Rebike home visit: What is e-bike refurbishing?

Whether smartphones, digital cameras or computers. A market for so-called refurbished models has long been established, especially for technical devices. The idea: specialists buy used goods in large quantities, replace worn parts, repair defects and resell the goods to new customers - as good as new and with a warranty from the retailer. This is more expensive than buying used parts privately, but offers more security.

And this is exactly what many customers lack when buying used bikes via portals such as E-Bay classifieds. Especially with expensive e-bikes, where hidden damage to the motor and battery without a warranty can be really expensive. An opportunity, thought Thomas Bernik and Sven Erger, two entrepreneurs from Krailing near Munich. In 2018, they founded their own company for refurbishing e-bikes: Rebike.

Since it was founded in 2018, Rebike has refurbished a good 50,000 e-bikes from leasing fleets, trade fair stocks and other large manufacturer stocks and sold them on to new customers via adverts on its own website - in the medium term, the aim is to sell up to 50,000 per year. At the refurbishment centre in Kempten, we were able to take a closer look at what happens in detail during refurbishing, where the second-hand professionals start and where the process may have weaknesses.

What does refurbished mean at Rebike? Refurbishing in detail

From a detailed wash for a smart look to replacing wearing parts and reading out the motor and battery with dealer software through to the test ride. There's not much to complain about, even if Rebike only takes a closer look at bearings and suspension elements when they start to crack and creak or malfunction. The fact that every bike is extensively photographed for the advert, on the other hand, is a clear plus and ensures transparency.

This means that the refurbished bikes are not quite cheap, but for many customers they should be a real alternative to a new bike. Especially if you don't need an e-bike from the current model year - as these are of course rarely found on the market as refurbished models.