Kalkhoff

[TM59]

Going to be in Germany in a months time. Would like to buy a Kalkhoff Tasman. Anyone recommend a good bike dealer.

Any information or advice welcome.

TM

 

[SteveRuss]

As it's a pretty big country you may want to point out which city/town you're heading to!

This is Kalkhoff's dealer search.

http://www.kalkhoff-bikes.com/en/service/dealer-search.html

I've got the Pro Connect Alfine 8G. Great bike although i'm having an issue with its battery at the moment. I'm covered under warranty here in the Uk and 50 cycles are all over it. I'd check how your warranty translates and who will deal with any issues in the Uk. It would be a bummer to have to send the bike back to German every time something went wrong.

 

[TM59]

Touring in motorhome for approx three weeks, Black forrest and Moselle valley mainly but possible to go anywhere. Warranty is the only negative I can see.

 

[SteveRuss]

Touring in motorhome for approx three weeks, Black forrest and Moselle valley mainly but possible to go anywhere. Warranty is the only negative I can see.

Yeah. But for all we know they may have an EU warranty agreement with 50cycles over here. I'm at one of their shops on Tuesday so i'll try and remember to ask.

From the link I posted above, it looks like the country is well covered by dealers.

 

[TM59]

Many thanks

 

[JohnCade]

Touring in motorhome for approx three weeks, Black forrest and Moselle valley mainly but possible to go anywhere. Warranty is the only negative I can see.

The warranty will be with the dealer you buy it from in Germany and no one in the UK will touch it unless you pay them.

I was interested in buying a Kalkhoff from Germany a little while ago and emailed Derby Cycles to ask them the position and that's what they told me. Pretty stupid when people take bikes abroad on holiday and move countries for jobs. But the e bike industry is still in the local bicycle shop age when it comes to warranties.

 

[TM59]

Many thanks. It begs another question as to how reliable are Kalkhoff bikes?

 

[JohnCade]

The motors are very reliable and the bikes are built like brick shithouses. There have been a few on here including me who have had battery problems lately...

 

[JohnCade]

Depending where you live maybe an Irish dealer would be better. Lot closer than Germany if you want to take advantage of the Euro fall.

 

[RobF]

Make sure you get a left hand drive one.

 

[flecc]

Make sure you get a left hand drive one.

Not as daft as it sounds, the brake levers can be on the opposite sides, front on the left for example.
.

 

[RobF]

There could be other small differences on a German market bike, which the OP may prefer or not.

Stuff like display language can usually be set by the user, but he might get a German language handbook.

I would check the charger to make sure it will run on UK voltage.

 

[Alan Quay]

Make sure you get a left hand drive one.

I lived in Sweden for a while, where me and my wife both bought bikes. The brakes were swapped over, front on the left, rear on right.

 

[flecc]

If necessary you can download a PDF of the English language Kalkhoff manual on this link
.

 

[SteveRuss]

Many thanks. It begs another question as to how reliable are Kalkhoff bikes?

Mine was delivered in April 2014 to the original buyer so, I bought it used but I transferred the warranty and ownership with 50cycles (a simple phone call with email confirmation).

The bike is heavy but solidly built. There is nothing wrong with it after 1500miles total other than that the 17ah battery has been diagnosed as faulty (30 cycles according to their plug-in diag machine).

50cycles tested it and are sending a new one to my local Bristol shop to arrive tomorrow. All under warranty. If you don't have the warranty you can buy the same battery from them for £799.

I still have my 9.5kg Boardman pedal bike, which was £1000 new and it's much much more solidly built than that, and the Boardman is an excellent pedal bike.