Woosh - more dreadful service

[fishingpaul]

At this price range good support has to be a massive bonus,in the past suppliers of top brand far more expensive bikes,have been known to jump ship to another supplier,and try and end any responsibillity for bikes they have previously sold,imagine you buy a bike have a problem like the battery dies, and the seller says ,sorry nothing to do with us contact the makers of the bike, that supplier is still going strong today, selling other brands of electric bikes.

 

[JohnCade]

At this price range good support has to be a massive bonus,in the past suppliers of top brand far more expensive bikes,have been known to jump ship to another supplier,and try and end any responsibillity for bikes they have previously sold,imagine you buy a bike have a problem like the battery dies, and the seller says ,sorry nothing to do with us contact the makers of the bike, that supplier is still going strong today, selling other brands of electric bikes.

Sounds like a cry from the heart. Did that happen to you?

The buyer has a contract with the retailer not the maker. But if the retailer doesn't have a relationship with that manufacturer anymore....what then? The law says the retailer is responsible but he may not be able to get spares.

I looked at the possibility of buying a bike from Germany recently, and Derby Cycles told me that if I had a problem with it the dealer where I bought it would be my only port of call. So if I lived in Germany and bought a bike there and subsequently moved to the UK I would have to send it back to Germany to be fixed? Or if I was on holiday in another country the same?

I can see that working if I bought a Volkswagen in Germany and was on holiday here, or imported it into the UK. Or rather I can't....

A requirement like that is against the spirit of the EU free market and the term restraint of trade comes to mind...

Seems to me that the e bike industry has a bit of maturing to do in its practises as well as its market share.

 

[flecc]

Seems to me that the e bike industry has a bit of maturing to do in its practises as well as its market share.

In all respects, the products included. Although many have greatly improved in the last six or so years, the obvious sign of an immature product is still the lack of agreement on e-bike designs and layout of the kind we see in the motor industry.

A bit like many decades ago when popular cars randomly had engines in the front, rear or sort-of-middle, or even further back when petrol tanks could be in various locations. E-bikes are even more diverse in motor, battery or other component positions, not to mention the wide variety of power control methods.

It's a confused market of potentially confusing products and prices, small in size in most countries with equally diverse marketing methods.

It's probably true that only time will improve it with greater standardisation of all aspects.
.

 

[trex]

flecc, you have been watching the industry grow a long time, do you think we are heading for product convergence?
Do you see the Shimano Step and the Yamaha crank drive as a sign that consensus moves to crank drive systems? and 400WH batteries becoming industry standard?

 

[flecc]

I'm not confident about that yet Trex. These trends have been apparent previously in the industry, but have often reversed. There was such a developing consensus in the period from 1999 when Giant, Yamaha, Aprilia, Panasonic, BikeTec Flyer and some other e-bike makers all settled on crank drives. But by 2006 they had almost all disappeared under a tide of hub drive e-bikes with SB and similar front or rear hub motors.

Then as we know, crank drives started a fight back from 2008, with first the new Panasonic unit, then the copycat Yamaha, followed by Daum, Tonaro, Bosch and the many others now. But already we see the hub motor fightback, with the very capable BPM, CST and rear Panasonic hub motors a real force to be reckoned with. Panasonic in particular has been putting much effort into hub motors, successively introducing since 2010 plain front hub, regen front hub, electric braking front hub and now the rear hub motor. They also took over Sanyo and their hub motor interests in that period.

And of course the influential huge Dutch pedelec market has mostly dropped crank drives in favour of hub motors. That could be an indicator of consumer (and trade even?) realisation of the nuisance of frequent chain/sprocket replacement that accompanies crank drive. That may be acceptable to the enthusiasts of this forum, but will be widely disliked by the public at large who expect chains to last for years.

So it's probably too early to be at all sure.
.

 

[averhamdave]

I've been off the forum a while (hospital and other issues). Just back and read this thread with a neutral head on.

Conclusion:
I will continue to recommend Whoosh bikes even more strongly than I have previously.

 

[fishingpaul]

Sounds like a cry from the heart. Did that happen to you?

The buyer has a contract with the retailer not the maker. But if the retailer doesn't have a relationship with that manufacturer anymore....what then? The law says the retailer is responsible but he may not be able to get spares.

I looked at the possibility of buying a bike from Germany recently, and Derby Cycles told me that if I had a problem with it the dealer where I bought it would be my only port of call. So if I lived in Germany and bought a bike there and subsequently moved to the UK I would have to send it back to Germany to be fixed? Or if I was on holiday in another country the same?

I can see that working if I bought a Volkswagen in Germany and was on holiday here, or imported it into the UK. Or rather I can't....

A requirement like that is against the spirit of the EU free market and the term restraint of trade comes to mind...

Seems to me that the e bike industry has a bit of maturing to do in its practises as well as its market share.

No it never happened to me,but the retailer was the only uk seller of the bikes at the time,that retailer is now the only as far as i am aware,uk seller of a german made bike.

 

[Chainring]

RobF

£78 is from Germany to the UK, yes? And that's by air?
That is excellent.
I have noticed that European companies shipping from Europe to the UK are much cheaper than from us in the UK to Europe. How come? Same lorries, same driver rates (probably more, even), same distances. Makes me cross.

I have been quoted £110 plus VAT (best price) for delivery to Europe on a 3 day road service. Most of my European customers balk at this and arrange for a collection themselves so are obviously getting a much better rate.
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
Hatti

I was recently quoted 70 euros for transporting a Biba cargo bike from Spain to UK. I thought that was reasonable.