Kindernay support unresponsive (warranty claim)

Anyone know how to get hold of someone at Kindernay?
I bought a Kindernay VII internal gear hub last year and unfortunately already problems.
Still under warranty but I can't get in touch with the customer service.
no IGH available on the webshop. Kindernay out of business?





IGH Kindernay VII after 7 months of use, 2000km mix of light enduro / XC / Road
View media item 2549

Hardtail said:

Reddit

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Thanks, but it doesn't really help.
I have a real problem and there is no answer for almost a month!
If they are a serious company, the lack of staff should have already been resolved.

Christian Antal - Founder, CEO and COO @ Kindernay - Crunchbase Person Profile

Chase the CEO

Mine Kindernay VII is a little wobbly like on your video from day 1. I guess this is normal.

Kindernay does not sell the gearhubs directly to users anymore. They distribute them through the resellers now.

TQFreak said:

Mine Kindernay VII is a little wobbly like on your video from day 1. I guess this is normal.

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interesting
my mechanic claims that he would have noticed it by now.
The wheel is quite wobbly!

I hope that support will answer soon. (tried to contact Christian via e-mail)

got a reply back from Christian
All incoming emails have been received, but due to illness it is taking longer for a answer...

I will try to be patient but it's about a bicycle

Kindernay is still in business correct? Just was on their website yesterday but I haven't heard back on FB or email since July.

Hoping Sram hasn't tried to kill them off since their Transmission release.

The lightweight e-IGH is the future!

It is an odd case indeed.

TCFlowClyde said:

Kindernay is still in business correct? Just was on their website yesterday but I haven't heard back on FB or email since July.

Hoping Sram hasn't tried to kill them off since their Transmission release.

The lightweight e-IGH is the future!

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Their social media is not up to date. FB, IG with no updates for about 11 months. Their official channel on mtb-news.de last posted late May 2023 with this none-specific statement:

"As part of Kindernay’s OEM strategy, we are now scaling up our production for delivery of current orders to our OEM customers. As a consequence, we are not taking new B2C / retail orders until further notice. Feel free to sign up on our newsletter at the bottom of our homepage, and stay tuned for more info and possible restocking during 2023."

Whilst it is great that @t_r got his answer, with such expensive products their customer service department seriously needs a solid improvement.

tooFATtoRIDE said:

It is an odd case indeed.


Their social media is not up to date. FB, IG with no updates for about 11 months. Their official channel on mtb-news.de last posted late May 2023 with this none-specific statement:

"As part of Kindernay’s OEM strategy, we are now scaling up our production for delivery of current orders to our OEM customers. As a consequence, we are not taking new B2C / retail orders until further notice. Feel free to sign up on our newsletter at the bottom of our homepage, and stay tuned for more info and possible restocking during 2023."

Whilst it is great that @t_r got his answer, with such expensive products their customer service department seriously needs a solid improvement.

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I did hear back just last week. Looks like direct sales isn't happening and they only want biz partners the distribute to.

I only hope this is not some sort of corpo BS to cover their financial and/or problems. It is an interesting product and, citing you, I agree that the lightweight e-IGH is the future but I hope they do not end up like Revonte (Finnish e-bike motor startup Revonte files for bankruptcy, to sell IP).

I am considering Kindernay VII or Rohloff Speedhub for my project. Both are very expensive (for my budget). If I choose Kindernay hub, I would hope not to be left without technical support.

tooFATtoRIDE said:

I only hope this is not some sort of corpo BS to cover their financial and/or problems. It is an interesting product and, citing you, I agree that the lightweight e-IGH is the future but I hope they do not end up like Revonte (Finnish e-bike motor startup Revonte files for bankruptcy, to sell IP).

I am considering Kindernay VII or Rohloff Speedhub for my project. Both are very expensive (for my budget). If I choose Kindernay hub, I would hope not to be left without technical support.

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If Rohloff would take the KVii (7 gear) concept in order to reduce weight, lessening unsprung mass more, and then refine their new e+shifting a bit to stream line it. I'd be willing to rethink Rohloff for sure.

Maybe call it speedhub-lite or e-Rohloff. It's just too challenging for longer travel suspension otherwise.

Big "ifs"....but I think it's ok to start catering to the growing emtb market now Rohloff AND Shimano!

There's a new 9 spd player in the market 3X3 but weight is 2 kgs with e-shifting. Still heavy.

The K-VII weighs 1.8 kg, while old AXS GX weighs less than 1 kg I think? Feel free to correct me I couldn't find a reliable total weight.

3X3 Nine - I think the 2kg quoted is for the hub alone, without accessories.
I like it but there is one tiny problem - these hubs are not available to general public for foreseable future. When I approached 3X3 they were either unable to tell me or unwilling to tell my any reasonable timeline. OEM for a long time, I guess.

Kindernay VII - the hub alone is 1.2kg and the cage is around 100gr, making this hub only weight, without accessories, of 1.3kg

It is a significant difference but for the reasons discussed above, a very risky purchase right now, in my view at least.

tooFATtoRIDE said:

3X3 Nine - I think the 2kg quoted is for the hub alone, without accessories.
I like it but there is one tiny problem - these hubs are not available to general public for foreseable future. When I approached 3X3 they were either unable to tell me or unwilling to tell my any reasonable timeline. OEM for a long time, I guess.

Kindernay VII - the hub alone is 1.2kg and the cage is around 100gr, making this hub only weight, without accessories, of 1.3kg

It is a significant difference but for the reasons discussed above, a very risky purchase right now, in my view at least.

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Ahh yes, I think I did the K14 weight. 1.3 sounds a lot more appealing.

Yeah, I just saw the OEM rear dropout for 3x3 Nine. Thanks for the quick input.

t_r said:

got a reply back from Christian
All incoming emails have been received, but due to illness it is taking longer for a answer...

I will try to be patient but it's about a bicycle

Click to expand...

Can you please update us, if you got your problem resolved?

El Topo said:

Can you please update us, if you got your problem resolved?

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unfortunately NO, I'm still waiting for an answer. Yes, it's quite disappointing. Considering all the above + few things. I'm not sure if buying is a good choice. To be honest, I don't see any alternative right now. Nicolai started with 3x3 ...

I think Kindernay totally lost the plot. Seriously, 6 weeks and still nothing. What a lot of BS here.

There are some signs that the trust in this product is at the bottom for a while:

1) The peviously very engaged and helpful German EU distributor Trail.Camp dropped Kindernay. They are selling the remaining stock. In their own words:

Please note: In the event of guarantee and warranty cases, the hubs must be sent to Kinderay in Norway. trail.camp is no longer an official service center and therefore cannot provide any guarantees or warranties for Kinderay hubs.
We carry some items as long as stock is available; reordering is not possible. However, we will continue to offer some wearing parts and tools, as well as oil, for regular maintenance appointments.

These Kinderay gearboxes can come from demonstration bikes or our remaining stock. The hubs may show signs of wear. These hubs have not caused any problems in previous use, but we must point out that they can be prone to oil loss, jumping gears and, in a few cases, slight axle play. The hubs are therefore expressly sold as being of limited use or defective. They can be used to repair or create experimental setups.

There is a Facebook Kindernay group: Log into Facebook
The head guy at Trail.Camp is/was active there. He was asked why the company dropped Kindernay. He refused to answer citing the usual "because of previous business relationship with Kindernay..."

If this is not a convincing sign, there is something bigger.

2) During Eurobike 2022 they displayed a bike with the Kindernay hub: However, this setup did not become available to purchase from them. I am not aware of any Nicolai equipped with Kindernay on the market.

For 2023/2024, they have two internal gear hub options: Rohloff (GT1 EBOXX FDT, 10.499,00 € and GT1 EBOXX WRT, 10.499,00 €) and 3X3 NINE (GT1 EBOXX EWB, 10.499,00 €).

This would the acid test for me and these would be the hubs in which Nicolai has trust. They are smart enough to put reliable and supportable components. I think the days when Nicolai would put some random parts just for shits and giggles are long gone.

tooFATtoRIDE said:

I think Kindernay totally lost the plot. Seriously, 6 weeks and still nothing. What a lot of BS here.

There are some signs that the trust in this product is at the bottom for a while:

1) The peviously very engaged and helpful German EU distributor Trail.Camp dropped Kindernay. They are selling the remaining stock. In their own words:

Please note: In the event of guarantee and warranty cases, the hubs must be sent to Kinderay in Norway. trail.camp is no longer an official service center and therefore cannot provide any guarantees or warranties for Kinderay hubs.
We carry some items as long as stock is available; reordering is not possible. However, we will continue to offer some wearing parts and tools, as well as oil, for regular maintenance appointments.

These Kinderay gearboxes can come from demonstration bikes or our remaining stock. The hubs may show signs of wear. These hubs have not caused any problems in previous use, but we must point out that they can be prone to oil loss, jumping gears and, in a few cases, slight axle play. The hubs are therefore expressly sold as being of limited use or defective. They can be used to repair or create experimental setups.

There is a Facebook Kindernay group: Log into Facebook
The head guy at Trail.Camp is/was active there. He was asked why the company dropped Kindernay. He refused to answer citing the usual "because of previous business relationship with Kindernay..."

If this is not a convincing sign, there is something bigger.

2) During Eurobike 2022 they displayed a bike with the Kindernay hub: However, this setup did not become available to purchase from them. I am not aware of any Nicolai equipped with Kindernay on the market.

For 2023/2024, they have two internal gear hub options: Rohloff (GT1 EBOXX FDT, 10.499,00 € and GT1 EBOXX WRT, 10.499,00 €) and 3X3 NINE (GT1 EBOXX EWB, 10.499,00 €).

This would the acid test for me and these would be the hubs in which Nicolai has trust. They are smart enough to put reliable and supportable components. I think the days when Nicolai would put some random parts just for shits and giggles are long gone.

Click to expand...

That's unfortunate. Was really hoping the K-VII was the practical answer to getting rid of the rear mech FINALLY for my full sus E-mtb. Everything else for a standalone IGH is just too heavy with unsprung mass!

Well, it looks like I'll have to upgrade my AXS Gx and toss in another $1k for a Gx T-type drivetrain in the foreseeable future. But I'm gonna wait another season to see if the "upgrade" is truly not just hype with more consumer feedback. Having no rear mech for the dirt is still a few more years away apparently...🫡

I asked 3x3, on their ig account, when theyd have their hub witjh the bluetooth wireless electronic shifting available. In early summer they said availability would be this fall. I havent seen any updates so im not sure if its available yet

Dirtnvert said:

I asked 3x3, on their ig account, when theyd have their hub witjh the bluetooth wireless electronic shifting available. In early summer they said availability would be this fall. I havent seen any updates so im not sure if its available yet

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What they might have omitted to tell you, the fall availability was for OEM manufacturers, not use average joe retail mortals. I have been asking them for any solid indication a number of times, and every single time they have not answer my questions, just BS wishy-washy answer. This is a kindergarden level of customer service to me, unfortunately.

Their hub, however, looks solid.

tooFATtoRIDE said:

What they might have omitted to tell you, the fall availability was for OEM manufacturers, not use average joe retail mortals. I have been asking them for any solid indication a number of times, and every single time they have not answer my questions, just BS wishy-washy answer. This is a kindergarden level of customer service to me, unfortunately.

Their hub, however, looks solid.

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Well shit! Are they selling that many OEM's that they want sell individually? Super small operation i guess. Theyre probably finding it hard to forecast. Bluetooth would make it an ez bolt on. Hope they get it together

Sad news for the Kindernay hub users - the company went bankrupt.

More info here (uncle Google translate should help here):

Konkurs for prestisjefull sykkel-startup med Peter Hermanrud og Dag Otto Lauritzen på eiersiden

tooFATtoRIDE said:

Sad news for the Kindernay hub users - the company went bankrupt.

More info here (uncle Google translate should help here):

Konkurs for prestisjefull sykkel-startup med Peter Hermanrud og Dag Otto Lauritzen på eiersiden

Click to expand...

Thank you for that message, you praobably saved me from spending a lot of money...

unfortunately support is still dead and I ran into a new problem.
spring popped out from chain tensioner and it is not possible to return it back.

Does anyone have an idea how to fix it? spare spring,where?

replace it with Rohloff DH Chain Tensioner ? compatibility problem?




View media item 2577

This is Problem Solvers tensioner, not Kindernay.

TQFreak said:

This is Problem Solvers tensioner, not Kindernay.

Two-Pulley Chain Tensioner

This Problem Solvers Two-Pulley Tensioner is for use with single-speed drivetrains. Two-Pulley Chain Tensioner Instructions

problemsolversbike.com

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Thanks for the reply, but it seems that they are not the manufacturers and they have no instructions on how to put it back together.

I found also this Kettenspanner SINGLE-SPEED III but the problem is, of course, waiting for delivery.

I just can't believe it's beyond repair!