obsolete

[JayVee]

The title says it all.
...

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

The title says it all.

I found this picture:

View attachment 18374

I did check this out at the Interbike.
Apart from the positioning of the battery, nothing special. I actually prefer the older style. Much easier mounting.
Any specific questions you have @JayVee ?

 

[e-boy]

I read this model is/will be priced lower , but no price was mentioned .

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I was wondering what the specs would be and if there would be any options, such as a suspension fork, etc. I was also wondering about gearing options.

This model has the advantage of seeming to use a standard BionX battery from the semi-integrated kit.

I was curious because Wheeler has decided to drop the D500 motorisation in Switzerland and Germany.

Edit : Elby is now associated with the Swiss distributor for Bionx (see below). The brand will be distributed in Germany and Switzerland. I don't think there are any Swiss dealers carrying Elby yet, but some have historically had BionX products, so I expect them to sell the Elby.

http://www.airtool.ch/AIRTOOL_Web_2.0/news.html#1

I don't think the geometry is well suited for suspension fork. 65mm travel fork should be doable but I have not tested it.
If I remember correctly, they did have 1 bike with 9 speed cluster on. My gripe is that 555whr battery could be upgraded to 650+ whr with some new cells. Not sure why BionX is not doing it.

 

[Ravi Kempaiah]

I agree about the 650Wh battery. Generally speaking, I've been very disappointed by BionX recently. The D500 has great potential, but it's not being exploited. There are almost no brands in the EU using the D500, save for the Elby. There have been some fairly good clearance deals in Switzerland for Wheeler bikes using the D500 but I decided to pass. Wheeler mountain bikes were repackaged (with lights and fenders) ,upgraded to 45km/h, and are being sold online for about 2700 dollars. Really good deal, but the support seems to be the weak point though, as you need to bring the bike to a repair center that's pretty far from where I live. So I decided to pass. BionX needs to have a much better commercial strategy over on this side of the Atlantic. I'll keep my trustworthy Haibike Sduro Trekking Speed Pedelec in the meantime. Not the fanciest bike, but it gets the job done.

ELBY is definitely a good bike. Compared to other cruisers like Pedego, they offer lot more finesse.
For the last 2 years, there has been no update on the battery from BionX. I am sure 555whr is plenty for 70% of the riders. Just not you and me.

 

[Cephalotus]

I agree about the 650Wh battery.

BionX now usally uses 13s4p battery packs.

The BionX d-Series has recuperation currents up to 12A, which is 3A per cell.

Those 3500mAh cells you are asking for will die very quickly if charged that way. For example the Samsung INR18650 35E which is used by other bike manufacturers is only ratet at 1A charge current for (acceptable) cycle life.

Even if treated within specs those cells degrade evry quickly t around 3000mAh, after that degradation slows down.

High quality cells like the LG INR18650HG2 would be much better cells, but they are more expensive and "only" rated at 3000mAh each. They last for 600 cycles at very high cahrge and discharge rate a 3500mAh cell would not survive for 10 cycles, they work well in low temperatures, they can easily handle the recuperation current and they would provide more power/voltage up to an almost empty battery pack compared to a Samsung 35E cell.
But you could not write "650Wh" on your battery pack, this is why we will never see those cells. (as long as you don't exchange them for yourself)

This chart compares a Panasonic PF cell with 2900mAh (used in most BionX batteries today), a Samsung 35E with 3500mAh and a LG HG2 with 3000mAh at 5A discharge rate:

http://www.dampfakkus.de/akkuvergleich.php?akku1=498&akku2=577&akku3=592&akku4=&akku5=&akku6=&a=5



I would rather see a BionX battery with more cells like 13s5p or 13s6p, but this seems unlikely.

Generally speaking, I've been very disappointed by BionX recently. The D500 has great potential, but it's not being exploited. There are almost no brands in the EU using the D500, save for the Elby.

The 500D is the exaclty same motor as the 250D, just a different sticker on it. Both will take up to 33A from the 48V battery. So for legal reasons a 250W motor is more suitable to the EU market.

I added a 250D BionX motor to my street legal speed pedelec with BionX SL motor. I had to go to TÜV/Dekra to get the papers, which is far from easy and heavily depends on the will of the person you are dealing with, but now I have a street legal 45km/h bike with BionX d-series motor and I agree that this motor would be a good choice for speed pedelecs. The 13s4p batteries on theother hand are only suitable for shorter distances riding at 40-545km/h and the old 48V batteries with Samsung 22P cells will degrade very quickly at the high currents in speed pedelecs, too.

There have been some fairly good clearance deals in Switzerland for Wheeler bikes using the D500 but I decided to pass. Wheeler mountain bikes were repackaged (with lights and fenders) ,upgraded to 45km/h, and are being sold online for about 2700 dollars. Really good deal, but the support seems to be the weak point though, as you need to bring the bike to a repair center that's pretty far from where I live. So I decided to pass. BionX needs to have a much better commercial strategy over on this side of the Atlantic. I'll keep my trustworthy Haibike Sduro Trekking Speed Pedelec in the meantime. Not the fanciest bike, but it gets the job done.

My solution is simple: I do not care about the support. BionX Pedelecs are just standard bike technology plus the BionX components. you can change and or repair components rather easily...