Biomega Bikes
June 15th, 2006 by MikeI saw a link to Biomega Bikes out of Denmark on the bicycledesignblog. They make some really tough looking bikes that look to be really fun to ride. There bikes look first class in design also. And the price isn’t bad, you can pick up thier Brooklyn for a cool $699. There site is pretty cool too. Check it out.
Gary Fisher on a Biomega
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Great picture. Where did you find it?
The Biomega Brooklyn is pretty cheap but, if I am not mistaken, a glow in the dark MN like Gary Fisher is riding here costs over 3,000 euros.
I can’t imagine how that bike would be any good in the 25mph cross wind that I just rode home in. It looks like a refugee from the Lotus bike line from about fifteen years ago. Cool, but maybe not so practical?
By the way, that’s about the most “normal” I have seen Gary Fisher dressed in some time!
Watch out about this company! I bought a Biomega Copenhagen, the model with a shaft drive, from a bicycle store in Columbus, Ohio, called Roll. Biomega had apparently failed to properly tighten the crank case cap, because the internal pedal gear assembly started to wobble after about eight months. Apparently the teeth of the gears became damaged, so now the bicycle makes a grinding sound. I contacted Biomega about the problem, bringing to their attention that a US$1,200.00 bicycle should not have had such a problem, but they have refused to do anything about it, and are failing to honor the 3 year warranty. I would strongly caution anyone about buying a Biomega.
I own a biomega boston and couldn’t be happier. It’s a folder, but its wheels aren’t so small as to look stupid. It rides great. It turns heads. I have contacted Biomega for some minor issues and they resolved them just fine. The warranty doesn’t cover damage caused by the user; of course, I can’t speak to what happened to charles.
The Biomega Boston is a chain driven bicycle. The Biomega Copenhagen is a shaft drive. See Sheldon Brown’s (sheldonbrown.com) view of shaft drive bicycles, and then you’ll know more about them. Of course, a warranty wouldn’t cover damage by the user, but that’s not the issue. I tried numerous times to get Biomega to resolve the problem which originated as a result of Biomega’s failure to properly assemble a very expensive bicycle, but they first gave me the run around and then did nothing. A company with a reputation to maintain, and one with integrity, will bend over backward to remedy a problem with one of their products. After all, why have such a dissatisfied customer like me exist with it in order to be able to write about it on the internet! I deal with clients on a daily basis, and I know that a happy customer will tell their friends. An unhappy customer will also tell their friends.
Question for Charles: I’ve seen this duplicate post on just about every blog that mentions Biomega. You sure are mad! Do you think you had a lemon or is there a fundamental problem with drive shafts? I ask because I haven’t seen any other negative reviews. A side note - my girlfriend recently bought an Electra Amsterdam. It wouldn’t stay in gear. They gave her another bike and it had the same problem. She eventually had to return it. I’m looking at the Biomega Amsterdam as a replacement.
Hello William,
Thank you for your question. I didn’t experience any problems with the shifting of gears, so I wouldn’t think you would have a problem with it. Basically, I think the gear shift mechanism Biomega employed on the bicycle is of pretty good quality.
I have been more frustrated about the fact that Biomega would not take responsibility for what I have come to believe is a product assembly issue than anything else, though I can’t quite be absolutely sure; only time will tell.
The difficulty one can have with shaft drive bicycles is that the gears both at the pedal crank and at the wheel hub have to be precisely maintained in a fixed position. And this is where problems can occur. The crank case cap on a Biomega screw onto what is a crank case hub assembly for the pedal shaft, holding it in place and in line with the shaft coming from the back wheel. The crank case cap is fixed in position with two hexagon head set screws. What happened with my bicycle is that the set screws loosened, either because they were not properly torqued from the factory or because they should have had a medium strength thread retaining compound, in order to prevent them from vibrating out. And because the pedal shaft and thus the crank case components have a high degree of force and torque being exerted on them, it is especially important that in a shaft driven bicycle that these components are well secured in place.
So, I don’t know if this is an isolated incident, but it certainly was not a pleasant one. However, I have found, after an extensive search, that somebody else experienced some similar if not the same problem with their Biomega shaft drive bicycle. I am sure they sell hundreds of these bicycles, so these examples may be isolated. I will say that the Copenhagen model I bought was the last one that the store had which was still made in Europe, with components largely sourced form Europe. Now I believe they are being made in China, so this is another issue about which one might want to be concerned. In any case, I would strongly recommend that you actually test ride the bicycle, put it through a real life course, and be in a position where you can readily return the bicycle within at least a year of the purchase date. In the final analysis, I would not buy another Biomega for myself. Good luck to you!
Thanks much Charles! It sounds like a shaft system requires much higher (and possibly lacking) quality control than a chain system, and is more difficult to repair. It’s too bad because they are lovely, Spartan bikes.
I think I will stick with the chain system for her bike out of fear that no one in Portland will know how to repair a Biomega if it has problems. A local retailer is now carrying Dutch bikes with fully enclosed chaincases. 50lb but bulletproof.
Charles aint mad. I bought a Bioemga Copenhagen and it’s a total lemon. When you pedal it sounsd like the metal’s about to snap and there’a a horrendous grinding noise. The gears need constant tuning and frankly it aint that fast. I fell for its looks but it’s a lemon. The company are jerks and don’t admit a problem. AVOID.