PB’S HAIBIKE ALLMTN 6
MONTH 10: A faulty controller, charging woes and coat hooks; PB has problems and offers up solutions for life with an e-bike
£5,399 / 29/27.5in / haibike.com
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After a blackout lasting several months, I finally heard back from Haibike UK about the accessories for the Modular Rail System. This is a two-part system consisting of a female component – a recess built in the down tube – and a male component, basically some aluminium anchors that slot inside the recess. This allows you to bolt on an array of official accessories like a bottle cage, extra battery pack or a cable lock. Haibike UK is getting some of these components in stock pretty soon and it’s planning to send me the bottle cage part, which is great news because I can have a drink mid-ride rather than chugging down a belly full of water at the start.
While I had the channel open with Haibike, I asked about replacement bearings and the warranty on the Yamaha motor (two issues I talked about in the last update) and Haibike said the bearings are all standard and are easily available from a third-party bearing supplier, which may sound like a bit of a cop out but it does allow you to get alternatives if Haibike runs out of stock. Warranty for the Yamaha motor and battery is done in-house by Haibike UK and it currently has a regular supply of those parts.
And I may need to avail myself of its warranty services because the Yamaha control unit, in addition to having a broken clamp, sometimes just drops into eco mode and stays there. Turning the bike off, then on again, seems to reboot the system and unfreezes the unit, but if it stops altogether at least I now know who to call.
I’ve had the Haibike for 10 months now and there are a couple of other niggles – the key to unlock the battery is sticking. It was never smooth to begin with but the way it pushes out the battery seems to place a lot of stress on it and the last thing I want is for the key to break it off, so I’m trying not to force it
WHY IT’S HERE One of the few e-bike brands running Yamaha’s PW-X2 motor with Intube 600Wh battery
but that does make it hard to open.
The charger also has a locking mechanism on the connector, which works like the pull/push fixing on a garden hose but it has now twisted round to the opposite side, so the arrows don’t line up. Also, if I can make a suggestion to e-bike manufacturers – any chance you could make the plug-in lead for the charger longer and also put some type of hook on the transformer, so I can hang it off the handlebar and not have to balance it on a tyre or the saddle? When I do this it often falls off, pulls the socket out and that battery I think should be fully charged only has about 30% in it. And just so you know where I’m coming from, here’s one I made earlier from a coat hook. Surely something similar should be included with the bike?