BH UK

[peterh]

I've been reading all the positive comments by BH owners and it seems that BH seems to have by far the largest following on this web site.
In the UK BH has nothing like the following to that of US.
There was one negative post regarding broken spokes which it seems was a bad batch, back in the spring and nothing since.
Unfortunately the previous importers seemed to have done a pretty bad job of sorting these problems out which resulted in some dealers giving up on BH altogether.
We now have a new importer that seems to have better backing from BH which hopefully will increase sales and dealers.
We have an active web site over here which seems to be dominated by a few major manufactures .( not BH)
I am not an ebike owner yet as I've been waiting for the 2015 BH bikes to come in.
I'm not prepared to have a whacking great battery sitting on the bike saying hey i'm an electric bike please take note and steal me or other bikers looking down their noses at an ebiker .
Bh is by far the nearest eb to a standard bike and other than the Stromer which is not available in the UK is the most attractive. I hope my new BH lives up to the hype Ive just given it.

 

[Peter]

Yep. I have been a BH owner for a year. Have a Race and a Jumper. I love them and thay have made me cycle 10 times more than before.

Only downsides to BH bikes is the paint. It is very bad.

 

[peterh]

Next question is do I go for the Nitro Cross 48v 9ah battery where I have to sign my life away that I wont use it on the road
or the Evo cross 36v 12 ah battery which is legal ?

Bearing in mind i'm just over 200lbs 5ft 10 mainly muscle I must add ( Maybe a bit of fat)

 

[peterh]

So Peter do I get the Nitro Cross or the Evo cross and what would my realistic mileage be on both ?

 

[Deleted member 803]

Peterh, I have a new Neo Carbon which I love and is for sale. I saw the new Nitro Cross at Interbike and it is gorgeous. I have found BH bikes to be well built. I have the new 12A battery and even though I am morbidly obese and old I still get over 30mph to a charge.

 

[peterh]

So why are you selling the new Neo carbon , if you love it ?

 

[Deleted member 803]

So why are you selling the new Neo carbon , if you love it ?

On to a mid-drive. For me this is all about education. I do take a beating but the money is not the point for me. I do the same with motorcycles although I usually hang onto them for about 6-9 months.

 

[peterh]

Your mid drive being a bosch or Yamaha motor , what make?

 

[EddieJ]

Unfortunately the previous importers seemed to have done a pretty bad job of sorting these problems out which resulted in some dealers giving up on BH altogether.
We now have a new importer that seems to have better backing from BH which hopefully will increase sales and dealers.

Maxtrack were never the issue for anyone in UK trying to resolve the many issues that have cropped up with BH bikes the UK. From my understanding, it was and always will be BH UK.

The only thing that has changed, is one less company in supply line. Dealers that I know of, have said that they are considering dropping BH when their stock has gone, and others have shown the BH rep the door.

In the UK, BH products make for a good door stop. I hope that you have a big book to read or, another bike to ride for when or if things go wrong.

My final words on the subject of BH can be found here. http://electricbikereview.com/community/threads/here-i-go-again.848/ and over and above the last issues which BH UK were trusted to repair and didn't, this list of previous faults and problems was pretty extensive.

Constant error codes from day one.
Rear hub bearing failure within the first 100 miles.
Two replacement motors.
Peeling paint.
Integrated braze-on lugs that spin within the frame.
Two batteries, and even then the second one failed and was going to need a third.
Non working regen. It isn't even possible for the geared up to have a functioning regen, so BH should be doing a lot of refunds.
Cracked console.
Broken console mount x2.
No difference in speed modes.
Front forks that corroded badly after just months, then stopped functioning altogether. I had to buy my own replacement forks as BH UK couldn't even get that right!

The issue of getting problems resolved isn't just e-bike related. I spotted a while back that a pedal bike owner was complaining on BH UK's FB page as to why his bike had been off the road for months, waiting for a bottom bracket bearing to be replaced. If you have any sense, forget buying BH, and look at 'any' other brand.

 

[peterh]

Interesting to hear your problems Eddie although they don't seem to have surfaced in the states yet , and there are plenty of owners of emotion bikes.

I have tried the Kalkhoff which I must admit was a great ride , but I'm sorry but I just hate seeing the battery on display , I just want one that looks like an up market road bike which only BH and Stromer seem capable of producing and Stromer are not available in the UK unless you know differently?

I am a little surprised that anyone reading this thread haven't jumped to defend BH.

I cant believe that BH haven't sorted out the problems surfacing in the uk if they intend selling bikes here.

 

[EddieJ]

I don't think that there will be any issues with BH and the US market. The hands on approach by the US importer and active and enthusiastic role of dealers, will see the product succeed.

Simplistic, but even just taking a look at the two FB pages shows a marked difference to approach.

FB UK. https://www.facebook.com/pages/BH-Bikes-UK/117319141725427?fref=ts

FB US https://www.facebook.com/BHBikesUSA?fref=ts

FB is a good marketing tool, and just look at the difference between the FB page of BH UK and the FB of these two other UK marketed brands.

https://www.facebook.com/KtmBikeUK?fref=nf

https://www.facebook.com/HaibikeUk?fref=ts

Even just trying to find out any info about BH bikes in the UK is not a straight forward affair. None of it inspires confidence.

I still really love the product, and really miss my bike, but from a UK end-user point of view, the back up is terrible, and BH UK appear to take no interest in the product. It was my dealer that gave me a refund, not BH UK, and I can imagine that the poor dealer has been left to swallow the cost. The confidence with BH UK was such, that BH Spain were going to ship the bike back to Spain, as BH UK weren't competent to repair it. Despite a full refund, I'm still bitter and angry that I have been left out of pocket over having to buy my own front forks, and for the constant trips at my expense going to and fro the dealers will constant problems, and not once did anyone offer me a courtesy bike.
It was only my tracking down the personal contact details of the Spanish MD, that anything even happened. Once I had the name, I used a nameless email search engine, and quickly had all of the details that I required and more. I've never disclosed these details to other disgruntled owners, as I don't feel it right to do so.

Despite all of the constant hassle that I had with the bike, not once did BH UK offer any form of apology. The MD had the courtesy to do so, but not the UK end. BH Spain should dismiss all of the staff over here and start a fresh with people that actually have the motivation and enthusiasm to push the product forward and be successful. Component spec and dubious build quality aside, the product requires very little to make what is actually a good product into a great product. But with no UK support, it sadly deserves to fail. In the early stages of my bike purchase, I did alot to promote the product, and won BH a good handful of sales. It's just a shame that they didn't reciprocate my effort. I still believe in the product, and know that with a blank canvass, that I could turn the product around over here and make it into what it should be.

 

[peterh]

Hi Eddie

Having tried to register for the UK Pedlec site and not having any contact numbers I have resorted to the usa site.
Not sure if you have any numbers but when I go on the UK site and click forgotten password I am then told they are emailing me a new one and nothing appears.

Obviously using the UK site is more beneficial to me , not sure if you can help?

I guess your Eddie PJ from Crowborough with the KTM bike

THanks

 

[EddieJ]

Hi Peter, I recall having similar issues when I first signed up. I seem to recall that I had to change my user name and start again. Try to see if you can contact Helen the forum admin via this link. http://www.pedelecs.co.uk/forum/members/helenj.5678/ If you can't, then drop me a private message with your chosen user name (not password) along with contact email details, and I'll forward them on for you. edit.. Try this link as well. I'll delete this in a day or so. (Link Removed - No Longer Exists)

Please don't let my experience of BH put you off. I'd really like to believe that myself and others are only in a minority of unfortunate owners, it's just sad that simple customer care could have prevented any of us from moaning. It is a great product, and like you, I loved the integrated battery pack. Incredibly and sadly BH UK failed to even bother to track my second replacement battery and inevitably it got lost in transit, so anything could have happened to it on it's way to me, so I can only assume that is why it failed for a second time.

The power delivery and ride of the bikes is fantastic, and I'm certain that any test ride will have you sold, they such an enjoyable pleasure to ride. Just be aware that you could sadly also have problems if it does go wrong. It's a tough dilemma.

 

[Deleted member 803]

Your mid drive being a bosch or Yamaha motor , what make?

Peterh

Actually neither. I have ridden both a Bosch and Yamaha mid-drive and I much prefer the Impulse 2.0 speed mid drive produced by Kahlkoff. Simply put it performs better . The Impulse mid drive has more torque, 3-sensors for super smooth motor assist, engine cut-off during shifting (to ease shifting) and the display has siginificant information. You can tell that the Impulse 2 was designed by folks who ride a lot. My next purchase will be a Focus Thron Speed.

 

[EddieJ]

Peterh

Actually neither. I have ridden both a Bosch and Yamaha mid-drive and I much prefer the Impulse 2.0 speed mid drive produced by Kahlkoff. It performs better simply put. The Impulse mid drive has more torque, 3-sensors for super smooth motor assist, engine cut-off during shifting (to ease shifting) and the display has siginificant information. You can tell that the Impulse 2 was designed by folks who ride a lot. My next purchase will be a Focus Thron Speed.

Focus Throns get good feed back and reviews over here, and I keep meaning to nip to my local dealer to take a spin on one.

 

[Peter]

So Peter do I get the Nitro Cross or the Evo cross and what would my realistic mileage be on both ?
---

Depends on what kind of guy you are but If you are just a little bit gadget freaky and a guy that can be enthusiastic about tech I would for sure go for the Nitro.

I have no nitro bikes and have used a lot of time trying to get the bikes go faster )
Might succeed in a week or two but that is another story ).
I know other bh owners have upgraded from 30 kmh to 40 kmh and the are VERY happy with there upgrades.

I had the same thoughts as you before buying the bikes. Wanted stealth looks and have not regret a second that I got my BH bikes. They are really good looking. I would never go for an ebike looking like one ).

 

[Craig Morrison]

Go for the Nitro if it is legal in your country and top speed is more important to you than trip distance between recharge ...