my bike has died!

[CheKmx]

I think this thread highlights why people should learn more/build their own bikes, then you will have the skills and experience to fix them yourselves.

Griz

Or it Highlights the importance of reliability in commercial offerings. I for one have neither the time or the inclination to spend hours learning about motors and electronics involved in e bikes.

 

[Old Timer]

I`ll have to do a test and see what the Aurora can climb, I haven`t used anything other than 7th6th and 5th gears yet in med or high power so I reckon in high power if I were to drop down to bottm gear and maybe shift to centre chainring it might just be able to climb over my new shed

 

[Grizzly Bear]

The 30% hill that reduces me to about 4/5 mph on a Kalkhoff I cannot climb using any Suzhou Bafang version, including the most powerful version previously used by eZee, and that relative position will be true for anyone. If anyone can climb that steepness using an SB, they wouldn't be down to 4 mph on a Kalkhoff, especially not the current versions with the 1.5 times high power mode.

The SB is the best internally geared hub motor without doubt, but the direct drive BionX has far superior reliability over time. It's not just electrical failures like dud Hall sensors and input cable faults that an SB can suffer, nylon gears failure is fairly common too. The very few BionX failures I've known of are mostly where the software is tweaked away from the standard settings to squeeze out more power.

For those who value quiet running and easy freewheeling under pedal power alone, the BionX and later Panasonic system are best by far, only the Tongxin roller drive motors comparable, though not having a very good reliability record.
.

You've no experience of the Puma motors then Tony?

I know of some very disappointed Kalkoff owners.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Or it Highlights the importance of reliability in commercial offerings. I for one have neither the time or the inclination to spend hours learning about motors and electronics involved in e bikes.

It also highlights the fact that the population is dumbing down, and not willing to learn, ebikes are really quite simple, you just got to be bothered.

Griz

 

[CheKmx]

I don't hunt my own food with a club either because I can buy it in a shop and it cheap quick and easy. I buy an e bike to get to work in a healthy cheap and sustainable way not to tinker withn electronics and motors. I needed it not to fail so that i can guarantee i get to work everyday in a timely fashion. Fixing the assist mid ride is not in the plan. Puncture repair, chain maintance etc are. So yes I cannot be bothered to learn about that. If that makes me dumb then I'm glad to be dumb.

 

[Mussels]

It also highlights the fact that the population is dumbing down, and not willing to learn, ebikes are really quite simple, you just got to be bothered.

Griz

I'm about to buy a new 4x4 and people seem keen to steer me toward Land Rover. This is an attractive idea as they do the job well and spares are cheap and easy to get. I was almost convinced until I realised that Japanese 4x4s hardly ever break down so time spent waiting for parts will probably even out and I don't waste a load of time on the driveway replacing parts.
I'm not implying your home builds are unreliable but when people go for the hands off approach to ebiking it's not really dumbing down.

 

[onmebike]

Eddieo's stuck in Italy waiting for some advice and the threads gone way off topic.

 

[alex_h]

pizza instead of ebiking

As an alternative I would suggest Eddie starts eating really good pizza and pasta That actually might change his bad mood

regards

Alex

 

[Grizzly Bear]

I'm about to buy a new 4x4 and people seem keen to steer me toward Land Rover. This is an attractive idea as they do the job well and spares are cheap and easy to get. I was almost convinced until I realised that Japanese 4x4s hardly ever break down so time spent waiting for parts will probably even out and I don't waste a load of time on the driveway replacing parts.
I'm not implying your home builds are unreliable but when people go for the hands off approach to ebiking it's not really dumbing down.

You can get a Land Rover fixed anywhere, not so an ebike, my ebikes are like those Japanese 4x4s, because I've developed them through first hand experience.

 

[CheKmx]

As an alternative I would suggest Eddie starts eating really good pizza and pasta That actually might change his bad mood

regards

Alex

I hear they sell wine there too.

 

[Mussels]

Eddieo's stuck in Italy waiting for some advice and the threads gone way off topic.

It gives him something to read whilst he comes to the conclusion that we can't help him.

 

[flecc]

You've no experience of the Puma motors then Tony?

I know of some very disappointed Kalkoff owners.

Obviously I excluded the illegal stuff like Puma, Crystalyte and the top power Heinzmanns. What I said is valid for all the UK/EU legal hub motors.

There are indeed the odd dissatisfied Kalkhoff owners, and for all other makes using the Panasonic system. They come in two types, those who the system doesn't suit, hence my insistence that a trial is essential before buying; and those who haven't learnt how to use the system correctly.

The biggest problem is those who briefly try the Panasonic system, don't know how to use it and write it off as too weak and hopeless on hills, the reverse of the truth. They just need to learn how to drive.
.

 

[eddieo]

What i have always though has come true, and that is these heavy moped style e bikes are near useless if not working electrically. With a kit on a quality donor bike at least if it plays up you can leave the battery of and still have transport.........

 

[Grizzly Bear]

Hi Grizzly Bear

Who are these disappointed Kalkhoff owners?

I have read only good reports on here and feedback from our customers after test riding many say that they all by far the best value for money.

Best regards

Scott

They are people I know, who couldn't get on with the hill climbing of the machines, they expected them to climb faster than they were, having previously tried hub motored bikes. This resulted in them putting a lot of effort in to try and get their speed up, and yes I know they were riding them wrong, but the fact remains.

 

[carpetbagger]

Hi Eddieo,
i agree withe scott,try applying throttle whilst moving wires about,one end at a time,thats how i discovered a fault on my powabyke...good luck and don't dispair...these things are set to test us and once you find out what the problem is it will me make things easier should it happen again.

Now off topic my Kalkhoff is awesome,ok i still might get overtaken by the odd Lycra,,,maybe not as much now i have adopted the gear, nobody has passed me on any significant hill and i always have enough in my legs to keep the speed to at least 8mph...sometimes over 12 mph where people i have passed are doing only 5/6 mph just ! I think the point is that you won't have to get off and push and the more you go up the hills the easier it gets. I should clock my 1st thousand miles this week weather permitting,standard tyres and 2 punctures in the first 75 miles,gear adjustment and new shifter at 250 miles.....i love it....what a machine

 

[flecc]

They are people I know, who couldn't get on with the hill climbing of the machines, they expected them to climb faster than they were, having previously tried hub motored bikes.

There is a lot of truth in this where moderate/average hills are concerned Griz, and that's overcome easily by a rear sprocket change which I know 50cycles are happy to do for customers. Carpetbagger has mentioned how adapting the gearing improved his in this way. Not a design fault, just the baleful influence of the assist speed law limiting the gearing away from the optimum it would be best with, and this affects all drive through the chain systems.
.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

There is a lot of truth in this where moderate/average hills are concerned Griz, and that's overcome easily by a rear sprocket change which I know 50cycles are happy to do for customers. Carpetbagger has mentioned how adapting the gearing improved his in this way. Not a design fault, just the baleful influence of the assist speed law limiting the gearing away from the optimum it would be best with, and this affects all drive through the chain systems.
.

Tony when the people are 80 plus, and don't understand much about electric bikes, they don't want to be messing about with them, they should just work correctly for them. I tried to explain that you ride them differently, but I think they would have been much happier with a hub motor. They wanted electric bikes to enable them to continue cycling, the Kalkoff didn't deliver, simply as.

Griz

 

[Tim]

Tony when the people are 80 plus, and don't understand much about electric bikes, they don't want to be messing about with them, they should just work correctly for them. I tried to explain that you ride them differently, but I think they would have been much happier with a hub motor. They wanted electric bikes to enable them to continue cycling, the Kalkoff didn't deliver, simply as.

Griz

I think our significant number of octagenarian customers are actually some of our happiest. The system rewards their riding style. For example (in his eighth decade, if not eighty):

I am enjoying a resurgence of my youth since buying a Tasman. As I live among the beautiful Chiltern Hills I have found that my enjoyment of the countryside has been limited by my ability to cope with the aforesaid hills on my 30-year-old conventional bike.

With the Tasman I can now manage to ride up these hills with. My research into electric bikes and comments from users convinced me that Kalkhoffs were the Mercedes of bikes, expensive but beautifully engineered and the evidence is there that you get what you pay for. I can certainly recommend the Tasman to any 77 year old, and anyone younger, that is looking to keep on cycling.
Bob, Tasman owner in Beaconsfield

Indeed, it means they can continue cycling without keeping a throttle open all the time, which can be a problem for some people.

 

[Grizzly Bear]

I think our significant number of octagenarian customers are actually some of our happiest. The system rewards their riding style. For example (in his eighth decade, if not eighty):

I am enjoying a resurgence of my youth since buying a Tasman. As I live among the beautiful Chiltern Hills I have found that my enjoyment of the countryside has been limited by my ability to cope with the aforesaid hills on my 30-year-old conventional bike.

With the Tasman I can now manage to ride up these hills with. My research into electric bikes and comments from users convinced me that Kalkhoffs were the Mercedes of bikes, expensive but beautifully engineered and the evidence is there that you get what you pay for. I can certainly recommend the Tasman to any 77 year old, and anyone younger, that is looking to keep on cycling.
Bob, Tasman owner in Beaconsfield

Indeed, it means they can continue cycling without keeping a throttle open all the time, which can be a problem for some people.

Pelelec works on hub motors too, didn't you know that?

 

[Beeping-Sleauty]

maybe...

What i have always though has come true, and that is these heavy moped style e bikes are near useless if not working electrically. With a kit on a quality donor bike at least if it plays up you can leave the battery of and still have transport.........

...that has not been my experience, i have 2 e-bikes, one a very heavy Eco Whirlwind & the other, a large & heavy chinese iron frame offering, both over 35kg, have had both fail on me at distance, think it depends on several factors - rolling resistance, available gearing & relative fitness of the rider.

following a key-switch failure 10 miles from home & uphill most of the way, my average speed dropped to just over 10mph, down from the normal 17.6 mph on the return journey, yes it takes longer & is harder work & i'm glad i kept to the dual front chain rings when i upgraded the gears, but the bike is still useable, tho' i wasn't up to racing with anyone that day.

no big trial, just stuff happening more slowly.