Pro connect with a thumb throttle?!

[rustic]

Having been away from this website for a while I dropped by today to see whether there had been any development with Wisper offering a broader range of frame sizes for the 905 sport. I am 6' 4" tall & had previously been most interested in a Wisper because of it's range, the fact that it had a 'throttle only' option & the positive reports of excellent customer service. The only thing that stopped me purchasing one & ditching my car was the relatively small - one size fits all - frame size.

I had previously disregarded the Kalkhoff Pro connect as despite offering the bike in a range of frame sizes suiting both taller & shorter riders, I did not think there was a 'throttle only' option available. Having just checked the 50 Cycles website this evening I noticed that they do actually have the option of an additional 'thumb throttle' being fitted.

I would really appreciate some advice on this kind of set up: how practical is it to use a thumb throttle over distances of say 20 miles a day? (It sounds a bit uncomfortable to me). Is it possible to derestrict a pro connect so that it could offer an off road option similar to the Wisper? Which of the available pro connect frame sizes might best suit a person of my height?

As I said, I haven't been here for a while, I have looked through recent forum posts, but apologise to more regular members if some of these topics have already been covered in recent months.

 

[flecc]

It's not a throttle that you can use on the road, it's a "walk alongside" throttle so that you can walk the bike up any hill too steep to pedal up with the bike largely pulling it's own weight.

It conforms to the pedestrian controlled electric vehicle laws, which limit the speed to 4 mph in the UK and 6 kph in the mainland EU. In practice the actual speed on the Pro Connect or Agattu etc is 3.7 mph.

Because the pedals aren't applying force to the torque sensor, the power is at a minimum on the thumb throttle, so on the steepest bits and if the bike is heavily loaded, panniers etc, it might still need a touch of push as well.

So to sum up, it won't answer your needs. Of course EU pedelec law doesn't allow throttle only control, so the German made Kalkhoffs couldn't have that anyway.

P.S. The high speed class Pro Connect S does allow the throttle if fitted to that model to work at up to about 12.5 mph as an accidental by product of it's speed being increased over the standard Pro Connect.
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[Wisper Bikes]

Big Wisper 705Afine and 905Alfine comming soon

Having been away from this website for a while I dropped by today to see whether there had been any development with Wisper offering a broader range of frame sizes for the 905 sport. I am 6' 4" tall & had previously been most interested in a Wisper because of it's range, the fact that it had a 'throttle only' option & the positive reports of excellent customer service. The only thing that stopped me purchasing one & ditching my car was the relatively small - one size fits all - frame size.

Hi Rustic

Thanks for waiting!

I have recently finished the final design and specification for the Wisper 706Alfine and 906Alfine Wisper models, samples are being built ready for Euro bike 2009 in September. The Alfine range of Wispers will be on a larger frame with C700 wheels rather than the 26" we are currently using. The specifications will be to the same high standard with Alex rims etc and apart form the size there will be two very important differences. The Alfine range as the name suggests sports the fantastic Alfine 8 hub gear box Alfine Disc brakes back and front



and the massively efficient light weight Japanese Dapu 250w hub motor on the front wheel.



We have introduced these bikes to enter the large German and Dutch markets who typically use larger wheels and hub gear boxes. However they will be available in the UK before the end of 2009. The down side of course is they will be substantialy more expensive than the current models, as soon as I have images and prices I will publish on our website and here on Pedelecs.

If you would like to get your hands on one of these beauties early and do some reports and testing for us I could probably arrange for one to be put onto our August container for you.

I have been riding a 905 with the changes to gears and motor for a couple of weeks now and even with my 20 stone the difference is amazing. I have one with a very expensive state of the art torque sensor which I really do not like so we will be going back to cadence sensor for the production run.

Best regards David

 

[rustic]

This does seem interesting - David I have sent you a p.m in response, thanks, Rus.