Buying used ebike in London, UK

Most of the trade in used bikes in London is on Gumtree. Picking a central London postcode and using that as part of a search on eBay is an option too. Ebikes are a hot item at the moment and it's a bit of a minefield. I'd be wary of advising a visitor to shop for a bike in private sales. You have to have a bit of a nose for it if you have a conscience about buying something which is probably stolen.

I'm not sure there's a lot of advantage in shopping secondhand for an ebike at retail at the moment. Stores and online are awash with brand new bargain bikes from China. If you have needs for a specialist long distance bike you might be quite limited in what you can choose used.

I've used Evans Cycles https://www.evanscycles.com/ for cycling related items. They have several branches in central London. I don't think they sell used. I know of a couple of places that sell used bikes, but out in Hackney which is maybe further than you want to travel.

There's quite a lot of people riding Swapfiets bikes in London these days - https://swapfiets.co.uk/ That may be something you could make work as an alternative.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question. Our travel plans are to arrive in London ride to Dover along the coast to Brighton and unto Bath where we have friends to visit than to Cardiff and eventually to Elsmere. Than to Holland for more cycling.

We are thinking instead of renting just buy bikes and leave them we friends we have in Germany.

We are thinking instead of renting, just buy bikes and leave them (with) friends we have in Germany.

No clue about the answer, but might that trigger an import duty/tax for the friends in Germany ?

I have been checking out the Evans bike store. Like bike shops herein the US they are discounting there bikes as well.

I have had good experiences buying parts at Evans. They've done special orders of just what I needed quickly on a couple of occasions. They will have a good stock in various London stores and would also be able to have bikes you've ordered online ready to pick up.

Somewhere else that springs to mind is Giant - a US brand I believe. They have a large store near St Pauls Cathedral. Their touring ebikes look very nice.

https://www.giant-stpauls.co.uk/gb/bikes/electric-bikes

My local bike shop is worth mentioning too - https://www.hub-velo.co.uk/ - They are a small independant so might not stock a more specialist bike like you may need, but they would be able to order and prep a great bike for you if you communicated your needs ahead of time.

I think you need to be realistic about how cheaply you can do this. The amount of miles you describe is a large undertaking and needing an electric assist bike puts the cost way up. To buy and equip a touring ebike with luggage and accessories (assuming you're starting from scratch) you could spend $5000 easily.

You could maybe make some savings used, on eBay for instance, but you have to be able to deal with the logistics of that.

To think on Joe's question, The Netherlands would be the first point of contact with Schengen for the OP after leaving the UK, and I really don't imagine importing a bike the OP is currently riding, that has already covered several hundred miles, would be any issue. It may well be an issue on paper though.

my concern would be fire, especially with "second hand" private sale. According to the BBC news the highest number of fires in London, by a country mile, is chargers and bikes bursting into flame, very difficult to fight a lithium fire, and sadly lots of people have been trapped in their flats.

So key to keeping safe would be to find a safe place to charge outside the premises at each stop.

Electric bikes are a great invention. It is just a shame that a significant percentage of bikes and chargers are not electrically safe.

I don't want to rain on your parade, I want you to enjoy your holiday. It sounds like a wonderful journey!!.

I too have good experiences at Evans.. My experiences are at the London Bridge location and one by the former shop of the Youth Hostel Association but that vague description won't help much.

Hackney sounds like a good idea because people live out there. The one at London Bridge is really for commuters.