Budget e-bikes under €1,000

Entry-level e-bikes almost always reach their price through the same levers: a rear motor with a simple cadence sensor instead of a mid-drive with torque sensor, a smaller battery with cheaper cells, mechanical rather than hydraulic brakes, a basic suspension fork and derailleur gears with few speeds. For short everyday trips on flat routes, that is often perfectly fine.

It becomes a problem when savings are made on safety-critical parts – brakes, frame quality, wheels or the battery management system (BMS).

Marketplaces in particular are full of bikes advertised with spectacular figures. These signs should make you suspicious:

First think about what you'll use the bike for: for five kilometres to the station you don't need a 700 Wh battery, but for a 25-kilometre commute with hills you need a strong motor and enough capacity. Also watch the price history: e-bikes are often reduced in autumn and winter, when retailers make room for new model years. Previous-year models from well-known brands can also fall within this budget and are often a better choice than a no-name bike with exaggerated spec-sheet figures.

On top of the purchase price, every e-bike has running costs: an annual service, wear parts such as brake pads, chain and tyres, and at some point a new battery. The battery in particular can make up a large share of the original purchase price. With cheap bikes it's therefore especially worth checking in advance whether replacement batteries are available and at what price. A slightly more expensive bike with a widely used drive system can work out cheaper over its lifetime than a bargain for which there are no parts left in three years' time.