Poweredbicycles

We bought two bikes at the caravan show in Bath. My wife has what I would describe as a Dutch looking sit up and beg one which suits her perfectly. While it only has 3 gears she races up the hills past the Lycra clad serious cyclists with a smile on her face. Not bad for a pensioner. I fell in love with a very sporty looking mountain bike but they talked me into a much more practical hybrid (Galilao)which I have to say is awesome. One of the selling points was the ease of getting and fitting spares as everything unplugs and can be shipped to wherever you are. True to their word I had a charger fail and had a new one in a couple of days. It would have been sooner if it had not been for the fair in Nottingham and the courier couldn't get to the shop. So the bottom line is, the bikes are excellent as is the after sales service. Can't fault them.

STAY AWAY!!!! This place and its owner are terrible, rude and unhelpful. My husband was 99% certain it was the battery and wanted to get it checked out, but his electric bike was a hybrid (normal bike with the addition of a electric pack) We emailed when my husbands bike broke down to ask if Poweredbicycles- Electric Bikes UK did repairs on such bikes. They replied yes and to bring it in. We also rang and confirmed this. We lived nearly 2 hours away but loaded up the bikes (mine had a small problem and also took it in) and took it to them. We were promised it would be done within a few days and they would ring us…. Well 4 weeks later and numerous daily phone calls (awaiting parts …. yeh right) we decided to sell the bikes for repair or spares and were made an offer of £100, so arranged with the owner to collect. We got there to find the bike electrics in bits, literally!!!!!….parts were missing and hanging off the bike and the key had been broken. The owner was missing and the poor person in the shop didn’t know anything about the bike, but did try his best to help by ringing the owner…. after around 2 hours we managed to speak to him and to be told ‘ You get the parts and I will fit”, in other words you get the parts that I have broken and YOU pay for them. He said to get into the electrics he had HAD to break the connectors and the key was stiff and so it broke, he didn’t know where the missing parts were…. Since when did testing the battery have to involve breaking into the electrics. My husband actually rode the bike from the car park to the shop and all was working when we dropped it off, but when we collected it, it was a scrap machine. He just shouted and spoke over us and would not listen….. He had done the damage but would not take responsibility for his mistakes. In the end we took the bike and I am now investigating taking him through the small claims court as the bike, due to his bad workmanship is now useless and only fit for the skip!!!!. You don’t expect to take a bike to be repaired and get it back in a worse state than when you take it in. The owner is rude and unhelpful. Why had he not informed us of the problems in the intervening 4 weeks??? We had asked him just to diagnose the problem with the battery and let us know the cost. Why when I rang to say we were coming to collect were we not informed of the problems ??? I think its because he knew he had made a complete mess of the job and didn’t want to admit to what damage he had done, hence his disappearance from the shop that morning and not informing his staff of the problems. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY is the best advice I can give.

Avoid this place. Bought a bike a few years back on the cycle to work scheme.

Last year booked it in for a service, got it there no one knew anything about it. "Oh the service guy is off sick"

Needed a new battery recently. Took it in. Ignored by staff in shop busy vacuuming. Promised a call back by boss who was unavailable as his mother was sick.

No call ever came.

USELESS USELESS USELESS

I have been cycling to work (13 miles overall) for 30 years using a conventional commuter bike. I recent bought a Big Eye e-mountain bike at the Bath and West Show on impulse but have not regretted it. I had to take it on faith from Hamant even though I was impressed by the test ride. I have had the bike for one week. Although I have not yet cycled to work as I am waiting for the cycle rack, having riden about 40 miles on a couple of test runs, here are my impressions.

The good
- The range is about 50 miles as Hamant indicated since after 40 miles the battery level was about 20%.
- Did very well compared to a conventional bike. Over a distance of 6.5 miles and an assent of 400 feet the conventional bike averaged 9.8 mph and the Big Eye e-mountain bike 14.2mph which is a 45% improvement in speed. The journy time though was only 30% faster because of stopping at traffic lights etc.
- On all hills except two, the bike maintained a speed of at least 15mph which is good. The two it failed on were about 17% gradient (Boxley Hill Kent and Star Lane, Gillingham, Kent) where it slowed down to 10mph and 13mph respectively (please not on Boxley Hill, most cars need to change down to 2nd or 3rd gear to get up it).

The not so good
- I will need a better pension since being fitter from riding the bike more often I am likely to live longer
- As I will probably use the car less, I will need to invest in some bricks while the car is not being used!
- The saddle was not very comfortable after 40 mins and so decided to purchase a different one (this is a minor issue though).

Being 85 and a non-driver, and suffering from Parkinson`s Disease which makes walking difficult, I find my tricycle wonderfully liberating. She gives me gentle exercise on hills and she gets me to the shops and the pub and on local tours: I could not manage without her, and I find getting round exhilarating. She feels safe too, especially with the fitted lights and mirrors. Plus service from Poweredbicycles is excellent.

5 stars go to Poweredbicycles.

Hamant was absolutely brilliant in helping me choose which bike to buy. He asked all the relevant questions to fully understand my needs.

The electric bike is perfect because I can use it as a normal bike until I need the extra assistance so I still feel I'm getting a workout. I would definitely recommend an electric bike and Poweredbicycles took the time to ensure I got the right one for me.