“I know a guy who lost a finger working on an eBike,” says Mackenzie Hardt, owner of Hardt Family Cyclery in Aurora, Colorado, and former executive director of the nonprofit bike shop and community center Bikes Together. Hardt tore tendons in his arm after accidentally triggering the cadence sensor, causing the wheel to spin out of control on the stand even with the motor and battery disconnected.
They now have a message on the company voicemail informing customers that the shop will not repair any ebikes without third-party UL 2849 certification, the gold standard that certifies that the entire package of an ebike, from the electrical drive train to the battery to the charger system, has been thoroughly tested. (See our guide on how to buy an electric bike for more information.)
wild Wild West
A lot of the problem with getting ebikes right is related to the fact that a surprising number of electric vehicles that are sold as ebikes are not, in fact, ebikes. According to PeopleForBikes, a third-party advocacy group, an eBike is a low-speed electric vehicle that “closely resembles traditional bicycles in their features, size, and handling speed.”
A mechanic works on bicycles.Photograph: Dikushin/Getty Images
In 46 states, all eBikes fall under Class 1, 2, or 3. The difference depends on the maximum motor-assisted speed of the bike and the way it is operated. However, many ebikes sold online are far more powerful than the maximum speed of 28 mph allowed on a Class 3 ebike, and they operate more like mopeds or motorcycles.
“This is really the heart and soul of the service problem,” says Corey Osland, manager of Ski Hut, a high-end bike shop in Duluth, Minnesota. “Once you get beyond the three classes, you’re faced with a lot of parts and tools that are not part of the bike industry.”
Getting the e-bike repaired can also land the shop in the quagmire of liability issues. Since bike shops are part of the product liability chain, they can be held liable if they over-inflate an electric vehicle’s tires and the rider subsequently injures themselves or another person. According to hospital data, eBike-related injuries have increased by more than 1,020 percent nationwide from 2020 to 2024, so this is not an unexpected development. “I know people who have lost their shirts,” Hardt says.
In most states, if the bike does not fit into the Class 1-3 classification system, the shop’s insurance will likely be invalid. The problem, says Hardt, is that “we don’t regulate at the national level what an ebike is. What’s legal here may not be legal somewhere else.” He adds, working on an unregulated bike is like bringing in a Tesla to be fixed.
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