Bionx kit in the UK

[rooel]

Use Google (France) and type Bionx in the search box. You should then find pages for Matra the French importers, and some retail outlets such as Vélos à assistance électrique par cyclable - vente de vélo et d'accessoires de ville et de voyage.

The price seems to be around 1200 euros, which is now £900 (the pound has declined against the euro). Nycewheels in the US charge 1100 dollars which is £550 (the dollar has declined against the pound) but will, like most US retailers, have to add hundreds of dollars for carriage. Add 25% (for duty, VAT, and brokerage) to that total to find the final price delivered to your UK door.

 

[rooel]

JV Bikes on the far side of Canada is another specialist Bionx dealer. They have a really fine looking Bionx complete bike here JV Bike -- Electric Bicycle: Norco VFR + BionX ...
at a sale price of under 1500 US dollars, but I think the UK landed price would be double that.

 

[giguana]

okay I have sent a couple of messages out, it would be a good idea to see what the Danish dealer is like because they're not too bothered about learning English like the French are even the Polish dealer might speak English and and they might take a smaller margin.

 

[mk1]

okay I have sent a couple of messages out, it would be a good idea to see what the Danish dealer is like because they're not too bothered about learning English like the French are even the Polish dealer might speak English and and they might take a smaller margin.

I will be interested in your findings, I have tried looking through the French sites myself but don't speak the lingo too well.

Martin

 

[Barnsda]

I am amazed there are no Bionx dealers in this country (the UK) too ... !! but if interest in electric bike continues, then its only a matter of time, hopefully.
I have the Bionx 250 (legal here) version; and I can vouch for it being a quality kit that has far exceeded my expectations. I have had it now for about 9 months, and use it daily, as it has enabled me to get rid of my car. Im a 47 years old lady cylist who isnt exactlty roaring fit as I am inclined to quickly become tired. I find I can pedal up most hills in top gear ... a thing I have not been able to do since I was in my 20's,.. though this does mean a good vigorous pedal on my behalf and with the contoller set to 200% (meaning the engine puts in twice the effort I do as I pedal along). But I whiz up the hills at a really neat pace, and dont arrive at the top exhausted and sweaty having taken 5 mins of slow wobbly and heavy exertion....!

 

[mk1]

Welcome to the forum Barnsda.
Most comments I have read from owners of the Bionx have also been very positive.
Can I ask what type of bike you put the kit on?, and did you import yours from the US?.

Martin

 

[Renaud]

I believe that there is no dealer of 350w BionX in EU.
But in Swizerland, the 350w and 500w are sold. An excellent dealer with a very informative website (in french) is easycycle.ch. I suppose there is several dealer with a website in german (e-biking is far more frequent in germanic Switzerland than in romanic Switzerland).

 

[treknavigator]

bion x bike kits

I am a dealer for the product in North Battleford Sask Canada I have TESTED THE SYSTEM MYSELF APPROACHING 6500KLMS THIS IS A QUALITY PRODUCT HERE THE PRICE DICTATES THAT YOU JUST CAN'T SELL JUNK FOR THIS KIND OF MONEY

 

[flecc]

Hello treknavigator, welcome to the forum.

We have a high opinion of the BionX here in the UK too, but sadly only the 250 watt is legal here. Some do buy the 350 watt kit direct from Canada, and we have members with both types.
.

 

[rooel]

Import/exports between EU member states do not attract import VAT, whereas those from outside the EU do. Switzerland is not a member state, but does have some kind of free trade agreement with the EU. Does anyone know if VAT is added to an import from Switzerland to the UK for example?

 

[Renaud]

Yes it does. But the swiss VAT is not paid (Switzerland doesn't tax its exports !). So it's the difference between Swiss VAT and UK VAT that is added. And of course the transport cost.

 

[rooel]

As the Swiss standard VAT rate is 7.6% that would suggest 10% VAT will be added for imports to the UK.

 

[Tiberius]

No, you'll end up paying the normal UK VAT of 17.5% - unless you manage to slip through the net and avoid it entirely, of course.

Its not quite true either that VAT isn't charged on cross border trade within the EU. It has to be accounted for - but there are schemes for doing that without sending the money back and forth.

The real difference between EU and non EU sourcing is not VAT but import duty.

Nick

 

[Renaud]

Of course that the 17,5% UK CAT is fully charged !
But the price given by swiss website include a swiss VAT that is not charged.

Ok, if you want to make step by step calculation don't compute the difference between the two VAT but add the UK VAT on the swiss gross (ie without VAT) price.
So :
1) take the swiss public price
2) substract the swiss VAT since it's an exportation (divide by 1,076)
3) add the UK VAT (multiply by 1,175)

Switzerland with Iceland and Norway form the Free Trade European Association. There is no or insignifant import duty in the trade between UE and FTEA.
Difference between buying in Germany or Tchequia (UE members) and buying in Norway or Switzerland (FTEA members) is that in the first case you pay the VAT at german or tcheque % and in the second at UK %.

 

[treknavigator]

Re Bionx Kits

ANYONE INTERESTED CONTACT SANDERSKD@ACCESSCOMM.CA I AM A DEALER OF PRODUCT IN SASKATCHEWAN CANADA ANY ? I WILL TRY ANY HELP OUT 6300KLMS ON MY PERSONAL UNIT AND COUNTING

 

[treknavigator]

RE TREK NAVIGATOR EMAIL re BIONX

sanderskd@accesscomm.ca all lower case ok

 

[Steveu]

BionX codes

I been trying out some of the other codes (found on various internet sites) for changing setting but its not always clear from very brief description what they do (and I don't want to change things I don't understand!).

Do you have list of codes and knowldge of what they do?

3773 de-restricting it easy (and using throttle with rear wheel in the air gets it up to about 23 mph)

2002 enables you to reduce level of regenerative braking (which helps reduce vibration that high regen mode seems to produce)

3779 - said to provide info on remaining time/distance doesn't seem to do anything on mine - have you tried this?

I'm also wondering if there is a way of reducing the assistance provided by the 4 levels (I tend to use only 1 and 2 most of the time, 3 and 4 only very occassionally). If the level of assistance on level 1 could be reduced to, say, 25% (as on 250W motor) - instead of 35% - this might increase the range on a full charge. If a higher level of assistance is required then one can always use the throttle (which automatically gives max assist).

Would be interested to hear what info you have on the codes and what you have tried.

SteveU

Here in Canada the Bionx dealers are regular bike shops that sell top end bikes. The dealers see an advantage to being able to equip most bikes they sell with this system. I would approach a bike shop and give them the Bionx website and see if they are interested. If you order directly from Bionx they want it to be delivered to a bike shop for set up.
The high end bike shops like this system because it retains the handling characteristics of the bikes it is installed on.
Once a 350 W system is installed the only way of knowing it is not 250 watt system ( by looking at it) is the small 36V sticker on the battery. The motor has no markings and the throttle is available as an option on the 250.
I am not suggesting that anyone would buy this illegal system in the UK .......Just as no one would remove the speed restriction on their ebike....
You can buy just the motor from a dealer but you would be missing the great console that allows so much adjustment by entering codes for...Max speed assist or throttle, wheel size (rpm) ,speed motor will start, battery diagnostics etc. ( I have collected a few codes not listed in the manual!)
The battery is expensive but seems very long lived in my case of almost 2 years. (Flecc, I just checked a site and the price has increased to $1045 CAD ! I thought it would be going down.)
OHM are using the motor and console on their new bikes but have elected to use a battery by MOLICELL. It will be interesting to see how this bike fairs when tested by extra energy in the spring.

 

[treknavigator]

bion x

Hello treknavigator, welcome to the forum.

We have a high opinion of the BionX here in the UK too, but sadly only the 250 watt is legal here. Some do buy the 350 watt kit direct from Canada, and we have members with both types.
.

350 watt can be sent by myself - sanderskd@accesscomm.ca bion x dealer

 

[clckn2000]

Bionx bike sand kit but not in the UK and legislation

All the messages for this item seem to be about two years old but are worthy of revisiting.
Having seen the Bionx website and read various comments fom users of this forum and others it seems a shame that such a bike or conversion kit is not available to us.
Has anything happened to change this in the last two years.

I've been reading the legislative notes regarding the changing specification of pedilectric bikes for the UK and see that Twist and Go is to outlawed. What a shame, it's what makes electric bikes so good to ride apart from etc etc etc.

 

[flecc]

Having seen the Bionx website and read various comments fom users of this forum and others it seems a shame that such a bike or conversion kit is not available to us.
Has anything happened to change this in the last two years.

Zyro in the UK are in the process of becoming BionX agents, information on this link.

The Zyro website is on this link.
.