Dead BionX
Update 2:
I just heard from the BionX dealer, Bicycle Center of Seattle, today that BionX will not accept a return from him. I don’t completely understand why not, but it sounded like it might be because they get their BionX kits through another distributor – though they’re still listed on the BionX website as a dealer (BionX had told me just to bring my battery to a dealer, no special caveats mentioned). In any case, I’m pretty confused and very miffed.
I’m trying to figure out where I can go or what I can do to get this repair done now. Problem is now I won’t be able to get back to Seattle for at least a week and a half unless I take time off from work. Add on to that a minimum of a few weeks (my guess) for repair and shipping back and forth from Canada and I’m looking at a month or more without my BionX – which for all of my other riding would be fine, except for the “hill of death” at the end of my work commute.
Out of desperation I just ordered a refurbished battery from NYCeWheels so I can at least keep commuting while I get this sorted out, but my credit card and I are not very happy right now.
Update:
After some helpful emails with both NYCeWheels and BionX, I was able to pin down the problem more definitively to the battery. Fortunately, it sounds like I may be able to get my battery rebuilt for less than the price of a new one. On the downside, BionX requires that returns be handled through a dealer and the closest one is about an hour’s drive away in Seattle. I managed to get up there on Sunday though and the process is rolling. I still don’t know exactly how much it will cost or how long it will take. At this point I just have to wait and see.
Original Post:
Doesn’t my velomobile know that I have better things to do than constantly troubleshoot it? I was feeling very excited about finally having my Team on the road again with everything working smoothly, including my BionX electric assist.
But yesterday when I got the velo out to ride to work, the BionX wouldn’t turn on. I just figured that maybe, however unlikely, the battery had gone dead since the last time I rode it. I agonized for a bit about whether I should still ride it (thinking of the hill of death on my route), but decided to just go for it since I was already geared up for a ride. I thought I might still be able to make it (albeit really slowly) because the Team has a really good gear range. As it turns out, I only made it about a quarter of the way up the hill before I got stuck and had to jump out and push my velomobile the rest of the way up the hill. It’s a pretty terrible place to be stuck during morning rush hour since there is absolutely no shoulder, but fortunately no one ran me over before I could move the velo up onto the sidewalk.
I recharged the battery and the BionX still won’t turn on. Checked all the connections and still nothing. If I hold the power button down the display will come on, but it goes back off as soon as I let the button go. Searching on some forums I found a few people with similar problems, but their solutions generally seemed to be replacing the battery, which I really don’t want to have to do right now. I also checked the NYCeWheels BionX Troubleshooting Guide, but I didn’t like the results of the battery wakeup test – nothing happened (which, again, points to replacing the battery). I also emailed BionX, but have yet to hear anything back. I have no idea why it would just suddenly stop working like this.
So I’m feeling pretty frustrated right now since it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to ride to work without pushing my Team up the hill, which kind of takes the fun out it. Really hoping that I don’t need to shell out about $1,000 for a new battery when I haven’t even gotten that much use out of my current one.