Hey everyone, I caught wind that just this week BionX has [strike]filed for Bankruptcy[/strike] entered receivership and has effectively shut its doors for the time being while looking for a buyer:
https://www.grantthornton.ca/en/service/advisory/creditor-updates/#Bionx-Canada-Inc
I'm rather of mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, their newer 'D' series motors (asides from noise issues) were quite unique with surprisingly good performance specs, among the best torque and power to weight ratio of any DD ebike hub motor on the market. It was really cool to see another Canadian company that had been one of the early pioneers of hub motor conversions still still around and innovating after more than 15 years.
On the other hand, they also developed their system around a closed and proprietary architecture, making it impossible for end users to used 3rd party batteries, or even get replacement or repair parts when they switched from the I2C to CanBUS communication protocol. That's the main reason that we never dealt with BionX kits, and is something that I always cautioned people against. What do you do with a proprietary setup when the company is no longer in business or discontinues support for that particular model?
Bicycles last for decades, and there's no reason that ebikes can't last for decades too. If BionX does indeed shut down completely then there will be 10's or 100's of thousands of BionX powered bikes out there with no support or upgrade path with things fail. The popular Bosch and Shimano systems are no different. While it's unlikely that Bosch would go bankrupt any time soon, there's nothing saying that the corporate forces at Bosch might note decide that the ebike business doesn't have the same revenue to risk as their many other ventures, and they could just pull the plug too.
I'm curious to hear more about people's stories good and bad with BionX setups. I know that it's far from the kind of kit that is popular by most the ES audience but at least here in Vancouver I still see far more BionX powered ebikes on the streets than any other single brand.
https://www.grantthornton.ca/en/service/advisory/creditor-updates/#Bionx-Canada-Inc
I'm rather of mixed emotions about this. On the one hand, their newer 'D' series motors (asides from noise issues) were quite unique with surprisingly good performance specs, among the best torque and power to weight ratio of any DD ebike hub motor on the market. It was really cool to see another Canadian company that had been one of the early pioneers of hub motor conversions still still around and innovating after more than 15 years.
On the other hand, they also developed their system around a closed and proprietary architecture, making it impossible for end users to used 3rd party batteries, or even get replacement or repair parts when they switched from the I2C to CanBUS communication protocol. That's the main reason that we never dealt with BionX kits, and is something that I always cautioned people against. What do you do with a proprietary setup when the company is no longer in business or discontinues support for that particular model?
Bicycles last for decades, and there's no reason that ebikes can't last for decades too. If BionX does indeed shut down completely then there will be 10's or 100's of thousands of BionX powered bikes out there with no support or upgrade path with things fail. The popular Bosch and Shimano systems are no different. While it's unlikely that Bosch would go bankrupt any time soon, there's nothing saying that the corporate forces at Bosch might note decide that the ebike business doesn't have the same revenue to risk as their many other ventures, and they could just pull the plug too.
I'm curious to hear more about people's stories good and bad with BionX setups. I know that it's far from the kind of kit that is popular by most the ES audience but at least here in Vancouver I still see far more BionX powered ebikes on the streets than any other single brand.