jimmy no longer recells bosch battery's !

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
Thank you for your email. The problem with Bosch/Yamaha/Kalkhoff/Shimano/BMZ/Specialized batteries is the proprietary BMS (Battery Management System). If that has developed a fault then you essentially have a posh looking brick as these manufacturers will not make spares available, citing 'health & safety' reasons.

The BMS in these kinds of batteries is often booby-trapped to render itself permanently unusable under a set of pre-programmed, arbitrary conditions ie. Leaving the battery uncharged for x amount of time and/or detaching the BMS from the welded pack of cells.

These manufacturers simply want you to spend an exorbitant amount of money on a brand new battery.

I'm afraid that due to the above we do not work with such batteries, sorry.

With no disrespect intended and assuming you haven't invested too heavily in the bike and/or don't have any sentimental attachment to it, my advice to you would be to sell the bike and let someone else worry about the battery. I appreciate this may not be an option, in which case I'm afraid you will need to buy a new battery from the manufacturer at whatever price they're advertising at.

If however you are open to our suggestion, you can then purchase a conventional push bike (assuming you don't have one already), and convert it from scratch using good quality motors from the likes of Bafang, TQ, CYC, Tongsheng or Mac Motor (we can supply you with the latter as well as a top class battery that is far superior to your battery which uses at best average cells).

This way, in the event that anything goes wrong you are not tied into a proprietary system whereby you have to spend hundreds and hundreds of pounds on a replacement battery that in reality isn't worth more than £150-£200.00.

Kind regards,

Jimmy
 
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Reactions: Scorpio and flecc

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
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georgehenry

Esteemed Pedelecer
Nov 7, 2015
1,425
1,251
Surrey
I love my Haibike Yamaha and saw a new Haibike model last year that I could easily have bought, but was put of by the hand shaking technology from manufacturers like Bosch and Yamaha that prevent you easily mending their products or even being able to buy the spar parts that might allow you to mend one of these systems once their bike is beyond the mostly two year warranty period.

Such a shame as my Haibike Yamaha has been excellent.

Basically once out of warranty you are one break down away from a written off bike or very expensive repair.

There is some hope, as you can now buy cheaper non original batteries that are said to work with my Yamaha System, and get a quality repair of your motor from someone like The Bearing Man.
 
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vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,985
Basildon

see what these guys are saying.

no!
£595 for a regular 36v 14Ah battery is ridiculous. You can buy new batteries for most if not all the bikes they list for half that price or less and same price as a brand new Bosch 500 battery. I can't see why anybody would use their service other than ignorance. Their ebike repair kit is very expensive for what it is too.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
there was not much about when i got my bike in 2014 so had no warranty from the start and accepted that but i wanted to see after 7 years if they could double the capacity from 11ah to 22ah with 40 cells in 18650 format.

bosch is like apple they expect you to send your bike to the land fill after 2 years as more expensive to fix it than buy a new one esp if you dont bother to maintain it and my bike has never had a software update because im not going to pay 50 quid for some twat to plug in a usb cable and push some buttons.

and when i got a 500w batt it was 700 quid! :eek:
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
Last edited:

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
 

The Bear

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2017
517
179
52
South Yorks
Bosch 500 batteries still seem to be around the £700 mark. Not sure I would be prepared to spend that on a battery if mine failed, I'd rather put that towards a new ebike, but then how do you sell your current bike if it doesn't have a working battery?
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
Bosch 500 batteries still seem to be around the £700 mark. Not sure I would be prepared to spend that on a battery if mine failed, I'd rather put that towards a new ebike, but then how do you sell your current bike if it doesn't have a working battery?
i think anyone that is buying a electric bike 2nd hand should factor in a new batt in the total cost but bosch batts are just a rip off and the new power tube batts are a bin job when they run out of capacity.

i have 2 batts the original 400w and a 500w that cost 700 quid but the 400w is now well down on range and doubt it could do ten miles in turbo.

i have stuck a cx motor on it so that dont help power wise but if it comes to it ill have to pay the Bosch tax for a new one which sucks but at least can keep it going for another 7 years or i get ran over buy a lorry lol.
 

The Bear

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 10, 2017
517
179
52
South Yorks
My Cube/Bosch CX bike is 4yrs old now, it has a Bosch 500 battery which only gives me 20 miles range, but then I do have Badass dongle fitted so the battery/motor will be working more than otherwise.

My commute is 5 miles each way, though I don't really use the motor above 15mph much as i'm either freewheeling down steep hills when riding to work, or cycling in 1st gear up steep hills riding home. Either way the battery performance has dropped from when it was new and giving me around 50 miles range.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
you can def feel the extra kick when swapping between the 2 batts just the cx motor does use more power and was expected tbh but was way more than was expecting :p

the motor is brand new and only has 20 miles on the clock now and fully updated just need to get me a kiox display and get rid of those useless 5 bars.

DSC_0111_01_01.JPG
:rolleyes:
 

BazP

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 8, 2017
358
174
74
Sheffield
you can def feel the extra kick when swapping between the 2 batts just the cx motor does use more power and was expected tbh but was way more than was expecting :p

the motor is brand new and only has 20 miles on the clock now and fully updated just need to get me a kiox display and get rid of those useless 5 bars.

View attachment 44993
:rolleyes:
I still find the five bars useful. I have a 4 year old Cube with a CX motor which has now done around 7,000 miles nearly all off road. On my average 35 to 40 mile ride I always come home with 3 bars showing. The only time I can remember having 2 bars was a ride that did 5,000ft in 25 miles then another easy 10 miles home. If I have to replace the battery before changing bikes it has been relatively cheap biking. I have spent more on chains, pads and rotors. The last set of pads lasted two weeks and wore the rotors 50%.
 

soundwave

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2015
15,971
6,292
i have a dongle so 20% chunks does not mean much as have no idea what the range will be and a % from 100-0 would give me a better idea on range as got more than 3 miles with 3 bars lol as try's to est the range but goes out the window when you use a dongle.
 

Fat Rat

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 7, 2018
1,903
726
UK
I have to agree
The 5 bars are rubbish especially when your eeking out every last mile
Percentage on the Kiox is far more useful especially when im at a bike park and wandering if i have enough battery for the next climb especially at Bike park Wales as the climb is 491m each time normally i get 5 in ,6 on a good day :)
 

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