after a while in all markets worldwide certain products become firm favourites amongst those in the know and those who research. I just wondered what models/makes have evolved to become most commonly seen on the streets of european cities as a result of being relatively affordable /reliable and well built? Not talking about sports models or mtb's...more bikes for everyday transport and fun that don't fall apart or fail within a short time.

thanks in advance

Bill

after a while in all markets worldwide certain products become firm favourites amongst those in the know and those who research. I just wondered what models/makes have evolved to become most commonly seen on the streets of european cities as a result of being relatively affordable /reliable and well built? Not talking about sports models or mtb's...more bikes for everyday transport and fun that don't fall apart or fail within a short time.

thanks in advance

Bill

.. I suppose that it is very dependent on where you are, just like the local popularity of cars in a town might depend on which garage is viewed as best service etc. But in the part of France I visit the " B twin" brand seems to be the most prevalent of the normal ebikes, although I have seen Kalkoff s , probably brought by Dutch or German tourists.

Just back from working in Northern German / Danish border literally every bike was an ebike (except the lycra clique) and predominantly kalkoff also nearly all of them step- through

if you want to single out a brand for commuting bikes, that must be Kalkhoff.

Maybe because they are the most reliable?

Maybe because they are the most reliable?

 

Possibly.

but there are plenty of e-bikes that last 10 years or more, the life expectancy depends mainly on the maintenance. I have seen 8-10 year old Thompson bikes with SLA batteries going around Southend.

Thx for the balanced reply..... I have 2 Kalkhoff Pro Connects and get p..... off reading some of the other posts on this forum. I am sure they would not be market leaders in Germany and the Netherlands (along with Focus) if they did not have a reputation in their home market for reliability.

Thx for the balanced reply..... I have 2 Kalkhoff Pro Connects and get p..... off reading some of the other posts on this forum. I am sure they would not be market leaders in Germany and the Netherlands (along with Focus) if they did not have a reputation in their home market for reliability.

 

They were excellent with the Panasonic motor and once the software had been revised, their Impulse 1 unit was fine too.

 

But the more powerful Impulse 2 unit has had an unacceptable failure rate, unacceptable because even replaced units have failed, sometime to three of four times on the same bike. We've no idea what proportion the failures are, but we've had a number within this forum's small membership and there's plenty of information about the failures in Germany.

 

Hopefully the replacement Impulse Evo unit will be ok, but Kalkhoff are now also fitting the Bosch unit alternative, which I view as a wise precautionary move in the circumstances. Their reputation was too good to risk by gambling it only on the later model Impulse motors.

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