A conversation with Alain Marchand at BionX


Last week I called the company that makes the BionX electric bike conversion kit in Sherbrook Quebec and had a short conversation with Alain Marchand who is the technical director there for BionX.

I got the impression from listening to him, that he is working under a tremendous amount of stress. I guess having a growth rate of over 500 percent will do that to a person. The company is simply focusing on trying to fill existing orders at the moment. Potential customers and dealers are upset because they can’t fill orders fast enough. I imagine that there are communication problems with operating through Sherbrooke, Mississauga, and Aurora.

I had the feeling that he was irritated by my call. He was polite but cold. When I asked him if it would be possible to meet and have a cup of coffee with him next week, his answer was an emphatic “NO!” He told me he was too busy.

I like to have lots of detail about how things work and he appears to have the opposite approach. Everything is top secret and only dealers are allowed basic installation details. He would not sell me a dealer’s manual and that he doesn’t want dealers passing along any information to their customers. He feels that customers should simply use the system as it is set up and not mess around with it. He’s not happy with “teckies” prying into details of the BionX hardware, software, and experimenting with the programming codes.

He did say that they were hoping to have the BionX website revamped sometime this Fall.

I asked him if the batteries and circuit boards could be fitted with plugs and sockets like a wireless home phone. This way the dealers could change the batteries when they wear out. He said that this could only be done at the BionX factory because the software had to be re-programmed for the new batteries.

I asked him about the possibility of having a twist grip throttle as the existing throttle lever on the console is somewhat fragile. He said it wouldn’t work because the existing throttle is simply an on/off switch. When I use the throttle on my PL350 it sure feels like a variable speed to me.

He appeared to be very anxious to get off of the phone with me and not willing to satisfactorily answer my questions. Sortakinda like a politician. He is aware that customers and dealers are upset with the present poor service but said he’s really not concerned about the loss of a few upset customers. To him, it’s a small cost of doing business. I’m not too impressed with his attitude and unwillingness to supply information. I suggest that people shouldn't be calling him and if they send an e mail, it may be a long time before they get a reply.


HOWEVER! I am still really impressed with the product. It works great for me. I feel it’s far better than the information, parts and service that comes with the Asian e-bikes. I also feel that the present problems are only temporary and now that Magna has taken over, things will improve very soon.