Kalkhoff 2012 electric bikes at 50cycles

[DJH]

In this day and age I dont see £2000 for a E bike as unrealistic as long as it lightweight and well specified

A shame 50 cycles cant keep the 20% deal up until the new year!

Yes, I agree on both points. But over £2000 is beginning dampen my desire and £2500 - £3995 desire is dead!
As far as the 20% deal goes I'm afraid it's the wrong time of the year - prefer to let the finances settle after Christmas.
Anyway I may eat my words later in the year - watch this space!

 

[tangent]

Has anyone seen any technical details of how the new impulse drive system works? From the web site, I understand that it has 3 sensors, but cannot find any details anywhere on-line.

 

[eddieo]

Has anyone seen any technical details of how the new impulse drive system works? From the web site, I understand that it has 3 sensors, but cannot find any details anywhere on-line.

Just this: Kalkhoff Impulse: Kalkhoff Impulse

I would try before you order/buy though. Dont think it looks very exciting as not one of the 2012 sports model bikes seem to have this system....

 

[tillson]

That is entirely your choice, and if your happy riding some generic Chinese bike thats fine also. My LBS down the road is very popular (De Ver) and sells road bikes at £2-5000. Likewise mountain bikes can cost £2-3000 and the Sky's the limits really.

In this day and age I dont see £2000 for a E bike as unrealistic as long as it lightweight and well specified

A shame 50 cycles cant keep the 20% deal up until the new year!

That's all fair comment. However, can anyone tell me what extras I get for two, three or even four thousand pounds more than I paid for my bike?

I have asked this question before and never really received an answer. I have a Kalkhoff Pro-Connect (2008 vintage). The bike cost £1495. It has been totally reliable, requires very little in the way of maintenance, has the power to climb any hill that I have found in Derbyshire / The Peak District and the brake quality to stop me safely going down the hills. It is equally at home cruising at respectable road speeds and the bike has retained its, "new bike" looks.

I have very little / no experience of riding other ebikes, but I would be very pleased if someone could tell me what I get in addition to the things listed above if I spend and extra £3000 on a bike. I genuinely don't know the answer.

 

[rog_london]

That's all fair comment. However, can anyone tell me what extras I get for two, three or even four thousand pounds more than I paid for my bike?

I have asked this question before and never really received an answer. I have a Kalkhoff Pro-Connect (2008 vintage). The bike cost £1495. It has been totally reliable, requires very little in the way of maintenance, has the power to climb any hill that I have found in Derbyshire / The Peak District and the brake quality to stop me safely going down the hills. It is equally at home cruising at respectable road speeds and the bike has retained its, "new bike" looks.

I have very little / no experience of riding other ebikes, but I would be very pleased if someone could tell me what I get in addition to the things listed above if I spend and extra £3000 on a bike. I genuinely don't know the answer.

Always a most difficult topic, 'what is it worth'. One answer - possibly one of the more important ones - is 'what the market will bear'. It's what the sales people depend on.

People pay for exclusivity. You can see it in every other branch of life, and especially of technology - why spend £500 on a smartphone when £100 will buy you all the functions you might need - why spend £1,000 on a super wide screen HD television when you still end up watching the same old crap.

If you buy a Rolls-Royce it's still 'just' a car, can't get you around traffic jams any better than a Fiesta, presents a greater worry of damage and accident repair costs, running costs, fuel costs. Nevertheless people still buy them.

There's a certain feelgood factor in paying for exclusivity. If it's cheap and cheerful, anyone and everyone can buy it. If it's a 'silly' price, you'll be in a minority.

Getting back a little more on topic, the Panasonic system has established a good reputation as quality engineering and the bugs have been largely ironed out of it. They have now moved the goalposts in that finally they've gone to 36V and you can get a hub gear. That creates a new market with money to spend and for a while at least it will be exclusive. I think both of those features are very positive steps forward, and you can bet the price point will not put off the target market - quite the opposite.

One of our customers is a certain famous department store in Oxford Street. The prices in there are eyewatering, but the goods they are selling are the top of the tree for design and quality. There is certainly no shortage of customers with the money to buy those goods. Is it worth it? Do you get a better cup of coffee from a £500 coffee maker from Italy than you do from a £50 one bought from Argos? Possibly - but is it worth the extra £450? Only you, with a red-hot credit card, can make that decision!

Rog.

 

[flecc]

That's all fair comment. However, can anyone tell me what extras I get for two, three or even four thousand pounds more than I paid for my bike?

I have a Kalkhoff Pro-Connect (2008 vintage). The bike cost £1495. It has been totally reliable, requires very little in the way of maintenance, has the power to climb any hill that I have found in Derbyshire / The Peak District and the brake quality to stop me safely going down the hills. It is equally at home cruising at respectable road speeds and the bike has retained its, "new bike" looks.

I won't try to justify the extra, since that extra amount is the product of the law of diminishing returns. For example, my watch radio-linked to an atomic clock cost under £30 and has served me perfectly for some years now. A £10,000 Rolex would be no better as a timepiece, probably less accurate, but the Rolex has the image. When Ford launched the X type Jaguar after buying that company, it was in fact just the V6 Mondeo best model with some tweaked body panels, a changed rad grill and some varnished wood, but it cost a few thousand more than the cost of those differences.

Similar applies to e-bikes, but there are differences from your 2008 model such as many models being 36 volts rather than 26. Overall, firstly the high mode power is greater, secondly the power slope-off has almost gone, full power in any mode retained to over 14 mph. Thirdly the cadence dependence is greatly lessened, power retained at higher cadences than before. On the Impulse system, you can control what cadence you want to ride at for the full 15 mph assist speed, low medium or high to suit any type of cyclist.

The genuine Panasonic batteries are changed and have greater capacity, the 10 Ah now a 12, the 15 Ah now a 16, and of course there are the much larger capacity Kalkhoff-BMZ batteries for the Panasonic unit. The new Kalkhoff Impulse unit has wholly new Kalkhoff-BMZ batteries in 11 Ah or 15 Ah versions, both said good for a maximum of 1100 charges.

There are many more differences and improvements and I could go on at length, but you will have the picture. No, you won't get penny-for-penny moneysworth, but you will get greatly increased satisfaction from the gains.
.

 

[eddieo]

But bikes are even more guilty of year on year price increase then a lot of other goods, with 2010/2011 bikes dropping in price well before 2012 models even become obtainable. Most road/mountain bikes are of little value after years or so as simply not desirable. I have a clock work watch, a Rolex Submariner and I would not change it for anything.....Simply as good now as when new, e bikes are different.

 

[NRG]

.......
Similar applies to e-bikes, but there are differences from your 2008 model such as many models being 36 volts rather than 26. Overall, firstly the high mode power is greater, secondly the power slope-off has almost gone, full power in any mode retained to over 14 mph. Thirdly the cadence dependence is greatly lessened, power retained at higher cadences than before....
.

tillson, there's your answer.....stick with what you've got!

 

[fishingpaul]

That is entirely your choice, and if your happy riding some generic Chinese bike thats fine also. My LBS down the road is very popular (De Ver) and sells road bikes at £2-5000. Likewise mountain bikes can cost £2-3000 and the Sky's the limits really.

In this day and age I dont see £2000 for a E bike as unrealistic as long as it lightweight and well specified

A shame 50 cycles cant keep the 20% deal up until the new year!

I ride an ezee torq 2 that would cost £1500 to buy at current prices,however it has been modified by me with an uprated controller and uprated batteries,there are no legal bikes that would come close to its performance,my total for buying the bike second hand and all running costs including replacement batteries and controllers,is so far less than £750 in total for three years of use and it is still going very very well,there is just no common sense in spending £2000+ on an ebike.

 

[flecc]

I have a clock work watch, a Rolex Submariner and I would not change it for anything.....Simply as good now as when new, e bikes are different.

Yes, e-bikes are different from your Rolex, but not different from cars. Buy any high end car and gasp at the depreciation you'll suffer!

It's vehicles that are different.

 

[tillson]

Thanks for all the replies to my question regarding bikes costing between two and three thousand pounds.

I have always subscribed to the policy of, "buy cheap and you will buy twice" so have no hesitation in paying for quality. However, I think that there is a point where any extra money spent above that level buys you very little, or nothing at all.

I can see the points made regarding cars and a small Fiat doing the same job as a Mercedes, but costing vastly different sums of money for example. But bicycles are different, they are always going to provide a simple, basic and exposed transport experience regardless of how much you spend.

For me, £900 to £1500 is about what a good quality ebike is worth in terms of enjoyment, practicality and exerecise. I simply can't see any justification for these bikes costing thousands of pounds more.

I will be sticking to the 2008 Pro-Connect.

 

[eddieo]

Again..... My LBS have wheels that cost £1500(each) Same price as a Wisper 905 SE. I dont think they would stock them if they aren't selling them....

Some take their interests a bit more seriously then others, and invest more in their hobby, it's as simple as that.

 

[eddieo]

Yes, e-bikes are different from your Rolex, but not different from cars. Buy any high end car and gasp at the depreciation you'll suffer!

It's vehicles that are different.

It was a 50th birthday prezzie 9 years ago and cost around £2500. insurance replacemnet value for a new one is £5300......everything is simply getting much more expensive.

 

[flecc]

.....everything is simply getting much more expensive.

That's so true at present.

Needs must though, I think a slump in business due to a prolonged recession may yet bring us a greater choice of lower priced quality products.

 

[flecc]

Just been listening to an item on an attempt to get UK legality for the Segway, failed at present.

What caught my attention though, considering the Segway has some things in common with e-bikes, was it's UK price for it's current sales for security and leisure. It's £5195.

Considering it's limitations compared to e-bikes, no large pannier loads, no child seat, no child trailer towing, maximum 24 mile range with a new battery, even the high end e-bikes look a bargain in comparison.

For a similarly small-market item, the £2500 e-bike price being complained about is only half the Segway price for a far more versatile product.