baboon

Yes, it did sell, for around £1350 I seem to remember. To a very nice chap in Germany (so it went home!) who intended to ride it 25 miles to work. That's each way, not round trip! Crazy. I haven't heard how he's getting on, mind you. Wouldn't be surprised if he lurks on here. Peter

...and here's a Pro Connect (mine) for a tallish person: Kalkhoff Pro Connect --- best electric bicycle ever! on eBay, also, Bikes, Cycling, Sporting Goods (end time 27-Mar-09 20:57:29 GMT) Peter

...and here it is: Kalkhoff Pro Connect --- best electric bicycle ever! on eBay, also, Bikes, Cycling, Sporting Goods (end time 27-Mar-09 20:57:29 GMT) Peter

Depends what you want it for, but A to B magazine rate Kalkhoff as the best make. It's well worth having a look at their website: A to B magazine, folding bikes, electric bicycles, trailers, sister publication to Miniature Railway magazine Peter

Yes; that's almost exactly what it is on at the moment! The lowest the saddle will go is around 88cm from the ground. Peter

Hello all, It is a manufacturer's warranty so I would expect so --- just like on a car. In any case, I would be quite happy for the new owner to return the bike to me, and I can then return it to the distributor to get it fixed. I don't think this would be dishonest, seeing as I've paid for the warranty anyway. In all seriousness, though, I would be amazed if anything went wrong with it. Of course, I would say that... I knew I'd forgotten something important. The bike is a Large Gents' Frame (57cm). I am 6'2ish and the saddle could go a bit lower or a bit higher. The bike is located near Basingstoke in Hampshire but I do still have the original box and will happily share the cost of posting. I guess it would cost around £50. Quite possibly! I have 3 children. One is almost 2 and the other two are around 7 months. You think I have time for leisure? Besides, I have another (unpowered) bike that I can ride for pleasure, although I admit that I very much prefer the Pro-Connect. To be honest I've never felt comfortable leaving it outside a shop, even locked up with the battery removed. In any case, our shops are so local that I could just as easily cycle to them on my £100 rubbish bike! Again, I can keep fit on a £100 bike. I appreciate your kind concern and you may be right, but I think it would an even bigger mistake to keep it "just in case"! So why not buy another 100 bikes? You may not need them or be able to justify buying them, but so what? You see my point --- one has to draw a line somewhere. I'd love to keep it "just in case" but sadly we have no money trees in our garden. My thoughts exactly! Any other questions, please ask --- I can be emailed through this forum somehow, but I'm not sure how! Try clicking my username? Thanks again, Peter

Hello all, Thanks to a job relocation I am no longer going to be cycling to work and therefore can't justify keeping my Pro-Connect. I originally bought it in June 2008 and have used it regularly for my 21-mile round trip to and from work. As it's only 9 months old, it still has 15 months of Kalkhoff warranty left on it --- not that you're likely to need it, given the legendary reliability of the Panasonic drive system and the quality of the other components used. The bike is in as-new condition. There are no doubt a few marks on the frame, but I can't find them. The only modification I have carried out is to fit an 18 tooth rear pinion, as recommended in the A to B review (excerpts available at http://www.50cycles.com/pro-connect-electric-bike-review.shtml). This means that assistance is available up to around 19-20mph (technically illegal, but much more practical; and I have the original sprocket if the new owner wants to undo the change). With this modification I tended to complete my 10.5 mile (one way) commute in around 35 minutes --- averaging 18mph, which I would find hard (impossible?) to do on a non-assisted bike (at least, not without arriving at work exhausted and needing a shower). With this bike I arrive at work feeling freshened but by no means tired. As already noted there are a few notes of the review of the bike featured in A to B magazine on the dealer's website at 50cycles Electric Bikes UK - New Kalkhoff Pro Connect Electric Bicycle review from A to B magazine. They concluded "the Pro Connect is a great machine, and it really is in a class of its own". Those who read the magazine will know that this is high praise, coming from such demanding experts! The fact that this is the first used Pro-Connect I have seen for sale shows how good they really are. The dealers have been very helpful. The battery I received with the bike was disappointing in terms of range and performance and was replaced, no questions asked, under warranty. I find that after 21 miles the battery is showing one light remaining. I ride mostly using "high power" mode so I guess that (despite the pinion change) the bike would still do almost the ranges that are claimed on the 50cycles website (up to 50 miles on "low power" mode). If I don't sell the bike here I am planning to put it on eBay. I am open to offers, bearing in mind that the bikes cost £1800 new. If I get a good enough offer I will throw in a pair of Knog rear panniers (a bit like these ---http://www.hollymillcycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m2b156s78p2533&rs=gb --- but far nicer!) with integral rain covers. I've also fitted some lights to supplement those fitted as standard (these ones --- SMART Polaris 5 White LED Front + Rear 1/2watt LED :: £34.99 :: LIGHTING :: Light Sets :: Hardie Bikes 86c Main Street Cairneyhill Fife Scotland) which I'll also throw in if the offer is good enough. Hopefully that covers everything. If you have any questions please email. Thanks, Peter

Hello all, I have a problem with the handlebar-mounted battery indicator on my Pro Connect. A few weeks ago I noticed that occasionally the indicator would jump from 3 lights to 1 and then, a few minutes later, back up again. There was no noticeable change in power during this process so I didn't worry about it. The problem has been steadily getting more noticeable (i.e. it happens more often). Today it happened 4 or 5 times on my 10-mile commute to work. On the way home, the indicator went from 2 lights to 1, and then back to 2, and then back to 1, and then later started flashing (I never usually get to the flashing stage as my total distance is only 20 miles). Later it jumped back up to 1 and stayed there for the rest of the journey. When I got home I still had two out of five lights on the battery. Now, I had previously though that this was a problem with the power meter only and didn't affect the performance. But on the way home it was quite noticeable that when the meter went from 2 to 1 and back again, the power chopped and then increased again. In fact at one point the bike appeared to be providing almost no power at all. Anyone else had this problem? Could it just be that the battery connectors need cleaning; would this cause such an obvious degradation in performance? What else could it be? Yours confusedly, Peter

About 8 miles into my 10 mile commute this morning, the battery meter on the handlebars of my Pro Connect went from 3 lights to 1. Visions of having to cycle all the way home with no power flashed through my mind, but when I turned the power off and on again, it returned to 3 lights on. Phew! Anyone else experienced this, and does it mean anything? The only possible reasons I could think of were a) I'd just ridden up a steepish hill on full power; but I do that every day and it doesn't usually change the power meter; or b) I'd just ridden over a fairly bumpy bit of road; perhaps some connector got jolted and as a result the system thought the power was dropping off. But again I do this every day and it doesn't usually change the meter. Can anyone think of an option c)? Peter

I think flecc is right. In medium power mode I am asking for all that the motor can give, so switching to high power mode makes no difference. It doesn't explain why at higher speeds medium power mode seems to give more assistance than high power mode, though. Perhaps it's all in the mind! Peter

Burncycle, your findings are interesting. I have a 20-odd mile commute which until recently I covered entirely in "high-power" mode. Usually I got home with one light remaining on the battery. When I tried it in "medium-power" mode, I got home with...one light remaining on the battery. What's more, the handlebar-mounted power display went from 3 to 2 lights and from 2 to 1 lights at more-or-less exactly the same places. Also, I sometimes find myself changing from high- to medium-power and thinking that suddenly it's got easier. I'm not sure if this is psychological; it seems to happen more at higher speeds. For example at 20mph I seem to find it less work to ride in medium-power mode (I have an 18t pinion). Conversely at 15mph it's easier in high-power mode. Is it possible that somehow using a mode that is higher-power than you really need would slow you down? Some kind of resistance in the motor unit? I am confused. Peter

To be fair, you probably would say that! But I suspect that a quick survey of pedelecers would reveal that most of us are "utility riders"; that is, we use pedelecs because they are useful in terms of getting from A to B. The Panasonic system may well have been designed for Japanese grandmothers, but it's reliable, efficient, and excellent at hill climbing. I have quite a few "gadgets" from Panasonic and I've always found them impressive. I've been less impressed with some of the stuff that comes out of the less well-known chinese manufacturers. It'll be interesting to see the result of the "race", but at the end of the day whoever wins is irrelevant to most of us. What might be more interesting is a comparison of who enjoys the ride most, but of course that would be rather subjective. As for the offer of 50% off batteries, that's all very well but who wants to end up owning 4 batteries?! Perhaps if you lent them out for the event that might be better. Peter

...unless you go for a Vectrix! Pricey, though. Peter

Thanks for the useful input everyone. Peter

Adrian The other thing to note is that with a 14 mile commute you will probably find the battery will not last you both ways if you use the bike in high-power mode all the time. My 9.5 mile commute was at the limit of what I was happy to do on a pedelec. If it had been 14 miles I would probably have gone for a scooter or a car. Am I allowed to say that on here? :-) Peter

I have my 9.5 mile (one way) commute down to 35minutes. This is with a pro-connect with the (essential, in my view) change to an 18t sprocket. I have even considered going to a 16t sprocket as I still use only 4 of my 8 gears, but am concerned about the effect it might have on battery life. So I'll stick with the 18t, I think. Incidentally, the journey home takes about the same time, so the total time for the 19 mile round trip is 1 hour 10 minutes. Average speed therefore about 16 or 17mph. Note this is almost all in high power mode. Peter

Thanks flecc. That surprises me. I thought that lots of half charges would be better than a few full charges. That's how I thought it worked with mobile phones, anyway; perhaps they're a bit different? Peter

You can put me in --- RG27, Pro Connect. Peter

Hi all, My pro connect range has fallen quite significantly since I changed to an 18t pinion; generally by the end of my 18 mile round trip commute I am down to a single light on the battery. Question is, is it worth getting hold of an extra charger so that I can charge at both ends? Would this significantly increase battery life? Does anyone know whether one can order extra chargers and if so how much they cost? I will ask 50cycles tomorrow if I remember but just thought someone else might be able to give me a clue. Thanks Peter

Just a note to all you Pro-Connectors. I was riding home on Wednesday thinking "this battery has gone flat quick today" but when I got bike out this morning I found that rear wheel had come loose and had moved so that brakes were rubbing. I am guessing that with hub gears there is more force on the nuts so they need be be really really tight? Is this why Kalkhoff didn't fit a QR to the rear wheel? And another thing; I found that the four bolts on the handlebar stem (the ones you see from the front of the bike --- a picture would help here) were very loose. Of course a sensible person would check all the nuts and bolts before riding the bike. I did check the rear wheel nuts (in fact I had the wheel off to fit an 18t sprocket) and thought I'd tightened them enough, but obviously not. Also, I had a thought. I noticed the bike was surprisingly hard to push backwards (into the shed) and realised that this was probably because I was having to turn the motor over? Does this mean I can charge the battery by riding down hills backwards? I'm only joking and don't recommend you try this. Peter

Perhaps A to B made a mistake when referring to the dynamo on the Pro Connect, because mine doesn't have one. Maybe they were thinking of the Agattu? Peter

I managed to lower the bars simply by loosening the horizontal bolt referred to. I presume I could have raised them too, if I'd tried. Peter

James, Thanks for that; I think I'll go for an 18t and see how it goes. Peter

Thanks all. Very helpful; I'll find a sprocket and have a go. Can anyone point me to a shop which sells the sprocket I need? Are they standard fitting? I'll keep the woods valves for now until I get a puncture and then change them. Rock-hopper --- what sort of difference did your sprocket change make to the maximum assisted speed? Does the bike now help you up to a higher speed? Peter

I'll have to check what sprocket it has on as standard; I'm not sure. My daily ride is fairly flat. I can't imagine ever having to use the lowest gear; I did try it this morning and my legs were flying round as I sped forwards at approximately 2mph...slight exaggeration maybe but you see what I mean. This is true, thought it depends how difficult it is to change the sprocket. Any tips on that? Peter