Powacycle Technician

[Alex728]

unfortunately I really think Powacycle have been "victims of their own success" - they have sold loads of units whilst at the same time been hit by exchange rate fluctuations (look at the financial reports of Ultima networks plc and you will see)

last year they sold more of their bikes but still made a net loss, which must be really demoralising, alongside the Infineum being plagued by teething problems..

if the Makro deal doesn't pay off (they've also put up the prices of all their bikes when sold directly) their shareholders will argue "why put resources towards something not making a profit?" - unlike other e-bike manufacturers Powacycle are part of a publically traded company and thier staff wear many other hats than just making e-bikes...

I still think its a real shame that neither Wassim nor any of his staff are able or willing to form an official channel of communication - it could be painful at first as people are understandably disappointed at recent levels of service but it would save them time and resources in the end - for instance there are many times when instead of having to bother Norman or David at Wisper I've found a detailed answer on here...

[flecc]

Thanks for the update Dave. It seems they are really suffering from quality control problems since this rate of trouble is much higher than they experienced in the earlier days.

This is something that plagues Chinese manufacturing still. I know from others like Wai Won Ching of eZeebike and David Miall of Wisper that any manufacturer or supplier needs to watch production standards all the time and never take an eye off the ball to prevent things slipping.

Only a couple of days ago I heard a Chinese manufacturer openly admitting how far short they were of the Japanese in this respect. That admission is something that would never have occurred not long ago, given the long term enmity of those two nations. However, the admission and the fact he said they would get there does hold out hope for the future, but that's little consolation to you at present.

If Powacycle are to continue in this market they will have to up their supplier's control standards and pay more attention to home market support, since there's increasing choice of budget bikes these days.
.

[Alex728]

Originally Posted by flecc

his is something that plagues Chinese manufacturing still. I know from others like Wai Won Ching of eZeebike and David Miall of Wisper that any manufacturer or supplier needs to watch production standards all the time and never take an eye off the ball to prevent things slipping.

Only a couple of days ago I heard a Chinese manufacturer openly admitting how far short they were of the Japanese in this respect. That admission is something that would never have occurred not long ago, given the long term enmity of those two nations. However, the admission and the fact he said they would get there does hold out hope for the future, but that's little consolation to you at present.

yes, there are major problems with money (i.e the budgets the clients provide for the project) and the exact same human attitudes towards industrial relations / bosses vs workers we had when manufacturing was in England or Europe.

The Chinese had a similar discussion in Singapore a couple of years ago about this issue...

I think there is a big cultural difference even in the Orient - Japan and Singapore are very strict about quality and discipline in work whilst the Chinese are more like the British in the "good" old days, with at best case a "good enough" culture, at worst case not caring as long as they get their pay packet!

A powacycle Salisbury new is now nearly £800, so I think the competitors will be fast barking at their heels (for instance the Scottish Alien Gents Special looks like a significant competitor especially now the chap has expanded his customer service resources).

It could of course also mean that Powacycle are selling loads of units and feel they can afford to tolerate a few lemons and even lose customers to keep up volume - I will be looking at their next set of financial results with interest...

[Wisper Bikes]

Originally Posted by flecc

This is something that plagues Chinese manufacturing still. I know from others like Wai Won Ching of eZeebike and David Miall of Wisper that any manufacturer or supplier needs to watch production standards all the time and never take an eye off the ball to prevent things slipping.

.

You are not kidding Flecc! EVERY Wisper that comes out of our OEM partners factory (Taiwanese) after QC is then taken into our own QC department manned by 100% Wisper employees for a second QC. Believe it or not we reject 25 to 30% of all bikes for some little niggle normally but without such attention to detail we would be constantly on the phone dealing with problems rather than the one or two a week we have now.

All the best

David

[Alex728]

so the bikes cross the border from Taiwan into mainland South China and are inspected there?

in the 1990s I remember a 25% failure rate being viewed as normal in the IT / electronics industry. This has improved a bit since then (and yet the kit is still made in South China) so maybe there is some hope for e-bikes

[Wisper Bikes]

Originally Posted by Alex728

so the bikes cross the border from Taiwan into mainland South China and are inspected there?

in the 1990s I remember a 25% failure rate being viewed as normal in the IT / electronics industry. This has improved a bit since then (and yet the kit is still made in South China) so maybe there is some hope for e-bikes

Sorry to confuse Alex, what I meant was the factory we work with is a Taiwanese owned and managed factory located near Shanghai.

All the best

David

[DorsetDave]

Have been riding the bike since I posted last and detailed all the problems I have had.

I dont know what to say really as off road on a rather bumpy bridleway the motor still stops spasmodically. On a smooth road it goes along fine. I hear what was said previously that ebikes are not designed to go off road but I didnt know that and you expect a bike designed as an ATB to be able to perform off road. This is such a great pity as there are so many off road tracks in my area including the Ringwood Forest and the New Forest on my doorstep.

On the one hand I was quite elated by the prospective ebike action and performance but very dissappointed by what has actually happened with all the faults and not being able to take the bike off road.

[flecc]

I can understand the disappointment Dave. We often have to explain how the bikes styling isn't lived up to in practice. On another make of ATB styled bike which was very expensive, I even had a battery platform shatter when riding normally over a speed bump, you can see how it's cracked through here:


.

[DorsetDave]

The bike is still playing up. I dont think the replacement battery charger is working properly. Also the stop/start of the motor has got really bad. It has now become a health and safety issue. I went to ride accross a junction to get to the other side of a busy road when the motor stopped. This acts as a brake so it put me in some difficulty with the traffic. I have lost all confidence in the bike and am not using it. I have now written to reject the bike and ask for a refund under the Sale of Goods Act.

[DorsetDave]

For information I have just heard from Makro. They have been in touch with Powacycle and it has been agreed to give me a full refund.