stackable batteries for limitless journeys ?
- Thread starter dmcgoldrick
- Start date
There are references to the Infineum bikes on these forums, so others here have seen them.
In their advert though, I noticed their address is Ahktar House, London. That rings a bell with me for either PowerBike or PowaCycle, one of the two, who are an off-shoot of computer company Ahktar Computers, successful in selling to education during the 90's (still in business?).
In their advert though, I noticed their address is Ahktar House, London. That rings a bell with me for either PowerBike or PowaCycle, one of the two, who are an off-shoot of computer company Ahktar Computers, successful in selling to education during the 90's (still in business?).
Yes, it is Powacycle going up market. The Infineum was launched nearly three years ago in July 2008 but had problems and was delayed while these were sorted out. It has failed to make an impression since.
Personally I think the concept poor and now outdated, three batteries are needed to match the largest single batteries already available on some e-bikes now, making the option expensive. There's also the question of the effect on saddle height of battery multiples, possibly barring shorter riders in some instances.
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Personally I think the concept poor and now outdated, three batteries are needed to match the largest single batteries already available on some e-bikes now, making the option expensive. There's also the question of the effect on saddle height of battery multiples, possibly barring shorter riders in some instances.
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To those on super-nerd alert: I remember their address through buying their computers for our College in Derby... sad, so sad... Thanks for the reassurance Flecc
I dont think I would have called it going ''up market''.......the last I heard from a dealer was that 90% of the first ones built broke their battery rack carriers when going off road 
I own a Salisbury (the blokes version of the Windsor) and still ride it for shorter journey when I want something a bit less powerful than the Wisper and not to have to be so paranoid about theft (as it doesn't look as flash).
TBH the Infineum was a missed opportunity for them, it has taken so long to sort out the issues, IMO they would have been better off making a 36V version of the Salisbury rather than inventing a whole new bike...
this and problems with reliability on their other bikes also overloaded their customer service / support resources which appear to be shared rather thinly between all the other companies in the Akther group.
After a good start, the management also seemed to actively discourage their staff from participating in these forums, perhaps because it diverted them from a workload dealing with other issues and encouraged publicity over problems, especially when they suffered a drop in profits one half-year (which they appear to have recovered from).
Akther group do still sell the computers, and it appears the Salisbury / Windsor (which can be found on considerable discounts) are still good bikes if you get a decent one, and they appear to have become a bit better at customer service recently.
One caveat though about these diversified businesses (unlike a company solely making e-bikes) is that customer service resources and good people follow the money and the markets - they can be diverted to other more profitable business lines as bikes are only part of the business.
TBH the Infineum was a missed opportunity for them, it has taken so long to sort out the issues, IMO they would have been better off making a 36V version of the Salisbury rather than inventing a whole new bike...
this and problems with reliability on their other bikes also overloaded their customer service / support resources which appear to be shared rather thinly between all the other companies in the Akther group.
After a good start, the management also seemed to actively discourage their staff from participating in these forums, perhaps because it diverted them from a workload dealing with other issues and encouraged publicity over problems, especially when they suffered a drop in profits one half-year (which they appear to have recovered from).
Akther group do still sell the computers, and it appears the Salisbury / Windsor (which can be found on considerable discounts) are still good bikes if you get a decent one, and they appear to have become a bit better at customer service recently.
One caveat though about these diversified businesses (unlike a company solely making e-bikes) is that customer service resources and good people follow the money and the markets - they can be diverted to other more profitable business lines as bikes are only part of the business.
That was their intention, the Infineum was double or more the price of their previous Powacycle e-bikes, so the new brand name was deemed necessary to market it. Of course they didn't intend the unreliability.
Parallels here with Toyota and their upmarket Lexus brand, they've also recently gone through a very bad patch of technical problems affecting both brands and are trying to recover their earlier good name.
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I considered this bike last year when i was making a short list.. at the time it was heralded as a great idea, but as I recall the bike itself was not without some problems, the batteries would rattle and move about, not very secure.. also not very economical when you had to buy three or four batteries to match the equivalent power of single big battery bikes..not too convenient either charging them with one charger.. sorry if I'm repeating comments already made..
Hi David
Thanks for bringing this up.
Hats off and a big thank you to Bike Biz for such a big review of electric bikes in their very good magazine!
Great to see an electric bike on the front cover, and you have to admit it looks good.
All the best
David
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