rayschooks

sounds good Graham! I have been looking to get the missus an ebike and was considering a kit but couldnt make up my mind. Its good to get an insight into your experiences. I cant quite figure out why conversion kits can cost as much as a decent ebike. Even £419 is still quite an investment but some of them can be over £1k. Im afaid I just wouldnt be confident enough to fork out that sort of money for something untested by me. keep us posted about your experience with your new kit best regards, Ray

My local bike shop has a powabyke X6 on display. I had a brief look at it, seems like a decent well built bike but I dismissed it as the battery range is way too low. The quote is "Up to 20 miles" but in real terms the distance would be much less on the road. To achieve a decent range the owner would have to buy a second battery @ approx £270 meaning that the final cost would be around £1100 Not necessarily a prohibitive price but the hassle of having to lug a second battery about would definitely put me off.

Hi Conn, Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your new bike. Im sure your supplier will be able to get the problem sorted. Hopefully they will be able to sort it in-house and if not, I'm sure Kalkhoff will be keen to maintain their good reputaion by getting the problem fixed to your complete satisfaction asap. kind regards ray

great work rudebhoy! I hope you get alot of enjoyment out of your new bike. sounds like you worked a great deal on it. Have Fun:D Let us know how you get on Ray

The whole thing seems more hassle than it's worth - especially when your place of work restricts your options even further. What possible reason could they have for insisting that you buy from a particular shop? I have decided to forget about the CTW scheme all together. I have bought my bike - paid the VAT and contented my self with the saving on fuel costs and the increase in my level of fitness.

Just checked the gears on the bike - I put it in 4th gear like you suggested and your right - the two lines in the viewing window dont quite line up. I contacted my cycle dealer and he is going to take it in and adjust it. Great tip Tillson. Thank you. Another great cycle today into work and back 22miles with just two lights off on the battery indicator - it is still only on its second setup charging cycle. The 18AH battery seems to have a good range. I am a rather chunky fellow, 18+ stone (hopefully a lot less in a few months), so I wasnt expecting the battery to have anything like the suggested mileage. So far so good. The Agattu is just a cracking bike. Ray

Hi Blather, Eventually got the bike out for a good run today. Did 24 miles approx on what was an absolutely beautiful morn. I wanted to try the bike out on my daily commuting route and I have to say that I was absolutely chuffed with the way the agattu c8 performed. The battery meter showed 80% charge and was down to 40% after 11 miles (in 40mins) on med power. I would normally expect the battery to do more but it is still on its first charge (needs a few more cycles before it's fully functioning). I decided to cycle home on low power to conserve the battery as the cycle shop owner asked me not to let it drop below 20%. No problem and I was even able to crank it up to full power for the last few hilly miles after a short detour to the shop for milk. The only problem I had was that the hub gear didnt always engage in 8th on the first try. It felt as if the internal ratchet hadn't caught, leaving the pedals with no resistance. This wasnt the case every time and the gears always engaged after 3/4 slow rotations of the pedals. I haven't used hub gears before so it could be me not using them properly! I am confident that it can all be easily sorted. The bike felt really solid and was very comfortable. All-in all a very enjoyable experience. Battery now on the charger, preparing for the first commute to work. Cant wait! Cheers Ray

Great Work Blather! From what I read the Kalkhoff bikes are the best you can get in the pedelec world. Their owners all seem to love them and they apparently perform really well for a long period of time. My local bike shop owner is lending me an Agattu C8 to try out over the weekend. I am going to cycle to work and back to see how it performs (22 miles in total). The Kalkhoff is a fair bit more money than I originally planned but like you I think the greater expense will be worth it in the long run. I hope your bike gives you years of pleasurable cycling. I look forward to hearing how you get on. Cheers Ray

What is the proper way to maintain your lithium ion based battery? Keep it fully charged or let it run down occasionally? What about keeping it in optimum condition during the winter months when the system is lass likely to be used? I know that temperature has a significant influence on performance but has it any affect on the battery when not in use?

From what I read here the general consenus is theat the CTW scheme isnt all it's cracked up to be? On paper it looked like a good deal but with some of the rule changes the scheme might be more hassle than its worth. Its a pity because the general sentiment of trying to encourage more people to get out on their bikes is a good one. I imagine that it would be virtually impossible to ensure that the bike was used for work purposes for a minimum 51%. Why are they so worried about the final settlement %. I know you have to pay vat on this but again if the bike is being used as intended the few £s of vat would be grealtly outweighed with the reduction of road traffic and associated costs. Not to mention the health benefits and reduction in use of the NHS perhaps. Are there really that many people looking to access the scheme, that the authorities are worried about the amount of money it would cost. It would take quite a few people to get involved before you get to really serious money?

It seems rather unfair that the government hasnt managed to work out a solution to the situation that employees in two of the country's largest areas, health service and education, cannot access the scheme. Because both health & education are financed by the government there is no point in them paying vat. That would be like the governmnet charging vat to itself. Am I misssing something here but the CTW scheme looks like it is unavailable to hundreds of thousands of people who work for the government. Awful!

I think I have seen the bike for me - Agattu C8. I was very interested in your thread as it has the same battery as yours. I had a go on it today - took it up the nearest decent hill. Im an 18st ex prop forward (rugby) and the bike got me up the hill without a problem even though I dont think I was really getting the best out of it The shop owner is giong to let me have it for a day or two next week to see how I get on in my daily commute - pretty decent of him really. I would like to hear how long it takes for you to charge your battery tonight and if it performs any differently the next time you go out. Ray

Right - I think I have just had a ride on the bike for me - Kalkhoff Agattu C8. I have a problem however! I work in a local school and when I went to the school bursar to enquire about acquiring a bike under the CTW scheme she informed me that we are not regestered for VAT and as such I wouldnt be able to access the scheme. Has anyone encountered anything like this and is there any way round the problem? some advice would be greatly appreciated, Ray

Pardon my ignorance but why have all the gizmos etc on the front of the bike? Surely a decent cycle computer would tell you how far you have travelled + speed etc? I have used this site, which is attached to google maps that allows me to plan my routes ahead of time. [url="http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm

The blue bike at the top of the thread looks pretty neat to me athough the loose wires could be a bit hazardous. This is a prototype and the designer wouldnt have access to the professional manufacturing techniques used by the likes of Emotion or Kalkhoff. The person who built that has what I would call "good hands"! Very clever and a good use of odd bits and pieces. He/she must have put lot of thought and effort in to it. I would bet that the first engineers/technicians to work on ebikes built stuff like that. Not sure I would want to be seen riding it about though!!!!!! LOL

Hi, I am very interested to hear how you get on with your new bike and its battery. You would hardly expect the battrey to take that long to energise in subsequent charges? I cant believe the suggested range of 140Km -I know that this is probably for a 10st super fit cyclist on a completely flat & smooth German test track but its still a pretty impressive stat. My local bike shop has just recieved an Aggattu C8 and they have very kindly charged the battery. I had a look at it today and I going in for my very first ride on an electrically powered bike tomorrow morning. The Kalkhoff totally smacks of quality and looks as if it could cope with my considerable frame. Not cheap though but I suppose you get what you pay for? cheers Ray