Purchased an Agattu Impulse with nexus 8 gears on the 26 April 2013. This was to be my only means of personal transport as due to an eye sight condition I had to return my driving licence to DVLA.I was 65 at the time, overweight by about 3 stone and not a cyclist
Purchased the bike to cycle to Roadford reservoir from St Ann's Chapel in Cornwall. A round trip of 40 miles. It is a hilly route. I do the journey every week and sometimes more to pursue my dinghy sailing.
The bike lived up to expectations. The bike was comfortable. The battery had the range and I had about 8 miles left in the battery by the time I got back home. Brakes were excellent. Gear change needed to be managed so you were in the correct gear before starting to climb hills. My journey time has improved over a couple of year from 1 hour 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. It takes me longer coming home.
The first problem I had with the bike was when it was a year or so old and I had covered about 2500 miles. I was going up hill and stopped pedalling as I approached a junction. The power continued to be applied to the pedals though. It was a bit of a shock. I continued the journey but switched the power off which stopped the power right away, or I stopped pedalling well before I had to stop and the power would slowly die away after 10 to 15 seconds.
Got a new motor under the guarantee. Matt at 50 cycles was very efficient and got the bike bike in less than a week.
1 year 3 months and another 2500 miles later I had motor problems again. Noisy and the crank felt clunky and there was a delay with the crank engaging with the motor. Sent the bike away again. 50 cycles seem to have staffing problems at the time. I did speak to Joe and Matt on occasions. Matt said it was the pawls. He was going to get some. Apparently Kalkhoff do not supply these spare parts to 50 cycles so I am of the understanding they get them from old motors. After several phone calls, 3 weeks had gone by and no pawls yet available I decided to go for a new motor. It was then I was told that I had not sent the key with my bike. I sent it asap. A new motor was fitted and despite my protest at having to pay £600 ( I would have expected a reduction because of the short life of the previous motor) The bike arrived back 1 month and 1 day after sending it away now fitted with a brand new Impulse MK11 and a 2 year guarantee.
The new motor was great and I could get up the hills much easier than before. I could do the journey about 10 minutes quicker than before on full power assist. The motor does use a bit more power though and I tend to use the middle assist now on the lesser hills to ensure I can get up the final 2 mile hill just before getting home. If I remember (alzheimers setting in) I take the charger with me and charge it at the sailing centre. Gear changing is no different. You still have to manage the gears.
I have only done 400 miles with the new motor and it is sounding rough. Creaking while applying pressure to the pedals. If you stop pedalling and then try again you can find a good spot where the crank connects with the drive system and it stops creaking. It sometimes takes2 or 3 goes to achieve this. It looks like I will have to return the bike yet again for another new motor.
When I purchased the bike I expected to replace the normal wear parts like chains and tyres etc , but not new motors every year. It would seem that these bikes are only designed for the leisure cyclist who only cycles a few miles at a leisurely pace. This bike is clearly not fit for my purpose.
I have just read the thread about the Mk11 and it looks like the motor is clearly not fit for purpose.
Please let me know if there is a bike out there that is fit for my purpose.
Bernie boy
Cornwall.
Purchased the bike to cycle to Roadford reservoir from St Ann's Chapel in Cornwall. A round trip of 40 miles. It is a hilly route. I do the journey every week and sometimes more to pursue my dinghy sailing.
The bike lived up to expectations. The bike was comfortable. The battery had the range and I had about 8 miles left in the battery by the time I got back home. Brakes were excellent. Gear change needed to be managed so you were in the correct gear before starting to climb hills. My journey time has improved over a couple of year from 1 hour 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes. It takes me longer coming home.
The first problem I had with the bike was when it was a year or so old and I had covered about 2500 miles. I was going up hill and stopped pedalling as I approached a junction. The power continued to be applied to the pedals though. It was a bit of a shock. I continued the journey but switched the power off which stopped the power right away, or I stopped pedalling well before I had to stop and the power would slowly die away after 10 to 15 seconds.
Got a new motor under the guarantee. Matt at 50 cycles was very efficient and got the bike bike in less than a week.
1 year 3 months and another 2500 miles later I had motor problems again. Noisy and the crank felt clunky and there was a delay with the crank engaging with the motor. Sent the bike away again. 50 cycles seem to have staffing problems at the time. I did speak to Joe and Matt on occasions. Matt said it was the pawls. He was going to get some. Apparently Kalkhoff do not supply these spare parts to 50 cycles so I am of the understanding they get them from old motors. After several phone calls, 3 weeks had gone by and no pawls yet available I decided to go for a new motor. It was then I was told that I had not sent the key with my bike. I sent it asap. A new motor was fitted and despite my protest at having to pay £600 ( I would have expected a reduction because of the short life of the previous motor) The bike arrived back 1 month and 1 day after sending it away now fitted with a brand new Impulse MK11 and a 2 year guarantee.
The new motor was great and I could get up the hills much easier than before. I could do the journey about 10 minutes quicker than before on full power assist. The motor does use a bit more power though and I tend to use the middle assist now on the lesser hills to ensure I can get up the final 2 mile hill just before getting home. If I remember (alzheimers setting in) I take the charger with me and charge it at the sailing centre. Gear changing is no different. You still have to manage the gears.
I have only done 400 miles with the new motor and it is sounding rough. Creaking while applying pressure to the pedals. If you stop pedalling and then try again you can find a good spot where the crank connects with the drive system and it stops creaking. It sometimes takes2 or 3 goes to achieve this. It looks like I will have to return the bike yet again for another new motor.
When I purchased the bike I expected to replace the normal wear parts like chains and tyres etc , but not new motors every year. It would seem that these bikes are only designed for the leisure cyclist who only cycles a few miles at a leisurely pace. This bike is clearly not fit for my purpose.
I have just read the thread about the Mk11 and it looks like the motor is clearly not fit for purpose.
Please let me know if there is a bike out there that is fit for my purpose.
Bernie boy
Cornwall.
