For the uninitiated BionX International is a Canadian company that makes hub motor eBike kits. They also make paddle boats with electric assist and OEM eBike stuff. The electronics are sophisticated and use the CanBus system to communicate with all the parts. It is similar to the system auto makers use in your car.
Via telephone I suggested to my friend Alex at BionX International that he should “comp” me a BionX S 350 DX kit. I explained that I would put it on my Surly Pugsley and use it as a promotional piece. Alex never said yes nor did he say no.
After a few weeks Pugsley and I gave up any hope of seeing an electric motor attached to him. But then a big BionX box arrived at the shop.
Nic Nic laced the motor into an Origin 8 fat bike rim for me and I set about attaching all of the other bits to Pugsley except for the throttle. Pugsley demanded that the throttle be left off because he did not want to become a motor bike. He was a bicycle and proud of it.
Pugsley knew that he was a fatty and that I was no light weight either. Pugsley has his standards. He figured that the additional 16.1 pounds of BionX added to his 44 was not insurmountable considering a 350 watt motor and my 200 pounds of pedaling were involved.
BionX kits are pedal assist. That means that all they do is add weight to your bike unless you pedal. There is a torque sensor in the motors’s axel that tells it how much effort you are putting into forward motion. Via the console you ask motor to add 25, 50, 100, or 200% of your pedaling effort it has perceived from said torque sensor. The motor will assist you up to 20mph.
The console tells you your speed, battery life, chosen assist level, time, max. speed, etc. Also there are 4 levels of regeneration to use in a futile attempt to recharge the battery.
At assist level 1, Pugsley felt neutral, meaning on the bike trails and the road it felt like it did before it got 16.1 pounds of BionX kit added. With assist level 2 ( my effort plus 50% added by the motor) Pugsley felt like a svelte mountain bike, not a fatty. On a hill in level 2, I down shifted the bicycles gears as per usual. It worked well. Then I pushed the + button on the console to assist level 3 and with my same effort started to accelerate up the hill. What the heck I said and went to level 4 and sped up the rise like never before.
Remember, I was riding the bike like a bike. Shifting up or down as you would normally. The only difference was the level of assist the BionX kit brought to the party.
A few times on the way down short hills I tried the regenerate mode. It worked fine but it was all too much button pushing for my liking. If you were going down a long hill, regenerate mode would slow you without using the bicycle’s brakes. Kind of like downshifting a car and engine braking.
Pugsley became a celebrity at the shop. Everyone who rode him was impressed. I pimped him out. Potential BionX customers loved riding two things they had never experienced before. A Fat Bike and a BionX assisted bike. I know of 2 folks who bought Bionx kits for their bikes because they met the Bionx Pugsley.
Well, as they say, all good things must come to an end.
American English and French Canadian English, I guess don’t translate the same. Alex said he had not intend to give me the kit for promotional purposes. The store was billed for it. Even with a generous discount, I could not afford a BionX Kit for my Pugsley.
Sadly, the motor was unlaced from the wheel, as well as the battery and the wiring being removed from Pugsley. It was all then chucked into a box to wait to be picked up.
It was fun while it lasted.
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