[coldpie]

> "bicycle+internet-of-shit"

I'm quite interested in an e-bike, but it seems like most/all of them have or require a smartphone app. That is an instant no-sale for me. I'm not interested in anything that will break when (not if) your company goes out of business or gets bored hosting servers or updating its app for new mobile OSes. So I haven't bought one yet.

I wish we could get companies to understand that connecting a Thing to the Internet is an enormous strike in the Con column.

Anyone know of a good e-bike brand that doesn't have the capability to connect to the Internet?

[eertami]

> Anyone know of an e-bike brand that doesn't have the capability to connect to the Internet?

Quite literally almost all of them? Just go to any bike shop and look around. I'm sure there's probably a lot of sponsored ads online for internet/app e-bikes, but an e-bike is just a normal bike with a motor and a battery. I live where e-bikes are extremely common and I have never seen one with any kind software included.

[coldpie]

Ah cool. I've mostly been learning about them from reviews as they come in my Ars Technica feed. Here's the most recent four, all of which include an app, so I thought it was common. Perhaps that's just a factor of shiny new things that get sent out for review, versus old-reliable models that no one covers.

> If you want anything more than that, you'll have to use Specialized's Mission Control phone app, which pairs with the bike via Bluetooth. Once again, I had trouble pairing my phone with the bike

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/into-the-rivers-and-thr...

> Tenways also provides an app, which can track rides and offers some other limited functionality

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/06/silent-stiff-and-svelte...

> Before my first ride, I paired the bike with the Trek Central app, which is available for iOS and Android. My first attempt failed, as the app had yet to be updated with the specs

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/05/it-feels-like-cheating-...

> Learning anything about the bike requires the use of a phone app, which is where I had my biggest problems during my testing

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/05/gocycle-offers-a-superb...

[markus92]

Ars covers a specific type of e-bike, not the average commuter bike. If I look around the bike parking lot here, I see one VanMoof and few dozen bikes from various brands using Bosch or Bafang mid-motors. No app for those except for the dealership (for maintenance/repair). But that's in Europe, the market in the US is undoubtedly different.

[aidenn0]

I'm pretty sure radpower bikes still don't have internet access (mine is a few years old so not 100% certain). They come only partially assembled though, so if you aren't comfortable with bike maintenance, pay someone who is to do it.