Hi Guys, just to share my thoughts. Firstly, I have owned my KA for over 4 years and its had regular use, maybe 3 mile/day over some hilly areas. Four years ago, it was pretty much state of the art and cost a whopping £1400, but its beautifully built form top components and almost no reliability issues. Its been a godsend to my arthritic frame and Ive certainly had good value for money - but you get what you pay for
My battery is down to about 60% but still more than enough for my needs (they are only rated for 500 charges)
A few comments
a) 50cycles weren't offering any trade-in for a newer model - if I wanted
b) A new retail battery is ca £700. I shall be making up my own 16Ah replacement pack for ca £200 when its needed, couple more years yet, I think.
c) I wish it had front disc brakes, you use brakes a lot more with e biking, and I dont like the rim wearing down I can probably cobble a halford disc brake on it around the hub dynamo
d) I hated the telescopic front forks as they were unstable at slow tight turns (on pavements) so I clamped them up with a string of jubilee clips - looks quite hi-tech.
e) beware of telscopic seat post as it adds 3inches to the minimum frame size, which gave me serious problems at the beginning (50 cycles forgot to allow for this with their frame sizing chart), but they sent me a fixed post and its ok now.
f) Would I buy one again - now £2000, well if you are commuting and you need utter reliabilty and quality, I wouldnt hesitate, think of it as £500 pa instead of £3000 on trains
Their own unmoderated forum speaks volumes from happy bikers
Cheers
Robin
My battery is down to about 60% but still more than enough for my needs (they are only rated for 500 charges)
A few comments
a) 50cycles weren't offering any trade-in for a newer model - if I wanted
b) A new retail battery is ca £700. I shall be making up my own 16Ah replacement pack for ca £200 when its needed, couple more years yet, I think.
c) I wish it had front disc brakes, you use brakes a lot more with e biking, and I dont like the rim wearing down I can probably cobble a halford disc brake on it around the hub dynamo
d) I hated the telescopic front forks as they were unstable at slow tight turns (on pavements) so I clamped them up with a string of jubilee clips - looks quite hi-tech.
e) beware of telscopic seat post as it adds 3inches to the minimum frame size, which gave me serious problems at the beginning (50 cycles forgot to allow for this with their frame sizing chart), but they sent me a fixed post and its ok now.
f) Would I buy one again - now £2000, well if you are commuting and you need utter reliabilty and quality, I wouldnt hesitate, think of it as £500 pa instead of £3000 on trains
Their own unmoderated forum speaks volumes from happy bikers
Cheers
Robin
