Reviews on the Coppenhagen Wheel Bike the Skinny Jeans
In a fourth dimension of a myriad of startups trying to bring super cool products to the personal mobility market, not all tin be fine and dandy, but allow me be perfectly clear well-nigh the signal of writing this follow up on The Copenhagen Wheel: I want to shed some low-cal on the exhausting challenges met by the parties in the manufacturer, dealer, client chain. Having experienced the final two myself, my promise is to create some understanding and thus a momentum of moving forward equally opposed to backward.
The Monster Of Non-Mass Market Products
A decade ago, the electric bicycle market was a typical non-mass market place emergent space. Yes there were Chinese high book manufacturers, but the quality was questionable, and the get-go models to reach markets like the Nordic countries simply did non survive the cold and rain for long.
2011. Struggling to reach work. 20 miles. Retrofit 250W front motor. 216 Wh bombardment. I had a bet with a co-worker that I would go by due east-bike every mean solar day for a year. I won the bet.
I tried one of these motor systems on my own bicycle. A replacement front bike with a tiny 250W planetary gear motor and a small 216 Wh battery pack. About 400 miles (644 km) later the motor snapped. I got it replaced, but I started to wait around for something of premium quality.
This was a couple of years after the COP15 in Copenhagen 2009 where a project called the Copenhagen Wheel developed by the SENSEable City Lab at MIT was presented:
Controlled through your smartphone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes a natural extension of your everyday life. You lot can use your telephone to unlock and lock your wheel, change gears and select how much the motor assists you.
If you are interested in owning a wheel, producing, licensing or distributing, please contact Superpedestrian for more information.
I contacted Superpedestrian to find out if I could get my hands on a kit, merely I learned it would be a while before information technology would come to market. In the meantime I plant the Canadian production BionX, which seemed like a high finish product, so I decided to quit my twenty-four hour period job and go all-in on a Danish dealership.
Now, this is where it becomes difficult to avoid offending anybody, just since BionX didn't survive after a decade of trying very hard to make a strong and flawless product, I can exist honest without an calendar to discredit the good people who actually tried. In fact I however ride a couple of bikes with BionX systems, and they are still the all-time systems I have ever experienced, merely the mean solar day they break downward, and they will, information technology's over.
You see, when you lot're dealing with a low volume and loftier priced technically complex production there is of course the inevitable occasional fault of some component failing due to a statistical — albeit low — probability of error in manufacturing, supplier parts, or raw materials. In other words, no matter how well designed a product is, at that place volition exist faults once in a while, but despite of this fact there is usually no hassle for the client to get the role in question replaced. In the instance of electric bicycles, we are of form mainly talking nigh the motor and the bombardment.
Notwithstanding, if in that location is a design flaw of some sort that causes a failure to occur at a statistical high probability, and then the monster comes out. Hither is how it starts: A customer has a motor that grinds to a halt due to a magnet getting loose. The customer gets a new motor. The new motor grinds to a halt due to a magnet getting loose. Now, if this happens a third fourth dimension, there is a very skilful chance nosotros are dealing with a bad design. The monster is out.
The customer now might claim a full refund, which the dealer so claims from the manufacturer, which takes the loss. It goes without proverb that if these situations cross the timeline of warranty things tin can get ugly, because then the loss shifts from the manufacturer (where loss is bad considering it threatens its very existence) to the dealer (the frustrated middleman putting in hours nobody is paying for) and further down to the customer (who is not happy at all having spent the coin in the commencement place).
I personally gave up in this business organisation after a few years with likewise many "monsters." I mean, I loved the products, I had a majority of happy customers, and the distributor and manufacturer people were really trying their level best. But I got very skillful at identifying whether a flaw in a product was merely bad luck or a design flaw. I tried other brands, but never came around to find a production that really had the quality that was needed for all parties to be happy.
When things got tight economically due to the hours I put in trying to fix the problems my customers had and trying to get the manufacturer to accept cleaved parts back for refund that where out of warranty, I realized that I had ii options: Either quit, or go a multi-brand dealer of complete eastward-bikes instead of only doing retrofit systems. The retail electric bikes on the marketplace had, and still have, the mass produced systems from Bosch and the like, and some well proven Chinese systems. But aslope the security of dealing with hardware of mass produced systems, in that location is the ruthless competitions among an ever growing number of dealers. I but wasn't upwards for it. So I'm back in my erstwhile dayjob.
An Example Of The Copenhagen Wheel Dilemma
When the Copenhagen Bicycle finally fabricated it to market in 2017, information technology was presented hither on CleanTechnica by Nicolas Zart, and I had the skilful fortune to attempt information technology out myself at the first Danish dealer in 2018. It was a very pleasant experience, and I only had high praise for the product on all accounts.
2018. The Copenhagen Wheel really is a joy to ride.
Since then I accept not thought much about it, because I take been diving deep into the high risk take chances of some other personal mobility startup that is making the almost impossible jump from low volume to mass market while trying very hard to blueprint products that do not have inherent high probability flaws, which would otherwise kill the company in an a very brusque fourth dimension.
Simply then just the other day I was approached past a Copenhagen Bike customer who was quite unhappy with the product, and with the style the manufacturer had dealt with the issues. Again, I will not takes sides here, simply I recognize the frustration from both sides, and all I can do is urge all parties to exchange as much detailed information as possible in club to find a solution to the bug at hand. I agreed to do this follow-up and reproduce the parts of the information given to me that I found relevant, in gild to go some perspective on the matter.
On the i hand, I have tremendous respect for any startup to even try to bring anything to market with the notorious risks information technology involves, but I also urge anyone who articles any physical apparatus that ends upwards in the hands of everyday users to accost any loftier probability (more than 2) malfunctions immediately and find a set for it so fast that the number of hours spent on the flawed pattern are minimized.
On the other paw, I have sympathy for the customer who spent a higher than boilerplate corporeality of money on a premium product, and the best that can happen to a loyal customer is to be met by swift activity to remedy the trouble, either by replacement or refund, regardless of warranty. I mean, don't hide likewise much behind warranty, but attempt to make a superior product instead. However, I also think the customer has a responsibility to get acquainted with a brand before investing their hard earned money in it. A low volume, premium quality, superior functionality product is at risk of encountering bug no i could have anticipated. The risk of failure grows exponentially for every extra caste of complexity.
The only style to movement forward in my stance is to maintain respect for all parties in the domain of low volume products (below maybe fifty,000 units per year?), considering it is but risky business, people. And with that in mind, I requite you lot an example of an owner of a Copenhagen Wheel who had diverse issues, and the response I got from Superpedestrian when I asked nearly some of the specific issues, and its strategy around the Copenhagen Wheel in general.
Sam Ribnick, Copenhagen Cycle owner, January 21, 2020:
How-do-you-do Jesper,
I wonder if y'all'd consider updating your review of the Copenhagen Wheel. It's the first result that comes up when someone searches, and is a very positive review.
Unfortunately, myself and others accept found that the company, Superpedestrian, has a very poor level of support for the bike. Further, many internal components of the wheel cannot be serviced, and the official response from support has been to buy a new bike.
For context, I bought the cycle 2nd-mitt from the first owner via craigslist, and so I sympathise that the warranty would not apply to me (though other e-bicycle manufacturers do offer warranty transfer). The cycle and bike were in fantabulous status when I bought it, merely I experienced lower-than-expected range right from the start. On some days I could become close to 20 miles and other days as low equally 15, fifty-fifty when using "eco manner". This is much lower than the 31 mile range on their website and in many reviews.
I used the bike for my daily commute, including riding in light and medium rain. Within a month, the wheel developed a grinding noise on every rotation. I contacted the back up team and you'll run across the whole commutation in the other chain I forward y'all. Ultimately, their merely recommendation was that I buy a new wheel, and they refused to requite a straight answer to the question of whether the bike tin can be used in the rain (the website and transmission are not articulate on this, using uncertain language like "have the Cycle within (if possible) during downpours"). I establish this case online of another customer who had a similar problem with the bearings, and too was told to buy a new wheel.
Likewise, I called 3 local bicycle shops listed as partners on their website about the result, including the one where the bike was purchased. One said that they stopped supporting the wheel because the company was then unresponsive and hard to piece of work with. A second said the shop can only handle repairs to the spoke and rims. The 3rd said they can't aid and have had a bad experience with the support team – his recommendation was that I just keep emailing every day to get a response.
Overall, I really actually dear the wheel when it runs, and it's working well for my commute. Simply for the price of the wheel, the depression durability and poor back up are big concerns. I meet a number of factors hither that potential buyers should know ahead of time:
Range is probable to exist lower than the 31 miles promised and volition reduce over time.
Using the wheel in moisture conditions risks irreparable impairment, and the company will not ostend that the bike can exist used in the rain.
Some internal components (due east.g bearings) cannot be repaired, so if you feel damage the only option is to buy a new wheel.
Bike shops listed on the partner website may non actually be partners, and fifty-fifty those that are can only repair the spokes and rim. There is no support network for the electronic components of the wheel.
The back up team takes days to respond to emails, never gives a name of who you are working with, and there is no way at all to accomplish them by phone.
In my view, the cycle is a lot of fun, but buyers should be aware that it cannot fully accept the place of their existing bike due to the likelihood of damage in weather. Further, the integrated design of the wheel means that it is much less serviceable than a conventional bike or even other e-bikes. Finally, the warranty period is only i twelvemonth, lower than for other e-wheel companies.
Sam
Sam Ribnick, Copenhagen Wheel possessor, January 24, 2020:
Hi Superpedestrian Team,
I noticed a new dissonance while riding yesterday, and when I examined the wheel I noticed that one of the spokes had popped out of its seating and the bicycle is slightly out of truthful. It also looks like the red housing is slightly chipped. I just examined the wheel thoroughly a couple of weeks ago related to a unlike issue, and the trouble is new since and so. I took pictures this morning, below.
Can you delight propose on a few questions virtually this?
1) Is the bike safe to ride in this condition?
two) Tin this be fixed, given the chip in the cherry housing?
three) Can Superpedestrian provide any support in this example?
Cheers!
Sam
Chris Amory, Managing director of Operations, Superpedestrian, January 31, 2020:
Hullo Jesper,
Thank you again for reaching out well-nigh the Copenhagen Wheel. We are happy to address your question well-nigh the Copenhagen Bike's build quality, performance in the field, and customer support.
The Copenhagen Wheel is a premium production that pushes the boundary of ride quality compared to other bulldoze systems on the market. We achieve this level of quality past employing exotic alloys in the chassis, novel torque sensing technology, and 3 proprietary on board computers. The result is a powerful bulldoze arrangement that has the industry'due south fastest and near seamless ability response (when measured past comparison the lag between pedal strokes and ability output from the motor) and electronic braking experience.
Additionally, we offer the product at a competitive price through a direct sales model which reduces the 300% margin typically paid past customers for premium drive systems to under twenty%, delivering the highest possible value to our customers. For that reason, the Copenhagen Bicycle is designed equally a retrofit. A complete electric wheel integrated with the powertrain technology inside the Copenhagen Wheel would retail at over EUR four.5K.
In a sense, we miniaturized a complex vehicle powertrain into a wheel, which resulted in a highly-integrated product in which some components are nested within others. This means that, for example, replacing bearings is a labor-intensive process.
With this in mind, we invested significantly in build quality to minimize requirements for service past deploying novel self-diagnostics and self-protection capabilities in each Wheel and through investing in loftier quality mechanical pattern and exhaustive testing. The results we have seen are very good. Nosotros have plenty of Wheels in the field that accept been ridden for tens of thousands of miles, and electronic issues are the lowest in the industry. The only issues we have seen with electronics are in rare cases where users did not charge or store their Wheel as instructed for periods of several months, and equally a result, damaged their batteries equally would happen with any electric bicycle.
If whatever technical problems arise, Superpedestrian offers an industry standard warranty for original owners of the Copenhagen Wheel: one twelvemonth in the US, 2 years in Europe. Nosotros have and will continue to accolade all valid warranty claims including replacing Wheels with new ones whenever necessary.
Regarding riding the Bike in the pelting: the Copenhagen Bike is designed co-ordinate to the industry's standard EN15194 spec. While the standard requires IPX4 rating (splashproof, but not fully waterproof), we accept gone further and designed information technology to pass IPX5 (low pressure h2o jet sprays but not fully waterproof). Users are made enlightened of this. Our manual and online support middle both mention avoiding riding in excessively wet weather – you can read more than about it here.
Over the years, we have seen a very small number of cases in which users rode their Wheel in excessively rainy conditions and had water penetrate the non-drive side begetting. While this voids our warranty, we have worked closely with our customers to remedy the issue, and in several cases have replaced Wheels.
The result yous may be referring to is in a handful of cases where users rode their Wheels in extremely wet conditions or submerged in deep puddles. Superpedestrian is unable to provide replacement Wheels in such cases.
If you believe that the customers you have been in contact with have a bearing issue that did not upshot from abuse of the product, please accept them reach out to us and we will do our best to resolve the upshot with them.
Nosotros stand backside the Copenhagen Wheel 100%.
Regarding future products, every bit you lot may know nosotros accept recently launched an due east-scooter sharing fleet product which incorporates the cocky-diagnostics and cocky-protection capabilities of the Copenhagen Wheel, and is tested to exist the industry's nearly reliable e-scooter. We are working on a new type of ii-wheeled micro vehicle correct now, and as well plan to release a new electric-wheel drive system in 2022.
Hopefully these details assist clarify the points you raised. If you lot have any further questions, please feel gratis to attain out.
Kind Regards,
The Superpedestrian team
Well, there y'all have it. It's a tough earth out in that location in the electrical personal mobility space. I hope all parties notice the force to conduct a off-white dialog and come to agreement on some of the problems on these amazing products. I want to thank Sam and Chris for being open up to my take on the situation.
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Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2020/02/08/the-copenhagen-wheel-an-honest-follow-up/
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