Got myself a Kalkhoff

[Fecn]

Hi All,

A new member here saying hello. A friend of mine gave me a couple of cheap and nasty e-bikes back in June and which I've been enjoying rather a lot.. until I get to one of the gloriously steep hills we have here in the North Downs. After spending the last few days reading just about everything ever posted to this forum, I finally made my choice. The Kalkhoff Agattu (thanks in no small part to Flecc's review.. It seems that he lives very close to me in Warlingham). I seriously considered the pro-connect but decided that I wanted as much comfort as I could get and as I planned to add panniers and a child seat, and gains in style and weight would soon be lost.

Anyway - now I'm fed up.

I ordered my Kalkhoff from 50cycles yesterday morning and it arrived today, less than 24 hours after I placed the order. Fantastic service - can't beat that for speed. The rear reflector arrived broken, but I've sent them an email and expect they'll send me one in the post soon.

I unpacked the bike and dropped the battery onto charge and waited.. and waited.. and waited. After 4 hours the charger finally finished and my bike is ready for me to give it a try.

So.. why am I frustrated?

It's chucking it down now!!!!

 

[eddieo]

No such thing as bad weather just bad clothing

 

[keithhazel]

Hi All,

A new member here saying hello. A friend of mine gave me a couple of cheap and nasty e-bikes back in June and which I've been enjoying rather a lot.. until I get to one of the gloriously steep hills we have here in the North Downs. After spending the last few days reading just about everything ever posted to this forum, I finally made my choice. The Kalkhoff Agattu (thanks in no small part to Flecc's review.. It seems that he lives very close to me in Warlingham). I seriously considered the pro-connect but decided that I wanted as much comfort as I could get and as I planned to add panniers and a child seat, and gains in style and weight would soon be lost.

Anyway - now I'm fed up.

I ordered my Kalkhoff from 50cycles yesterday morning and it arrived today, less than 24 hours after I placed the order. Fantastic service - can't beat that for speed. The rear reflector arrived broken, but I've sent them an email and expect they'll send me one in the post soon.

I unpacked the bike and dropped the battery onto charge and waited.. and waited.. and waited. After 4 hours the charger finally finished and my bike is ready for me to give it a try.

So.. why am I frustrated?

It's chucking it down now!!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
whats the worst that can happen....you will get wet

 

[iaing]

If you wear glasses, rain is very very bad.

Iain

 

[eddieo]

i wear glasses...But I don't bother if its raining

 

[keithhazel]

If you wear glasses, rain is very very bad.

Iain

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
very true so to combat that i wear a baseball type cap with a long peak which doesnt stop it all but as much as can be...

 

[Fecn]

There was a break in the rain, so I just popped out and did a quick 5 mile loop. Excellent fun

 

[flecc]

Yes. it's been identical here just north east of you Fecn, a miserable day all in all though. Glad that you enjoyed the brief run, but I don't think tomorrow looks very promising, Thursday before it starts improving a little.

There's another member at Warlingham as well, so we've got a group developing around here, and yet another member to the east around the Bromley area. That said, I still haven't seen another e-bike on the road around here in my years of riding them, though I did see one parked once.

Good to see 50cycles lived up to their website service promise, shown below:

Next day delivery on most electric bikes

The UK's favourite electric bike retailer also exports to the USA and beyond

.

 

[Beanie101]

There was a break in the rain, so I just popped out and did a quick 5 mile loop. Excellent fun

Was the saddle comfortable?

 

[Fecn]

I just went out for another run down the hill along the bridle way to Caterham and then back up the devilishly steep Bug Hill which is something like 1 in 5. I had to use 1st gear, but I didn't have to stand on the pedals. With my other cheapo Chinese clone bikes I had to get off and push, so this is a vast improvement and confirms to me that I made the right choice with a crank-assist rather than hub-motor bike.

Was the saddle comfortable?

Yes actually - it was pretty good. Certainly it's a vast improvement over the saddles on my Chinese clone bikes where you can feel 8kg of lead-battery pounding you in the rear every time you hit a bump. The suspension is good over the bumps too.

 

[Ettica]

I rode to work in the pouring, driving rain today and I loved it. Really. I felt so ALIVE!

Took a spare pair of socks in the waterproof backpack but forgot a spare pair of Bill Grundies! So I was sat at my desk all morning with a ..... well, i'm sure you know what I mean.

I must admit, I like the idea of a Kalkhoff but I could not justify a new bike so soon....... could I?

 

[Fecn]

3 journeys in now and still no sign of buyer's remorse.

I've just been out cruising around to see what the lights are like and in my case they were not very good at all. The back light came on fine, but the front light was the dimmest flicker possible. Every now and again it would flash brightly, but then returned to a dim flicker. After about 20 mins of riding around as the local paths I decided that there must something shorting with the wiring so pulled up and played around for a while. I found that if I disconnected the wires from the front-to-back light then the front was fine, so clearly the short was with the back light or its wiring. After another 15 mins of meddling I still wasn't anywhere, so rode back home to take a proper look.

I disconnected the lights and hooked a multimeter to the wires to measure the resistance.. it seems that there was around 6 ohms between the two wires. Leaving the multimeter connected I tried wiggling various wires and found that the resistance changed radically when I squeezed or bent the rear mudguard. I found that the effect was most pronounced where the reflector got broken in the post. After a few minutes of squeezing, the resistance went up to a couple of MegaOhms and things seem to be fine now.

No matter how hard I search, I can't find the cause of the short. I initially thought it would be where the wires connect through to the strips on the mud guard, but they're all clear and not the cause of the problem. Everywhere I look, there's no sign of anything bridging the two strips.

I'm suspect that this is somehow related to the shipping damage which broke the reflector. Anyone got any idea what might be shorting as a result? (I'll ask 50Cycles in the morning)

 

[musicbooks]

Welcome to the forum,
I have been commuting on my Agattu (very steep hills in Bath.. ) for nine months or so now and it has transformed my life. I have had no major problems with the bike except:

Watch the stand as it is a little frail for the weight of the bike. I broke mine within a week.. 50c replaced within 24 hours
The chain guard is a bit flimsy too. I dropped my lock on it and it snapped. 50c replaced within 24 hours -no charge.

Also, make sure the tensioner arm and chain are well oiled. It is a bit sticky and you might find your gears start crunching and jumping.

Some owners have changed the valves on the tyres so that they don't have to use the useless pump supplied. I have got used to it and top up every week.

The hand grips move around a little. Flecc has suggested removing the grips and squirting some puncture repair glue on the inside and then replacing.

Don't forget to condition the battery.. Fully discharge twice..

Happy cycling!
BW
musicbooks

 

[essexman]

I'm suspect that this is somehow related to the shipping damage which broke the reflector. Anyone got any idea what might be shorting as a result? (I'll ask 50Cycles in the morning)

Hi fecn welcome to the Agattu club!

I'm suffering intermittent behaviour between front and back light. eg Front standlight sometimes works and sometimes doesnt. The rear light frequently goes out. I've opened them up and re-attached connectors, but not seen anything obvious. Its a shame beacuse when they both work its a great system. You seem to have got further than me on resolving this. Let me know if you make any progress.

PS If you want any hints or tips on a child seat with the agattu, feel free to pm me or check out my blog.

 

[Barnowl]

Hi fecn

Buyers remorse is always a concern!. I'm not a paid up member of the Agattu club but I know it's a great leccie bike.

 

[wotwozere]

Hi

Will these bikes take any weight?
Can anyone recommend a strong frame.
Is there a second hand one for sale anywhere?

thx

Bob

 

[wotwozere]

Hi

Are these good hill climber to help my gammy knee my izip is too heavy or I am?

thx

Bob

 

[Fecn]

Hi muscibooks, essexman and Barnowl - Thanks for the welcome.

I never got around to phoning 50cycles this morning, but I believe I've found and fixed the problem with the lights. The rear mudguard finishes with a rubber section and I think that somehow or other way it's been fixed in place was causing the short on my bike. Using a flat-blade screwdriver I scratched across the two metal strips on the inside of the mudguard just before the rubber bit at the end to isolate it electrically - it's not providing power to anything that far along anyway.

I've been out again tonight and done another dozen miles, completing my first discharge of the battery pack. I have not problems with my lights tonight.

essexman... I wonder if your problem has the same cause as mine. Here's somthing to try... There's two spade connectors at the bottom of the front light which feed the power to the back lights via the coily wire which disappears into the frame... Try disconnecting one of the spade connectors for a few minutes when you're riding along so that all the dynamo power is fed to the front light (the back light should stay on for a few minutes anyway). After 30 seconds or so, the front light should have trickle-charged enough to light the LED which will then stay lit until it drains it's mini-battery. If the front light works OK like that, then it logically follows that your problem must be with either the back light.. or the wiring for it. If your front light still give you problems, its most likely the dyanmo.

essexman do you have a recommendation for a child seat for a 2-year old. I'd ideally like somthing which sits over the back wheel, but still leaves room to get the panniers on. I'm planning to go out shopping for a seat at the weekend, so it'd be nice to know what to look for. Do you have a photo of how the seat fits on your Agattu?

I am liking this bike more and more each time I ride it.... I fact, I might even kick my wife out of bed tonight to make room for the bike. The suspension is ideal for the rubbish roads we have around here and the way it goes up hills is mighty impressive. I've bought a lot of power tools over the years and know all too well the difference between a £10 homebase drill and a £300 Makita one... The £10 drill is a waste of a tenner whilst the £300 one will do everything I want it to for years to come. The agattu is most definitely a Makita-quality bit of kit.

My new rear reflector should arrive in the post tomorrow and as I'll have to take the back wheel off to fit it, I'll fit the 18-tooth cog at the same time which will hopefully mean I can pedal at a bit of a more leisurely rate.

Anyone got any recommendations for a good speedo ?

 

[essexman]

Hi Fecn,

Good job on the lights! I'll fiddle around with it.

I use the hamaxplus system. There is a review on my blog:
Hamaxplus review
Follow up

As a system it does work well. The copilot is probably the best child seat , mostly because its free standing off the bike with child in, but there is no space to mount panniers.
Bobike do a large seat for older children, which might be worth thinking about depending on how large your 2 year old is.

Cheers

 

[musicbooks]

Anyone got any recommendations for a good speedo ?

I bought a cheap 8 function speedo from Halfords @ £8.99 (sale price) and it is perfectly adequate for my commute. It has also withstood torrential rain.
BW
musicbooks