder. The D50 seems to be listed at 15kg, which is the same as my first 1x5 Raleigh in the 1970s

I seem to be in the same position as last year, dilly dalling over the winter and soon daylight returns and the ride becomes more pleasent and as I can see the pot holes faster.

Bye

Ian

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good evening,

Even if I am talking only to myself

I presume that anyone who was interested would have found it but this was the ebay item I was looking at; https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375129506622

In the end I went for one of these with a 17/Jan delivery date


I also found this on the ex demo page; it started off looking pretty good as there is an extra 15% off with a discount code that Ribble publish on the ex demo home page.

but by the time I got to the checkout the new bike was £2,048 and the ex demo £1,918.

The obvious differences being the

• The ex demo has Mavic All Road rather than Kyserium (Allroads seem to be about £200 cheaper),
• The listing is very confused but it states that the ex demo is Tiagra (11 Speed!!!!) hydraulic levers and Tektro cable discs.
  • The only way to answer that would be to go and look and that may not be possible for the poor chap that I would contact but they did come with cable not hydraulic in the recent past.
• Almost trivial but the CGR also has 40mm tyres, that is 1.57 inches, that's bigger than 27 1/4 which was normal touring tyres or department store bikes in the 1970s.
• The new bike is new, an ex demo bike is ex demo and if there are issues the extra £130 to remove Sorry sir that's because it is ex demo is definitely worth it.

What really concerned me with the Orbea was that whilst I believe that the seller believes that it is a 60 mile/9 charge bike these two pictures make me uncomfortable. There is a lot of dirt for such low miles, the cassette is silver, the chain is covered in grease and this has dropped off behind the chainring onto the chainstay. If you do zoom in on the chainring, the square tooth at 12:00 is normal, Claris chainring have a handfull of "broken" teeth when new.

Thanks again to @Dadam and


Bye

Ian

 

[biggs682]

Enjoy your new bike @IanSmithCSE and just so you know it's due for delivery just after my birthday 😂

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

Thanks for the thought;

Enjoy your new bike @IanSmithCSE and just so you know it's due for delivery just after my birthday 😂

You aren't thinking that this means that his 753 Raleigh is now redundant and he is going to give it to me as a birthday present are you?

But I do see that Cybernight has run into the same problem I had, it is good bike if you accept it as it is but a lot of work if you want to change it. https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/taken-carrera-tdf-worcester-redditch-reduced-to-free-if.294933/

Oddly I am not excited by the ebike as it is a tool purchase not a hobby purchase and as I can find very little information on the expected life span I am seeing it as a quite expensive tool.

Even if all goes well the battery life could be as short as a just over a year, everyone talks about 300-500 charge cycles, that is quite a difference. As I understand it a charge cycle is flat to full, or 3 partial recharges from 66% to 99% or similar and I am expecting a flatish battery every day Mon-Fri so two years would be absolute tops.

My commute speed varies hugley, in summer on a good day it is 18mph, on a bad day in the cold it can drop to 13mph and a couple of time when the snow and rain was really, really, really heavy it went down to 9mph. This represents a massively different demand on the battery and slight increase in effort to overcome the incresed weight so I really don't know what to expect.

I have been over the routes in my head and make guessumptions about where the motor will be allowed to help and it was more frequent than I had first thought, so it may help even the rides where the average speed is well above the 15.5 cut off.

Again there is very little published about the motor life, I read I've done 5,000 mile on my bike over the last three years isn't that amazing,

those that do mention higher mileages tend to be Bosch hub motors.

So I am hoping that I will be pleasently surprised and it will ease the commute and as I have never had hydrualic discs before, I am hoping that they will be a revalation much like Di2 was. Not like Carbon Fibre frames which weren't, I don't ride fast enough most of the time for their improvements to be relevant.

Fortunately weather is only a slight concern as for me low temperature is around 0C to -4C for a few weeks which is not too much of a problem for discharge, but it does mean leaving the bike in the warm for a while to allow the battery to heat up before charging. This means that it has to be charged at work as doing so in the evening would require leaving it on charge as I slept.

Finally overall I have prepared myself for a £1,000 bill (new motor and battery) the same time next year plus around £300 in tyres chains and cassettes, this is approaching car/train territory.

As you might have guessed by the length of this post I have thought about the ebike quite extensively.

Bye

Ian

 

[biggs682]

@IanSmithCSE Well Santa did mention your anniversary bike and said that one of his elf's has just started riding .

I think the Carrera is an ideal winter/commute bike that just needs using as is until the running gear needs replacement and if it was within a distance or location that I visit then I would jump at it and just swap out the stem and saddle and start clocking up the miles