An ebike is not a cheap investment, and not easily replaceable, so you want to ensure you are caring properly for it. Part of that means storing it correctly. Unlike a standard push bike that you can store inside or outside, an ebike is more vulnerable to the weather, given that its an electronic device.
Ebikes are ideal for city riding, allowing you to battle traffic chaos with greater efficiency. As one of the best modes of urban travel, you’ll find ebikes well worth the money. The best ebikes can also be used for riding outside but not in all weather. While it may be water resistant to some degree, it’s not waterproof by any means.
Storing your ebike properly is essential and we cannot emphasize this enough. When not properly stored, even the best ebikes are vulnerable to permanent damage. With that said, here’s what every ebike commuter should know about storing an ebike!
Keep It Dry
While ebikes might offer dependable power, the ebike is decidedly not an amphibious mode of urban travel, which means it doesn’t worth very well if you let it get wet. You’ll want to store your ebike in a dry place. That could mean you store it in your garage, in the office or at home, but you want to keep it away from moisture.
Rain and snow can cause your bike to rust or freeze, which will permanently damage your ebike. And once it rusts, your ebike will not work well again. Protect the longevity of your ebike by keeping it dry.
Keep it Cool
For the sake of the battery, you also want to make sure your ebike is in a cool environment. The battery for your ebike cannot provide dependable power if its being over worked. When your battery is overheated, it cannot work at peak efficiency. Extreme heat conditions can deteriorate the battery.
Extreme cold can also pose a problem, which means you should not let it be exposed to temperatures below 30 degrees Fahrenheit. Ideally, you should store your bike in a cool environment between 60 to 80 degrees.
Another option, if you don’t trust the temperature fluctuations in your storage area, is to buy an ebike battery bag and store that separately in your home. If you have a foldable ebike, you can potentially store the whole bike in your closet.
Keep It Clean
Store your ebike away from the elements. Even if it never rains or snows outside, you want to be sure your ebike is away from any debris, so don’t store it outside.
That being said, you also want to be sure that you are storing your bike in a clean indoor facility. If you keep it in a garage where you use a buzzsaw or you have dust and cobwebs everywhere, your ebike won’t feel very loved, and you’ll risk damaging it. If you keep it in a shed, you want to be sure that its properly sealed and nothing can get in. And keep it clean so it isn’t gathering any dirt or dust inside.
And on that note, always be sure to clean your ebike before storing it!
Methods for Storage
Keeping a waterproof cover for your ebike will ensure its never exposed to water, even by accident, so you should always store it with a cover, even if you keep it inside a garage.
A floor rack can be a great way to store your ebike more conveniently if you have the space in your shed or garage, but you also want to be sure that nothing in that space can fall onto it and damage it. A standard ebike might take up more floor space, but foldable ebikes like the Emerald Ebike will take up less space in your garage.
You can also store your ebike by hanging it on the wall or using a ceiling pully system. If you park your car in the garage, however, you might want to avoid the latter option. In that case, a standard or foldable ebike can be safely wall-mounted. If you are using a pully system, you want to make sure your have a lightweight bike that is under 100 pounds. For perspective, the Emerald weighs just 70 pounds with the battery intact and just 62 without it.
If you live in an apartment and don’t have access to a garage or shed, your best bet is to store it on a balcony with a cover or mount it to your wall. However, if you have a foldable ebike, like the Emerald, you can just fold it up and stick it in a clean space in your apartment just about anywhere.
Just be sure that wherever you are storing your ebike that you are working with wood, brick, or metal construction. You don’t want to mount your ebike on dry wall or your bike will just tear out of the wall. No matter what, you want to consider the weight of your bike and what your walls can handle – but with brick, wood, or metal, you are mostly safe.
Storing the Battery
It is highly recommended that you store your ebike’s battery separately from your ebike, which means purchasing a case for it is a good idea. This will ensure your battery cannot get too cold, too warm, too dirty, or too wet.
For optimal battery performance and longevity, we recommend never leaving the battery full charged nor at 0% as doing this can damage the battery. On that note, you also don’t want to leave your battery on a charger for an extended period of time. Even high-quality batteries like Emerald’s Samsung battery are vulnerable to overcharging.
Conclusion
Storing your ebike in a cool, dry place is optimal for maintaining your ebike. Taking the precautions to ensure that your ebike is properly stored will increase the life and integrity of your ebike. In essence, you want to treat it like your smartphone. You wouldn’t leave that outside or in a hot car, so don’t do that to your ebike, especially with its battery.
Additionally, you want to take into account the weight of your bike if you plan to mount it and be sure it’s somewhere it’s not likely to be exposed to debris. Foldable ebikes, like Emerald, offer greater versatility in terms of storage, so you can mount them or store them in your home.
Read on to find out How to Get the Most Out of Your Ebike
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