Kalkhoff Pro Connect Xion X24 - First Impression

Jonah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2010
882
246
EX38
I have now had the new Pro Connect for 2 weeks and have managed to do 3 longish rides on it (40 - 50 miles each). I have this bikes as a demonstrator for anyone in the southwest that wants to try one out. The X24 is the cheaper of the 2 models currently available and comes with an 11Ah battery.

I have ridden most brands of e-bike (hub and crank drive) but most of my current bikes use the Impulse crank drive so this is usual day to day experience.

The first thing that stands out is that this bike wants to go fast - faster than the motor assist level. I found that most of the time I was riding over 30km/h. The gearing allows for a comfortable cadence at speeds well over 40km/h. When you drop below 25km/h the assist comes in smoothly and silently to boost your input.

There are 5 assist levels, I found the middle level gave the best (smoothest) ride - in the highest level I found the assist a bit jerky as is cut in / out. There is plenty of power in the middle level so I probably wouldn't use higher levels much, if at all. I didn't notice any difficulty is pedalling above the cut-off speed.

The new Xion rear hub motor delivers its power best at speeds above 15km/h, a speed that you are unlikely to drop below on this bike. I was able to climb hills up to 20% fairly comfortably at these speeds. Steeper hills (25% was the steepest I've tried) are manageable but you need to keep the speed up to take full advantage of the motor. It is only under strain at slower speeds that you can hear the motor at all.

This motor has energy recovery and hill descent assist features to control your speed and recharge the battery. These can be configured (and turned off completely). If you don't like riding fast these could be a useful feature (but if you don't want to ride fast you probably wouldn't buy this bike). Apart from the novelty - and the opportunity to answer the question that every non-ebiker asks in the affirmative - I think I wouldn't normally use these features.

With the 11 Ah battery, range-wise I found 50 miles on varied terrain was readily achievable since most of the time you are riding without any assist. The components are good on the X24 but even better on the X27 which also comes with a 15.5Ah battery for an extended range.

The display is clear and informative and the controls are easy to use. It does not appear to be possible to change the settings from km to miles.

The battery does seem to take much longer to charge than the Impulse batteries.

If you like sporty bikes and riding fast (and you don't like hub gears) you may choose this bike over the crank drive Impulse Agattu / Sahel.

I would have put this post in the reviews section but it wouldn't let me.

Pro Connect X24 Image.jpg
 

Jonah

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 23, 2010
882
246
EX38
I have now received a new display unit that updated the firmware and allows the display of miles and mph information.
 

Croxden

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 26, 2013
2,134
1,384
North Staffs
Any report updates due? This bike seems to be very good value, i would to know more.
 

oldtom

Esteemed Pedelecer
do you know if its possible to de restrict the xion motor.
That's a strange question. I have one and it's an easy bike to ride on the flat once past the cut-off point so long as you are prepared to pedal a little as the gearing permits a fairly comfortable cadence.

Equally, the hub motor goes up hills better than most legal hub-drives and I'm no lightweight. Curiously, it feels very much like a crank-drive in its power delivery so I don't understand why anyone would wish to make it illegal. There are plenty of off-the-shelf, unrestricted bikes out there and any amount of kits which allow stupid speeds if that's your thing.

My take on this ebike business now that we are blessed with such a bewildering choice of powerful, yet apparently legal, motors is that anyone needing more than that which is now available should really be looking at scooters or motor cycles.

Tom
 

Wheelie_bin

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 29, 2014
5
0
68
Bath
My Xion has broken after 1500 miles / 5 months use! I've got the dreaded M in a triangle which says that the motor is broken andit has to go back to the shop. Has anyone else been this unlucky?:(
 

gryffe1974

Pedelecer
Feb 3, 2014
29
0
49
Hi,

The exact same thing happened to me after roughly 4 months of ownership and this was after relatively light use, for the record its a focus jarifa i have but same motor etc, 50 cycles replaced the motor no problem but it has cast a bit of doubt in my mind as to how durable the xion motor is and is no suprise to me that 50 cycles have moved away from the xion powered focus off road bikes in favour of Crank driven ones.
 
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Wheelie_bin

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 29, 2014
5
0
68
Bath
Thanks gryffe,
I've sent the control unit back to 50 cycles to analyse - they hope it's just a software problem. Like you it has dented my faith in the Xion drive which up until now was a cracking unit. I'd hoped to get a number of years commuting out of this bike - I'll post here later when I know more.
 

gryffe1974

Pedelecer
Feb 3, 2014
29
0
49
Thanks gryffe,
I've sent the control unit back to 50 cycles to analyse - they hope it's just a software problem. Like you it has dented my faith in the Xion drive which up until now was a cracking unit. I'd hoped to get a number of years commuting out of this bike - I'll post here later when I know more.
Sounds like the same problem i had firstly they tried upgrading the firmware but this never worked so the only option was to replace the motor which took a number of weeks due to them having to wait on the motor coming from the manafacturer so bike was off the road for a good while which was annoying I just hope you dont have the same wait as I did, although I cant fault the service from 50 cycles. It would be interesting to know how many xion units have been returned.
 

Wheelie_bin

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 29, 2014
5
0
68
Bath
The control unit has come back and I've taken the bike round the block and all appears fine. We'll see how it goes. The real test is when I next take it to work. I'd like to think this will be the last time I have a problem with it - ever the optimist me.