After more than 150 emails exchanged with Pima, I visited Pima in Poland to try out the Cab Bike Hawk (CBH). I was impressed with the quality of the CBH I tested, the blue one from their website.
During my discussions with PIMA, I made it very clear that I wanted a motor, I wanted to be able to reach 45km per hour, and the CBH needed to be CE certified to get it registered in the Netherlands for a number plate and insurance.
On the 17th of July 2017, I signed the contract to start manufacturing the CBH with a promise from PIMA to deliver latest by 7th of October 2017.
October passes, November also, December I get impatient. I received the CBH on the 19th of December 2017. more than 2 months later. On inspection, I discover that the rear light lense is broken. I was promised to be sent one in 3 weeks. Until today I have not received this. To compensate for the delay, PIMA promised to send me a free trailer for the CBH. Until the time this article is written (November 2018) I have not received this.
A couple of months pass by, and I'm still not very comfortable while pedaling. I'm stretching my legs too much and I'm getting those weird pains in the legs. I need to bring the pedals about 5 cm closer to me. To do this, I need to open the hood. The hood opens only 30° , not enough to work on the pedals. I also remember the nightmare scenario of another CBH owner (gweisser) who tore the same hinge from the CBH body while opening the hood. The front hood needs to be removed completely. So I postpone this major job for a later time.
A couple of months pass by and I notice that there is a missing number on the decal I ordered. I thought I removed it without noticing while cleaning, but then I noticed on some pictures PIMA sent me that the number is also missing on these pictures. So it wasn't me, a small mistake from PIMA.
February 2018, I went to test the CBH at the RDW (the Netherlands Vehicle Authority) to get it certified for a number plate. The CBH failed to pass the test! All the lights (chinese no brand) have to be CE certified. The electrical motor needs to have a CE certificate of Electromagnetic conformity. The seat belt needs to have a strength certificate. The start key has to be only 1 key, not 1 for the electra and 1 for the motor. Everything I asked for to register the CBH to drive at 45 km per hour legally when I was ordering the CBH in July 2017, was not done! Even the maximum speed is not 45 km/h, only 36!
The CBH drives reasonably quiet. It does have some squeaks and odd sounds here and there from the under carriage. A bit of grease and sort of quiets down. For a while... From time to time, I need to readjust the seat because the velcro is not sticking well to the glue.
In April, I ask Pima for how to connect the 2 keys to 1 key so that I can start the electrical system and the motor together. I'm just sent 11 documents, all in Polish. When I ask for more details I get no answer.
Summer comes and all the glued items are falling off from the heat. All the LED strips, all the protection pads, the seat needs to be adjusted more often.
In August I have a few weeks of holidays. I decide to overhaul the CBH. I change all the lights with brighter CE certified lights from Highsider, so brake, signal, front left and right headlights, rear brake/blinker lights and front blinkers. While doing this I discover all the shoddy electrical work. Bad and loose soldering, and unpractical connections.
This is the final result for the lights. Very bright and clear. Please excuse the mess in the garage...
I also decide to change the chainring. I had a 43 on an Efneo GTRO and upgraded it to 65. While doing this I discovered that the chain was not in line with the chainring and the chainring was rubbing against the supporting wall of the crank. So I had to add a 3mm spacer to the bottom bracket (spindle).
I also remembered the story of GWeisser opening the front hood to more than 30°, so I decided to change the “barn” hinge that was holding the hood to the body, to a hinge from Hettich, that opens more than 90°. To do this, I sent an email to PIMA in August 2018 to ask what is inside this box where the barn hinge connects to the body. NO ANSWER!!!
In my quest to find a solution to the opening of the front hood, I open a small hole in the place where the original "barn" hinge was fixed to introduce a camera.
I was completely shocked at what I discovered! and I understood why Gweisser had a problem with the hinge.
- The reinforcement half tube that runs around the inside of the CBH is glued on to the body with some silicone glue. This should have be done with epoxy glue.
- The aluminium plate that was holding the "barn" hinge is 1 mm thick sandwiched between 1 mm fiberglass with no other support such as molded hard plastic or even wood to fill the void and to hold the screws!
When I sent PIMA this email, all I received from them was a long sarcastic email bitching about how I should buy a VW and complain about it and lots of blablabla, but no asnwer to fix these problems.
I cut a square opening to this box and removed the aluminium plate and filled it first with fiberglass putty to close the holes of the fortifying frame and then epoxy. This was done for both the hood and the body.
I then installed a Hettich (made in Germany) kitchen cupboard hinge. Solid stuff and does it's work perfectly. Now I can open the hood almost to 80°. I did consider Septomax but it was a bit too expensive...
Sarcasm from such a young company is not very productive or useful when they need all the support they can get. PIMA just buries its head in the sand, ignore the emails and phones calls, and hope that the problem goes away. That is not how to run a business or treat clients.
All in all, the CBH is very beautiful to look at and very comfortable. When it is raining, you are protected. But it stops there. The reliability on the long run will suffer! Only buy this product if you are VERY handy and are willing to forfeit the guarantee (as if that really existed anyway)! For all the problems I had, I refuse to be an advertising board for them, so I removed all advertising signs from the CBH. I am considering getting a student artist to use it as a canvas... but this is for another time.
If a client buys a product from there, he has to be prepared to NOT receive any after sales support. Emails are ignored. Phone calls are not answered. Promises are not kept.