BionX P250 economy electric motor powered bike system

Review by ExtraEnergy.org

BionX is Both, Electric and Exercise

With four assist and four regen modes, BionX is a pedelec system and a training tool. Canadian manufacturer EPS is preparing to sell the compact hub drive unit also in Europe.

In September 2004, Canadian Electric Power Systems manufacturer EPS presented the pedelec hub drive system BionX for the first time in Europe. It was exhibited at IFMA in Cologne, Germany and Vel Expo Ticino in Lugano, Switzerland.

The 250 Watt hub motor including power sensor and electronics comes in a ready-to-use rear wheel. The 8 Ah, 34 V NiMH battery is located in a compact battery box. To mount the system to any regular bicycle one only needs to exchange the rear wheel and attach the battery box to the frame. To do so, one simply uses the bottle holder screw holes to mount the battery holder.

On the display at the handlebar the user switches on and off the electric system, the light, and chooses the riding mode. There are four assistance modes ("A" modes): 25, 50, 100, or 200 percent. Four 'G' modes are energy regeneration options. The higher the resistance, the more energy is generated to recharge the battery. Also shown on the display are cumulative kilometers, speed, and battery data such as cycles, special happenings (deep discharge etc.).

The entire electric bike system weights 6.6 kg. The motor, controller, cables and display weigh 2.5 kg, and the battery 4.1 kg. This makes the BionX the most compact power sensor system for pedelecs, which is not from Japan. It does not only make riding easier, in the G-modes it can also be used as a training tool. The range even more depends on the rider and his/her preferences than with other systems. Not regarding the regen modes, EPS states 30 to 70 km (20 to 50 miles) range on one battery charge.

The gearless electric bicycle kit has proven to be absolutely silent. Due to its construction it does not work in combination with a coaster brake or gear hub jet.

Dear Bert

It works! And boy does it work - it is fantastic! Thanks very much for all your help in answering my various emails so promptly and helpfully, and of course for sorting out my order.

You can probably understand that I was a little nervous of buying the kit - I am on the other side of the Atlantic and was buying it without being able to try it out. I am delighted to say the BionX kit performs superbly - even the charger!

You may recall that I have a bit of a disability and am recovering from an operation on my leg in April, and am still using a walking stick to walk. Even when I am fully recovered, my knee will only bend to about 90 degrees and my leg will always be weak, so you can see just how useful it is for me to have a electric motor for bicycle - I love cycling and it is the best (just about the only) exercise for my knee and for my leg, but I struggle up hills and into winds.

These links may give you a bit more of an idea -
General stuff about my leg
My modified crank By way of warning

I did a lot of research into electric bike conversion kits online as well as here in England. I tried out an eBike in the UK which confirmed to me that an electric bike was the way to go, but I didn't like the quality of the bike compared to my existing Trek, and wanted the freedom of a kit so that I could change bikes later if I wanted to. Having tried both, I can say that I made the right decision.

The only kit that seemed to do what I wanted was the BionX PL350: it keeps the bike a bike without adding masses of weight; it gives pedal assist as well as throttle control; the package seemed to be very well thought out indeed as I did not want something that I would have to mess around with to keep working - the list goes on which I am sure you know. However, it was still a step into the unknown for me as I could not try the kit out first but I am delighted to say it fits the bill perfectly, and I do not understand some comments I have read on various forums about it being no good up hills as I can pedal up most of the ones around here (with full assist) in top gear! I think it helps that I and my bike are light and that I have 25mm wide slick tires - maybe those who don't like the kit are very heavy, on heavy mountain bikes with fat tires.

I also tried to research the shops selling the kit - I am sure you can appreciate that I was a little nervous about sending all that money to a shop I had never been to! Luckily, Bionx recommended you to me and various comments on forums echoed that.

Anyway, this is just a long email to say thanks for your help and to congratulate you and Bionx on selling such a fantastic product - I don't think I have ever said that to anyone before about anything, but this really does open up a new world for me as you can appreciate from the links to my website.

Thanks and regards
Nick Ryan, UK

Update:

The Bionx continues to impress me and does just what I need.

I was out on it this morning cycling up and down some hills on maximum assist (up!) or generation (down!) and it cut out on me but maybe it had just got a little hot? The motor was warm to the touch but seemed OK. Anyway, I turned it off for 5 minutes and then it was fine and, the joy of being light, I was able to carry on in the meantime - although it came as a bit of a reminder as to just how much assistance the Bionx gives! I cycled just short of 20 miles in two goes and there's no way I could cycle that distance at the moment without the Bionx.

Everyone who's seen it has been impressed by the neatness of the whole thing, although it's amazing how many people think it can give assistance whilst you cycle along charging it...

Thanks again, Nick

Bert,

Love my BionX 350W Lithium bike system that your shop installed on 9/24/07. My commute times on the same bike went from 55" to 37" (to work) and from 1'15" to 45" (home). By comparison, my compute to work by car is 27" and 27-35" from work by car. So I am only 10 minutes slower getting to work in the morning with my Bionx. In the evening I am only 10-15" slower getting home. This reduction in time makes the bicycle a much more appealing commuting tool especially in this hectic tristate area.

After looking into getting an electric motor for bicycle for more than 4 months, I am glad that I decided on the BionX motor kit, it is really great. Thank you very much for your advise. I still get a great cardiovascular workout with the Bionx but the hills (very hilly section of New Jersey) are less brutal.

Great product!

Brian, New Jersey

Review by Concepia.com

We were in a bicycle store looking at racks and panniers when they called and said our KMX recumbent trike had arrived, albeit at a different store some 50 miles away! Santa Claus came through at the last moment, and within an hour we had the KMX safely in the back of our rental car.

Of course, we were fooling ourselves thinking that it would stay all nicely boxed up till we got back to Norway. On Christmas Eve we opened everyone's presents, then on my mother's hall floor we pulled it out of the box and carefully put it together. Even standing still the KMX looks like it is fun fun fun to ride.
The ride from Cam's school bus stop to the Language school is a little hilly in places, and so while we were researching recumbent bikes I stumbled upon electrified recumbent bikes, and the little gears in my head started turning...

There is a company in Canada called Bionx, who makes this super cool electric assistance kit for bicycles of all shapes and sizes. The heart of the matter is replacing your back wheel with theirs which has a powerful hub motor installed. Coupled together with a sizable Lithium battery pack, and a smart electronic controller you get varying levels of assistance depending on what you enter on the console mounted on the handlebars. Say for instance you feel particularly lazy one morning, you can tell it to boost your pedal power by 300% (or 25%, 50%, 100%). The sensors in the hub motor measure how much force you are pedaling with and then compensate by adding the extra power from the hub motor.

The really neat thing is if you are feeling particularly virtuous another morning and feel like a workout you can ask the Bionx console to apply an increased level of resistance to your pedaling, thus giving you a harder workout than usual and recharging the battery at the same time! (this same regenerative charging occurs when you apply the brakes on the bike, and can account for 10-15% extra charge returned to the battery pack.)

So we ordered the kit from a store in New York and it arrived about a week after we got the KMX. In order to make it fit within the frame of Yessie we had to do some minor modifications: the battery pack and controller was stripped out of it's original containers and resealed in electrical tape. We then mounted the battery pack to the frame of he KMX by drilling and mounting two right angle bracket, then using some straightened duct clamps, secured it in place. Conveniently enough the controller fit snugly in behind the webbing of the seat, and all the cable were neatly tie wrapped in place.

We had a tricky situation trying to mount the console on the KMX 'handlebars', but as luck would have it, the placement worked perfectly below the gearshift. We had opted for the console with the throttle, which allows you to bypass the assistance monitoring and just use the motor when you really need it: steep steep hills or just for fun. (The console is set to only deliver assistance or boost up to 20kmph, but that is more than enough when you are only 15cm from the ground. And there is actually a software crack available on the web to remove the speed limit if you so desire.)

At full right hand turn the throttle hits the side of your thighs and you end up going a little faster than you expected as the boost kicks in, so we had to get a bit brutal with the hacksaw and trimmed about half of it off. It's still perfectly functional, and much safer now.

So there you have it, the KMX conversion to Bionx electric assistance took about 3 hours to complete, with minimal effort and materials. And the end result has made the KMX that little bit more practical on the hills, and a lot more fun on the flats. We added a rack and panniers, lights/reflectors, security lock and a neat trip computer, so Yessie is fully functional mode of transport for Elsa. Everyday they go back and forth to school, come rain or shine... which given that we are in Norway, usually means in the rain more often than not.