silverdream

Hi, I'm selling a 14ah 36v battery( suitabe for 36v Panasonic motors only) that was used as a spare and has only been used twice so should still acheive excellent results. It was owned by my partners Father who lives in Germany, but sadly, can no longer ride due to illness. The same battery costs £695 on 50cycles!!! NB: The bike and charger were sold separately, since they didn’t really need a longer ranger battery so couldn’t justify the additional cost. £295, o.v.n.o +shipping (courier cost+insurance circa.£15 - £25) 07985524984

One of the main reasons why electric bikes are few and far between in London and I assume many other cities is because they cost so much. For example, your occasional cyclist on the cycle-to-work scheme will purchase a bike between £400 - £800. The more experienced, die hard cyclists will tend to push the boat out and spend up to £1500, which is considered a lot for a bike! I have a Kalkhoff Pro Connect S 2012 model and if you hypothetically strip away the motor and battery it's a 1200 quid bike at a push! The motors (Panasonic) costing ~£800 and batteries are being sold at super exorbitant prices, ranging from £399 - £700 which is scandalous! Speed is another deciding factor. I personally think the 15mph restriction is another big mistake. I mean, what's the point!?! Restricted e-bikes are only good for hills in my books. Most EU directives are bad for the UK, but I'd like to see the EU directive on e-bikes thrust upon the UK, since unrestricted bikes in the continent are allowed. It's the only good EU directive that's come out of Brussels in a long time!

Thanks to EddiePJ for the mirror recommendation. It looks like these will do the trick without getting in the way of the folding mechanism: http://www.rosebikes.co.uk/article/rear-view-mirrors-for-mtbatb-handlebars/aid:26496 The last time I looked, I'd not come across these. NB: I tried a helmet mirror and binned it after its first outing, it was so shaky that I couldn't see anything properly!

in fact since I purchased mine, the range has expanded. They now do a black and grey version (without the 'hooligan graphics' ) [sic] http://www.tweekscycles.com/Product.do?method=view&n=3372&g=518263&p=518332&c=215&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Base&utm_campaign=Full%20Face%20Helmets&gclid=CPXMut2pxL8CFQf4wgodKFcAlA

I wear a Giro full face and yes, some are quite garish, but they do a grey version with no graphics. The venting is quite good so I don't get hot wearing it. Also, all round visibility is just fine.

I commute daily in London and ride an electric bike. I don't leave home without the following - helmet (full face), camera and knee pads (after my expensive jeans were ruined after a crash) and decent gloves. I've had 3 crashes in 5 years, neither of them my fault. 1) black taxi doing a classic u-turn with out looking. 2) pedestrian stepping out into road suddenly. 3) car emerged without due care(she was on mobile phone at the time)! The most dramatic being the run in with the taxi; straight over handle bars, over bonnet and head hit the road full on. I came away pretty unhurt apart from a bruised pelvis, some discomfort which went after a couple of weeks. My front wheel was a write off, broken bar end mirrors. Cabbie paid for all repairs on the day at my LBS and then drove me home! Spoke to cabbie a few weeks later. Cost him a days earnings and £500 to repair/ replace drivers side wing! Pedestrian received a broken arm. Car driver received a police caution! NB: All my accidents were on camera, so all of them admitted fault straight away! Anyway, to the point, I hit my head on all 3 occasions, and not one scratch or bump. Had I not been wearing a helmet, I would have definitely come away with a busted jaw, broken nose or worse! Less we forget that when riding an electric bike you are typically averaging faster speeds than non electric bikes. An earlier poster mentioned cars driving closer to cyclists wearing helmets. Well a couple of things I do to stop cars getting too close (this is where my bar end mirrors help) is this, if see them in the mirror in time and I think they will overtake too close(basically cutting me up) then I'll pull out to stop them. Buses are major culprits and impatient 4x4 drivers (yummy mummies doing the school run etc..). I also never hug the kerb, I like to stick to the 1.5 - 2m rule, especially on narrow roads. I think I read somewhere that in Germany all electric bikes are fitted with a handle bar mirror by law!?! I love having the mirrors and feel safer with them. I ride a Brompton too, but I've yet to find a decent mirror for the Brompton and as a result feel a bit more vulnerable than I do on my electric bike.

Kalkhoff Pro Connect S 2010 Model I'm based in North West London.

Nope! There are several bike shops in Germany that sell Kalhoffs and it will cost you several hundreds pounds less (inc. shipping). Mountainbike kaufen - entdecken Sie die groe Auswahl bei fafit24.de Lucky Bike Fahrrad Online-Shop - Markenräder günstig http://www.farrad24.com for spare Kalkhoff parts; www.akkurad.de My friends and I have had several bikes delivered from German bike shops (not just Kalkhoffs), they are great people to deal with and delivery slots are precise. If you want it at 12pm on a Thursday, they'll deliver at 12pm on a Thursday! So get cracking with installing google translate for web pages! :-) Does this help?

I believe all electric bikes look electric because the battery or motor (hub or crank) gives it away in most cases. With this in mind, the best electric bike is the Kalkhoff Pro Connect S Disk, but models from 2011 onwards. It has the best components for the money (£1500 used - £2500 new); XT Deore throughout, comes with lights, rack, stand, mudguards (which some bike shops will charge extra, for other brands) so good for commuting out of the shop! It's also unlimited (+28mph before it cuts out), fast and powerful and looks like a bike and not a moped! I often research other electric bikes in the UK and abroad (Europe) and I always come back to the Kalkhoff. There was only one other bike that floated my boat, but it cost 5K, simply because it had a Rolhoff hub instead of Shimano gears. Rolhoff internal gear hubs cost £1500 and are unbeatable for reliability and maintenance, hence the price!

The bike has been recovered after 2yrs. It was found dumped in someone's garden and handed into Hornsey police station, which is only 5.4miles away from where I live. I feared the worse upon collection, but surprisingly, it is in good condition with just few extra scratch marks etc., one broken spoke, a snapped mech hanger (probably why it was dumped) and worn rear derailleur pulley set, all of which I have now replaced. I expected no battery and a smashed lock, but no, the battery and original lock were still intact so who ever nicked it (or who ever it was sold/ given to) has been cycling around with the flat battery still connected! I expect they didn't know what they had and just went with it as a normal bike! To gauge battery life/ reliability, I recently did a round trip to a friends house from Golders Green (NW London) to Stratford (East London) in eco mode (took my charger just in case), but I had 2 bars left. This is how much it used to have after the same trip 2yrs ago, so battery capacity is still up there! I'll be advertising the bike for sale shortly, since I've no need for 2 electric bikes! Thanks, Clyde

Kalkhoff Pro Connect Thanks mate! Lets hope it turns up.

Make Kalkhoff Model Pro Connect S 2010 Age 1yr Colour Matt Silver Extra Equipment Distinguishing Marks Date Stolen 17th April 2011 Time 16 - 22hrs Location North West London Any Other InfoAny help or information very much appreciated. Thanks, Mr C