Between delivery delays and energy anomalies, the Cowboy 4 has suffered some setbacks since its announcement in May 2021. Frandroid spoke with Tanguy Goretti, co-founder of the brand, to try to clarify the situation.
Source: Cowboy
After a Cowboy 3 favorably received by critics, the Belgian manufacturer got down to designing the next generation of its electric bike: the Cowboy 4, made official on May 4, 2021. For this new version, the company has refined a formula already well oiled while adding for the first time in its history an open frame model, the ST version.
Initially expected for summer 2021, the Cowboy 4 and Cowboy 4 ST have been long overdue. And once arrived in the hands of the first users, several strange energy phenomena pointed the tip of their nose. To better understand the situation, the editorial staff was able to discuss with one of the group’s co-founders, Tanguy Goretti.
“A violent crisis on several levels”
Within Cowboy communities, it is not uncommon to come across disarmed customers in the face of multiple postponements of their order. For some, the delay is not counted in weeks, but in months. Today (February 2022), buying a Cowboy 4 means waiting until May/June to receive your sesame, i.e. four to five months.
Terribly long delays – whether for old or new customers – which can be explained by a relatively simple reason: a violent industrial crisis, which inevitably echoes the shortage of components inherent in the global Covid-19 pandemic. Cowboy was hit hard, disrupting its original schedule.
Source: Cowboy
“It’s a violent crisis on many levels“warns Tanguy Goretti straight away. “First of all, there is a shortage of raw materials, such as aluminum, which we use for the frames of our bicycles.“. These particular circumstances then torpedoed the production chain, itself disrupted by other setbacks.
“There are real production capacity problems with suppliers. For example, we order 2000 pieces, but we only have the right to 1000“, continues Tanguy Goretti, who also points the finger at the microcontroller crisis. “Today, you have to order electronic parts 18 months in advance“.
A return to normal expected
Added to all this commotion is a logistical crisis with a double effect:An increase in costs and an overall slowdown in arrivals and deliveries. Instead of 4 weeks, it takes double or even triple the time“, specifies our interlocutor. “At Cowboy, it had to have an impact on us“.
For a while, the Belgian brand thought it saw the end of the tunnel, before yet another unforeseen event caught up with it. “We had managed to get all our parts… except the brakes. Our supplier has experienced capacity issues. So today, we are working in tight flow, and we are fighting to increase the capacities of our partners.“.
Source: Cowboy
However, deliveries of the Cowboy 4 and Cowboy 4 ST gradually began from November 2021, although many customers still have to be patient. A deal that should change from May, assures us Tanguy G. “For an order placed in May, delivery will take place in June or July“.
“Unless there is another big crisis or factory closings. But otherwise, everything is in place. Fundraising (Editor’s note: Cowboy recently raised 80 million euros, in particular to establish itself on the American market) also makes things easier“Admits the former co-founder of Take Eat Easy.
A capricious new cockpit
The first deliveries made nevertheless gave way to unexpected energy anomalies. We have observed this twice, on each Cowboy 4 ST model entrusted to the editorial staff. Other testimonies came to confirm our doubts and our fears.
“We did not understand why, but the battery level was decreasingwithout the bike being used. This loss was significant: up to 5% less autonomy in barely 24 hours, with or without Auto Unlock or the Bluetooth connection activated. Either way, there was a loss.
Source: Cowboy
Tanguy Goretti brings a clear and transparent explanation to this problem: “It’s related to the new cockpit of the Cowboy 4, and its new electronic parts. On some bikes, we just couldn’t turn this cockpit off properly“. Which then pumped energy continuously.
This defect is due toto a small variation within the electronic components, a different response rate which is counted in milliseconds“. Enough to sow discord, in short. “We hadn’t detected it: today, it has been identified and resolved. It’s been 10 days (Editor’s note: interview conducted on 09/02) that the new update has been in test“.
Cowboy didn’t spot the problem instantly, as the whole fleet was not affected, we were assured: just over 10% of its fleet was. And by snowball effect, this glitch created another: “This loss disrupted the calculation of the remaining battery level of the bike“, explains Tanguy Goretti.
Connecting an e-bike, a false good idea?
“What happened was that the battery level indicated was not correct: but that only happens at the beginning. After several charging cycles, everything is back to normal.“, he wants to reassure. If updates are offered to you in the next few days, a word of advice, install them quickly.
More generally, all of these events call into question the need to connect our electric bikes. Adding electronics and software can sometimes lead to incongruous complications, certainly correctable, but still annoying at the moment T.
Models designed with the utmost simplicity and without any connectivity often fulfill their role to perfection, as evidenced by the Vélo Mad Sport+ or the Mustache Lundi 27.3 tested by the editorial staff. Because after all, a bicycle, whether electric or muscular, serves above all to move us from A to point B: a point that’s all.
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