Does anyone know if it is possible to purchase the Kalkhoff 18Ah Lithium Battery anywhere other than 50cycles. They seem to always be awaiting delivery of new stock. I also wonder if it can be bought at a lower price, maybe by importing?
Sourcing a Kalkhoff 18Ah Lithium Battery
- Thread starter eclectic_bike
- Start date
Only 50cycles in the UK. The almost the same Raleighs largest battery versions use the Panasonic 12 Ah.
When looking into battery prices for these previously, the EU countries and especially Germany were always substantially more expensive, though I don't know today's position.
When looking into battery prices for these previously, the EU countries and especially Germany were always substantially more expensive, though I don't know today's position.
Thanks Flecc & Scott.
Scott - You need to change the words on this page: Lithium Battery for Electric Bikes / Electric Bicycles | 50cycles as it says this:
Availability and ordering We are now taking advanced orders for these new battery packs for delivery this Spring.
and,
Awaiting delivery of new stock from Kalkhoff - available again soon!
I purchased one of these from the first batch available from 50cycles in May so hopefully it will be a long time before anyone notices any decline in the range.
For me the increased range over the 10ah battery has been a revelation. Many of my rides are 30 miles+ so I no longer have to use the lower power modes to eek out the range, which is very welcome when your legs are weary.
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I had the reverse of your problem with their site, i wanted 2 battery terminal covers and their site said available for next day delivery so i ordered 2, but they had no stock and did not get any more in the fortnight before i went on holiday. Whats worse is they never got in touch either.
50cycles don't know their arse from their elbow!
I had a less than satisfactory experience with ordering this battery too.
I went to the 50cycles website in early December 2011, it said they had stock, and I placed the order. My credit card got charged immediately.
I got an update the next day from 50cycles saying that the battery was not in stock, but was expected inside two weeks. Two weeks came and went and I got no battery and no update from 50cycles. I contacted them, and was told that the expected delivery had not turned up. They had ordered some more from Germany. I explained that I was less than pleased that they had now had my £525 for more than two weeks without delivering anything, but as they were expecting the stock "soon", there wasn't much point in getting them to refund it.
I waited until early January 2012 and still had not heard anything from 50cycles. I called again, asking when they were expecting delivery. They weren't sure. I also noted that they were now offering a 12% discount on all purchases on their website; as they had had my £525 for over a month now, I requested that they would kindly apply the discount to my purchase. After all - I could have just cancelled the order, and then placed it again on the website and benefited from the discount that way. The chap I spoke to said that he wasn't sure, only the boss could deal with that. The boss wasn't in that day, but he would get him to call me back the next day.
The next day came and went, no call, no battery.
I waited another two weeks, with no contact from 50cycles. By this time I was giving up hope, and had started to explore German websites to import the battery from there. My wife is German, so although a bit more faff (dealing with overseas deliveries and paying in Euros etc) we actually found a site that was able to deliver the battery for a better price than 50cycles (assuming that 50cycles didn't apply the discount as requested). I called 50cycles again, again the boss was not available. I was told to call the next day. I finally got hold of the boss the next day (I think it was Scott of the post above), explained that I had found the battery cheaper elsewhere and wanted to cancel my order unless they were willing to apply the discount.
Scott was rather short with me (it sounded like he was in a warehouse somewhere and rather distracted), he said fine, they would cancel the order. He then hung up on me, in the middle of me asking when they would refund my credit card. I didn't feel like speaking to him any more, so I assumed that they would refund the card in due course, and I decided I would call them again in a week if that hadn't happened.
Somewhat to my surprise, two days later (some seven weeks after I first placed the order), a battery arrived from 50cycles. This left me with a bit of a dilemma - the delivery was signed for by the receptionist at work, so I didn't get the chance to reject the delivery. The Euro exchange rate had just dipped, which meant that the battery from Germany would have worked out a very similar price. And my old battery was not coping with the cold very well and the range was down to about 2 miles.
So even though I was by this point not very impressed with 50cycles and would have preferred to not do business with them, I decided to keep the battery. It's done about 12 miles so far, I am very pleased with it.
But overall I was far from impressed with the customer service at 50cycles. I accept it was not really their fault that the stock took so long to arrive, but I was not impressed that they never proactively updated me during the wait; that they took the money at the outset and never offered to return it while they waited for the stock to turn up; that they never did offer me the discount they were offering everyone else on their website, even though the battery didn't arrive until the back end of January; and that they said they would cancel the order and then sent it anyway.
I probably should have stuck to my principles, returned the battery to 50cycles and got a refund. But if it was that painful having the battery delivered in the first place, how much hassle was it going to be to get them to accept the return? Life is too short...
Graham
I went to the 50cycles website in early December 2011, it said they had stock, and I placed the order. My credit card got charged immediately.
I got an update the next day from 50cycles saying that the battery was not in stock, but was expected inside two weeks. Two weeks came and went and I got no battery and no update from 50cycles. I contacted them, and was told that the expected delivery had not turned up. They had ordered some more from Germany. I explained that I was less than pleased that they had now had my £525 for more than two weeks without delivering anything, but as they were expecting the stock "soon", there wasn't much point in getting them to refund it.
I waited until early January 2012 and still had not heard anything from 50cycles. I called again, asking when they were expecting delivery. They weren't sure. I also noted that they were now offering a 12% discount on all purchases on their website; as they had had my £525 for over a month now, I requested that they would kindly apply the discount to my purchase. After all - I could have just cancelled the order, and then placed it again on the website and benefited from the discount that way. The chap I spoke to said that he wasn't sure, only the boss could deal with that. The boss wasn't in that day, but he would get him to call me back the next day.
The next day came and went, no call, no battery.
I waited another two weeks, with no contact from 50cycles. By this time I was giving up hope, and had started to explore German websites to import the battery from there. My wife is German, so although a bit more faff (dealing with overseas deliveries and paying in Euros etc) we actually found a site that was able to deliver the battery for a better price than 50cycles (assuming that 50cycles didn't apply the discount as requested). I called 50cycles again, again the boss was not available. I was told to call the next day. I finally got hold of the boss the next day (I think it was Scott of the post above), explained that I had found the battery cheaper elsewhere and wanted to cancel my order unless they were willing to apply the discount.
Scott was rather short with me (it sounded like he was in a warehouse somewhere and rather distracted), he said fine, they would cancel the order. He then hung up on me, in the middle of me asking when they would refund my credit card. I didn't feel like speaking to him any more, so I assumed that they would refund the card in due course, and I decided I would call them again in a week if that hadn't happened.
Somewhat to my surprise, two days later (some seven weeks after I first placed the order), a battery arrived from 50cycles. This left me with a bit of a dilemma - the delivery was signed for by the receptionist at work, so I didn't get the chance to reject the delivery. The Euro exchange rate had just dipped, which meant that the battery from Germany would have worked out a very similar price. And my old battery was not coping with the cold very well and the range was down to about 2 miles.
So even though I was by this point not very impressed with 50cycles and would have preferred to not do business with them, I decided to keep the battery. It's done about 12 miles so far, I am very pleased with it.
But overall I was far from impressed with the customer service at 50cycles. I accept it was not really their fault that the stock took so long to arrive, but I was not impressed that they never proactively updated me during the wait; that they took the money at the outset and never offered to return it while they waited for the stock to turn up; that they never did offer me the discount they were offering everyone else on their website, even though the battery didn't arrive until the back end of January; and that they said they would cancel the order and then sent it anyway.
I probably should have stuck to my principles, returned the battery to 50cycles and got a refund. But if it was that painful having the battery delivered in the first place, how much hassle was it going to be to get them to accept the return? Life is too short...
Graham
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D
Deleted member 4366
Guest
That's a terrible story Graham. Hopefully 50 Cycles will be so embarasses that they'll offer to refund the discount you should have had. Shame on them if they don't
What have you done with the old battery? I'd love to get my hands on one to investigate a way of re-celling it so that others don't have to suffer like you.
What have you done with the old battery? I'd love to get my hands on one to investigate a way of re-celling it so that others don't have to suffer like you.
The KudosCycles Doctrine
Our business model comes from our parent company,namely Rally Design,this will be Rally Design's 40th year of trading so it seems to stand the test of time.
1. Keep the stocks high - you cannot sell a product if you do not have it in stock.
2. Never lie to a customer - if supply is going to be six weeks then be honest and tell them so.
3. Try to get every order out on the same day it is ordered.
4. Keep the customer informed.
5. Never take a credit card swipe or raise an invoice unless the goods are to hand.
6. Sell value for money products - not the cheapest nor necessarily the best, but that which our experience suggests is good for the job.
7. Offer advice if you feel capable of doing so but do not talk rubbish
Our business model comes from our parent company,namely Rally Design,this will be Rally Design's 40th year of trading so it seems to stand the test of time.
1. Keep the stocks high - you cannot sell a product if you do not have it in stock.
2. Never lie to a customer - if supply is going to be six weeks then be honest and tell them so.
3. Try to get every order out on the same day it is ordered.
4. Keep the customer informed.
5. Never take a credit card swipe or raise an invoice unless the goods are to hand.
6. Sell value for money products - not the cheapest nor necessarily the best, but that which our experience suggests is good for the job.
7. Offer advice if you feel capable of doing so but do not talk rubbish
The discount was actually 20% on 26th and 27th of December with, "winter20" code. The email promoting this offer was sent out by 50 Cycles at 11:31 am on 26/12/2011.
Companies taking payment for goods that they don't possess is a pet hate of mine. It simply isn't acceptable and if they do engage in that sort of practice, they should have been constantly updating you, even if the update was to tell you that there was no news. You would have been quite entitled to cancel your order and then re-order with the discount applied. That would have saved you £105 and you should not settle for anything less than this amount.
Companies taking payment for goods that they don't possess is a pet hate of mine. It simply isn't acceptable and if they do engage in that sort of practice, they should have been constantly updating you, even if the update was to tell you that there was no news. You would have been quite entitled to cancel your order and then re-order with the discount applied. That would have saved you £105 and you should not settle for anything less than this amount.
If you look at my reply earlier in this thread you will see i had a similar problem with 50cyles.
Scott asked me in a PM to remove my reply because of my last comment, i refused and went into a blow by blow account in my reply to him, including dates times etc of what had happened (that detail not really reqd on here) and i said i stood by what i had said.
I decided not to deal with 50cycles again unless absolutely necessary!
Surprise, surprise Scott did not get in touch again.
Scott asked me in a PM to remove my reply because of my last comment, i refused and went into a blow by blow account in my reply to him, including dates times etc of what had happened (that detail not really reqd on here) and i said i stood by what i had said.
I decided not to deal with 50cycles again unless absolutely necessary!
Surprise, surprise Scott did not get in touch again.
Thanks all for your comments.
As promised in Scott's post above, a cheque has arrived in the post today, corresponding to the 12% discount.
That means that I have the battery I wanted, at a reasonable price, so I am happy enough with that.
Scott has also contacted me directly by email and assured me that he is looking to upgrade their computer systems to make it easier to send updates on stock positions, and that he has now hired a full time staff member so that they can respond more quickly to customer enquiries. Scott didn't haven't to contact me with that information, so this suggests to me that, even though my personal experience wasn't great, 50cycles are keen to deliver a good service where possible. I would hope that anyone buying a battery in future will experience a much smoother process.
@d8veh - my old battery has already gone to the recycling centre, so I am unable to help you there.
I believe that electric bikes have a great future in the UK, and Kalkhoff is one of the best electric bike makes out there. It is great to have a new battery for my Agattu again - it's done 20 miles already on one charge, in cold weather, on maximum boost, up some steep hills, and still has more left in it!
Happy cycling, let's hope the weather warms up a little bit soon.
Graham
As promised in Scott's post above, a cheque has arrived in the post today, corresponding to the 12% discount.
That means that I have the battery I wanted, at a reasonable price, so I am happy enough with that.
Scott has also contacted me directly by email and assured me that he is looking to upgrade their computer systems to make it easier to send updates on stock positions, and that he has now hired a full time staff member so that they can respond more quickly to customer enquiries. Scott didn't haven't to contact me with that information, so this suggests to me that, even though my personal experience wasn't great, 50cycles are keen to deliver a good service where possible. I would hope that anyone buying a battery in future will experience a much smoother process.
@d8veh - my old battery has already gone to the recycling centre, so I am unable to help you there.
I believe that electric bikes have a great future in the UK, and Kalkhoff is one of the best electric bike makes out there. It is great to have a new battery for my Agattu again - it's done 20 miles already on one charge, in cold weather, on maximum boost, up some steep hills, and still has more left in it!
Happy cycling, let's hope the weather warms up a little bit soon.
Graham
I just got one from a place in Nuremberg Germany. I live in Prague so I took the train there. DETAILS From 50 Cycles who sold my Pro Connect S bike to me the new 18ah battery is £560 delivered to Prague. From Germany it was 449 Euro (£370). -- Even if you had to pay £50 or a bit more for delivery to the UK you're quids ahead. I travelled first class on the train from Prague, had 2 nights in a 4 star hotel in Nurnberg, had a night in Pilsen on the way back and STILL had £50 left over out of the £560 I'd budgeted. I love and respect 50 Cycles who've been good to me but £560 versus 449 euro can't be justified.
I just got one from a place in Nuremberg Germany. I live in Prague so I took the train there. DETAILS From 50 Cycles who sold my Pro Connect S bike to me the new 18ah battery is £560 delivered to Prague. From Germany it was 449 Euro (£370). -- Even if you had to pay £50 or a bit more for delivery to the UK you're quids ahead. I travelled first class on the train from Prague, had 2 nights in a 4 star hotel in Nurnberg, had a night in Pilsen on the way back and STILL had £50 left over out of the £560 I'd budgeted. I love and respect 50 Cycles who've been good to me but £560 versus 449 euro can't be justified.
Hi.
Can you provide an email address or web address of the company you purchased from? Know Prague fairly well as my son lives there.
Regards
Vectra
Try this link Vectra - I owe you for the Wisper
18 Ah Akku für Panasonic e-bike / pedelec , z.B. Kalkhoff Flyer Kettler Rixe | eBay
18 Ah Akku für Panasonic e-bike / pedelec , z.B. Kalkhoff Flyer Kettler Rixe | eBay
Hi. You are a star. Hope the bike is OK.
Just found a Panasonic 25AH for 729 euros. Didn't know they made one.
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I am no star Vectra I just used the tools that are available for everyone to use.
The bike is in perfect "as new" condition it had never been used and they had regularly topped up the battery.
The bike is in perfect "as new" condition it had never been used and they had regularly topped up the battery.
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I've just had an email from 50 Cycles, they are now selling a 24 Ah battery. The price is eye-watering though.
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