Kalkhoff Proconnet S mini review....

[NRG]

Great review NRG.

I purchased the same model during the last month based (in part at least) on information from these forums.

I'm clearly a less experienced cyclist than you, which luckily for me means I've not perceived any of the downsides which you have; my feet haven't slipped off the pedals, I've not missed a bottle holder and I've been happy with the speedo and odometer working in kilometres.

In short everything as worked out very well. It's unfortunate that I've started at the darkest and chilliest time of year, but my ten mile each-way jaunt has been ok and I'm under no illusion whatsoever that I couldn't do it without an assisted bike

Missed your post DM, welcome to the forum. The Kalkhoff is my third E-Bike and its natural for me to compare to the other two. The kalkhoff is no small investment on my part, I intend to get more miles on the road in 2011 and need a comfortable and dependable bike so the small points I've made may not mean much to others but they sure bug the heck out of me!

 

[Tex]

One is never satisfied until the purchase of the next bike. Then the next one...

 

[lookpo]

Hi, Thank you for your review. I've bought same model (Large size - 55cm) few weeks ago. I did 120km so far and I really like the bike. I am from Dublin, Ireland and this is my first e-bike. I was thinking about changing pedals as well. What do you think about: Genetic Drift R Pedals ? Regarding the mud flap, have you already found one ? If yes please share the link.

 

[NRG]

Finally got around to replacing the cheap cr*p Wellgo M-21 pedals on the Proconnect. After checking a few out I ended up with some MKS Comfort Lite pedals, not much more expensive than the Wellgo's but they seem to have better bearings and are larger by about 12mm which makes quite a difference. The Wellgo are cut away on one side meaning even less cage area to press your foot on. Mudguards next, I have some Tortec Reflectors on the way...

 

[tillson]

Where did you purchase your pedals from NRG? if you had them from an on-line seller, could you post a link?

I was interested to read you comment on bearings. The bearings in my PC pedals collapsed a while ago. I've got used to wobble now, but they do need replacing.

Edit: found some. Google is my friend.

 

[thingaby]

Wiggle supplied the same pedal to me as a replacement for my original Technium kit. Look good and work well. £15 I think.

Wiggle | MKS Comfort Lite Commuter Pedals Flat Pedals

 

[NRG]

Yep, Wiggle, SJS they all seem to have them. Flat both sides plus integrated reflector both sides...they are about double the cost of the supplied M-21...and should have been included in the price of the bike IMHO.

 

[lookpo]

Tortec Reflectors

Hi NRG, Have you installed Tortec Reflectors? How are they ? Can you provide a picture and your opinion?

 

[NRG]

Yes, there are very good, picture to follow......

 

[tillson]

I'm just about to order a set of pedals, but s thought has just occurred to me. The Panasonic system uses two left hand pedal crank arms. I would assume that a standard set of pedals is made up of one with a left hand thread and one with a right hand thread. Are these going to fit a Panasonic drive which has the two left hand crank arms? I don't want to end up buying two sets of pedals just to use the two left hand ones.

Thanks

Tom

 

[NRG]

Timely post as I've been out and about on the PC today. Two L/H cranks? Where did you get that from Tom? The MKS are standard pedals, left and right handed, fitted no problem and are a vast improvement on the originals...

Here's the Pic I promised back in December

It was a really sunny start to the day but clouded over by 11:30 and started to get cold, quite windy too. The Tortec Mudguards where an easy fit although I really didn't need to fit the rear as my new RackTime DoubleIT pannier covers most of it! (would you believe I had to buy these from the USA even though they are made in Germany!) The front guard is a little longer than the standard one and usefully has the mud flap which extends it further, however, still not far enough to stop all the mud hitting the low slung motor assembly.

Still it stopped some of it and is much better than before. The Tortec uses two stays each side but is not as rigid as the originals so on occasions it rattles about a bit, also the rear guard comes with out a mud flap but I transferred the one from the original to it. I think I'll make up a 'sump guard' out of thin plastic for the motor to keep the rest of the mud off it.

 

[tillson]

The term, two left hand cranks, is probably completely the wrong term to use, but it was all that I could think of at the time of posting.

What I was trying to convey is this: On the limited number of bikes that I have worked on, the RH Crank usually attaches directly to the front chain wheel. The Panasonic drive seems to be slightly different in that the front chain wheel can turn independently of the pedal cranks. To achieve this, the right hand crank isn't attached to the chain wheel, it drives onto the bottom bracket spindle ( I feel another wrong term coming on).

For this reason, the RH crank doesn't look like any that I have seen before. It looks like a duplicate left hand one.

As I say my experience of bikes is limited, but with a bit if time and study I can usually fathom things out.

 

[NRG]

Ah, yes I see what you mean but thankfully it dosen't affect the pedals...

For anybody else looking at this 2/3 the way down on this page from Flecc's help pages details the pedal shaft or bottom bracket that has the inbuilt freewheel:

motorunit1