I am new but but I found this site when searching Kalkhoff Impulse issues, of which there seem to be many. I am in dispute with 50 Cycles who supplied my wife's bike- a Tasman i8. It seems that 50 cycles have given up on the Kalkhoff franchise - think I read that on here. My attempt to contact Matt Goodes ( general Manager ) on his return from vacation elicited the response that he was no longer with the company. This set alarm bells ringing. According to Companies House ( Gov website ) the original company trading as 50 Cycles Ltd went into CVA in January this year. They have obviously continued to trade ( I got another replacement motor in May ) but a new company- 50 Cycles Distribution Ltd was incorporated in September of this year. Not sure what this all means yet but Caveat Emptor applies.
What's happening at 50 Cycles?
- Thread starter Babsbike
- Start date
They were obviously in trouble as there Shoreham high street shop closed earlier this year. The company and brand have, I believe suffered badly and the issues with the impulse motor has been highlighted many times on here and in Germany. Any one who still buys one with an impulse drive need their head testing, which I can do with a pair of leads plugged in to 240v.
It's not the first time their status has been in question, the company being up for sale previously though always returning to trading under the same ownership. They gave up handling Kalkhoff some while ago and this follows a long pattern of trading in many brands for short periods and support often failing afterwards.
The current 50cycles company appears to have taken back a number of Kalkhoff e-bikes which are for sale on pages 4 and 5 of their current website on this link.
Kalkhoff e-bikes that don't use the motors made by the Daum company sold as Impulse and Evo are good machines, it's just these motors which are the source of all that brand's troubles.
However your cautionary note re: 50cycles in your last sentence is appropriate, given the often unsatisfactory experiences of many of our members over the years.
.
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I have subsequently learned that a CVA applies when a company is insolvent. I am not sure how they have continued to trade especially as the new company ( 50 cycles distribution Ltd ) was not registered until 6 September 2019. I am now appealing to my credit card company under section 75. Anyone else in this position?
I ordered an electric bike from them on 30 September, & rang today at 1720 to get an update on the order. A recorded message just said ‘closed for business’ which immediately raised a red flag with me. Surely they’d give their office hours, etc? They’re supposed to be open until 1730 ....
I’ll update here tomorrow if/when I get an answer.
I’ll update here tomorrow if/when I get an answer.
Looking at Companies House website this morning, the original company 50 Cycles Ltd is no longer trading and yes, is now a company in Voluntary Arrangement. There's a new company set up: 50 Cycles Distribution Ltd, at 1e instead of 1 Charnwood business park.
However, you cannot get through by phone on any of the contact numbers: the message says 'we are closed for business'. In addition, I've just had an email returned as I tried to make contact via orders@50cycles.com. The email reply states 'does not exist'.
Also note that the original family Snaith are not on the new company, but Veronica Snaith is, who might be Tim Snaith's wife? Not sure: whatever the story, it's dodgy.
I shall have to pursue via the credit card I used to pay for the bike. If anyone wants to make direct contact with me regarding this matter, my email address is cathy@protravel2000.co.uk.
I'll keep you updated as to my progress.
I am fairly familiar with cva and other forms of insolvency
What's odd about this is a CVA is way to continue trading over a fixed term by agreeing a reduced debt with the companies major creditors . The idea is to exit insolvency a renewed , solvent company
This was agreed in Jan 2019 (see companies house data)
So they have been trading a long time dont appear to be having paying debts as they fall due nor have the excited the cva either solvent or insolvency . Now without information none of us have access to I'm struggling to see how the directors are not in wrongful trading territory here
What would be interesting, if I were an affected party might be to ask eric walls the the insolvency practitioner (ksa group Ltd- see companies house again ) what the fixed term agreed in Jan 2019 was
If, for example, 50 cycles continued to take your money and trade after that date......why is that not wrongful trading ? And why is the IP reporting g the directors
There are a lot of ifs here and a lot of missing info
I'm very grateful for all these updates today. Since posting a message on 50cycles Facebook page earlier, I've been contacted by another person whose mother ordered a BH bike from 50cycles on 11 September & still haven't received it. the mother in question & her husband went to 50cycles warehouse at Charnwood business park today, where they were told that they would receive their bike and were shown so-called paperwork to prove this. I don't believe they will receive it though, and I agree with Kirstin S regarding 50cycles credibility, and have indeed asked myself the same questions.
Note: I have also emailed extensive info to the editor at Cycling Industry news, who has published an article on this issue this afternoon. I've also spoken to the KSA Group (they are handling the Voluntary Arrangement scenario), and they had no idea that 50 cycles had set up another company in September!
I too have filled out a credit card dispute declaration form as I did fortunately pay by credit card.
Scott Snaith (co-owner of 50cycles) is quoted in today's article as saying that the company still has approx £600k of debt after the CVA. I honestly don't see how they can recover from that. Here's the article:
cyclingindustry.news
I'm hoping others will come forward as I suspect there are plenty more people out there who have paid for bikes that they haven't received. Again, please keep your comments coming, and thanks again.
Note: I have also emailed extensive info to the editor at Cycling Industry news, who has published an article on this issue this afternoon. I've also spoken to the KSA Group (they are handling the Voluntary Arrangement scenario), and they had no idea that 50 cycles had set up another company in September!
I too have filled out a credit card dispute declaration form as I did fortunately pay by credit card.
Scott Snaith (co-owner of 50cycles) is quoted in today's article as saying that the company still has approx £600k of debt after the CVA. I honestly don't see how they can recover from that. Here's the article:
50 Cycles: what next for the retailer and the distributor?
Electric bike specialist 50 Cycles has "closed for business", though a new firm trading from the same address as the former appears to be operational.
cyclingindustry.news
I'm hoping others will come forward as I suspect there are plenty more people out there who have paid for bikes that they haven't received. Again, please keep your comments coming, and thanks again.
Forgot to outline in my previous diatribe that I tried ordering a bike on the 50cycles website earlier and succeeded in getting all the way through to the payment screen before I aborted the order. This means that they are still taking orders, then! How can this possibly be happening. Their emails bounce straight back, stating that the 'email address no longer exists' (not withstanding the stock answer on the answerphone).
I feel sorry for the customers but having been on the receiving end of a rude call from one of their directors I have to say I will not miss them. All because they were slagging off BH who were not on the forum. This was after a customer had said something about BH so not even first hand. I hope everyone gets their money back. Never liked their attitude. Always think it is best to buy local which is why we only sell within 2 hours of our address.
Just got back this morning from Canada expecting my Atom Diamond Pro to be delivered this week. emails and phone call(on voicemail) last week all tracking and confirming delivery this week - then the same as everyone else on this forum.
Only lost the deposit which with luck I should get back from MasterCard; anyone got the link for a reclaim please?
Can anyone suggest a similar bike to replace my 4 year old agattu (which has worked perfectly). I need more help climbing hills and would prefer hub gears.
Grateful for suggestions
Regards
No Bike
Only lost the deposit which with luck I should get back from MasterCard; anyone got the link for a reclaim please?
Can anyone suggest a similar bike to replace my 4 year old agattu (which has worked perfectly). I need more help climbing hills and would prefer hub gears.
Grateful for suggestions
Regards
No Bike
There aren't many hub geared ebikes. The Raleigh Motus is one, but it certainly isn't a replacement for that style of bike.
Ring your MasterCard supplier & they will email you a form, which is what I did. However we have to stop the Snaith brothers somehow because the 50 cycles website is still live and you can still order bikes on their website. This can’t be right, surely? I was in contact with someone yesterday whose parents spent £2.5k, ordered on 11 September, and again they haven’t received it. They drove to 50 cycles HQ yesterday where Scott Snaith assured them the bike would be there by Friday. There are a lot of bikes in the warehouse, apparently.
The fact remains though that they refuse to acknowledge any of my messages via FB messenger regarding my order, plus phone number no longer works. . I’m going to ring their insolvency practitioner again tomorrow and report all of this to trading standards.
I can confirm that 50cycles Ltd is being wound up as of this morning. I have just spoken to the KSA Group who were handling the CVA, who tell me that 50cycles Ltd is still in arrears, hence this morning's decision. They have instructed solicitors to wind up the company.
HOWEVER: their website is up and running, and you can still buy a bike on it!
In addition, there are two other companies trading from a similar address, namely 50cycles distribution Ltd, (set up in September), and Toba Distribution Ltd (set up in February).
How do they sleep at night ...
HOWEVER: their website is up and running, and you can still buy a bike on it!
In addition, there are two other companies trading from a similar address, namely 50cycles distribution Ltd, (set up in September), and Toba Distribution Ltd (set up in February).
How do they sleep at night ...
So my question to KSA and the IP in particular would be
1. What was the trading period agreed at the 24 jan 2019 CVA ?
2. Did 50c accept orders after that date ? If so why is that not wrongful trading and have KSA considered their duties to make a report on the company directors
3. And if ksa have been intructed to wind up then they have now fully stepped into the shoes of the outgoing directors. In which case why the hell are THEY still taking orders
I am not a legally interested party (basically I didn't order a bike) but others who have been caught up in this would have a legitimate to claim to getting these questions answered
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