Life expectancy of a Pedelec

[AFV434]

I tow a trailer containing my hobby equipment (all up weight 31kg) with my custom built touring pedal cycle rather than use a car, a round trip of 38mls with a total travel time of 4.5hrs. I want to decrease the travel time and although I am no slouch on the pedals, advancing years are making what should be an enjoyable day out, into a trial of endurance. Matters are further complicated by a recent re-routing of the road network that now presents 2 stiff hill climbs (each way) that has me crawling along in bottom gear winding myself up the hills. To make life easier, I intend to tow my trailer with a Pedelec. I only need assistance to pull the trailer and my conventional pedal cycle will continue to be used for all other purposes. I am able to input a significant amount of effort into the Pedelec and want a dedicated quality machine that will do the job without fuss or trouble for years and I am considering a Pedelec from the Kalkhoff range. Updates and improvements are being made all the time and new models are being introduced regularly. All things being equal, what is the life expectancy of the electrics and (if fitted) the motor assisted crank drive system. I presume that it would be difficult to upgrade systems making it necessary to renew a Pedelec when major faults develop.

 

[flecc]

I think a Kalkhoff would be a good choice. My first e-bike for heavy towing was a Giant Lafree crank drive e-bike which was generally considered to be the forerunner of the Kalkhoffs. I used it for nearly six years, it went to another member for almost two years and then onto someone else still working fine. The Lafree was introduced in 2001 and many are still in use today. Mine was 2003.

I did replace the SRAM hub gear when it gave up, but I was being rather brutal with it and the Kalklhoffs don't use those. Here is my towing webpage.

If a crank drive unit fails it's sometimes necessary to buy a new one, the Panasonic ones being circa £500, but such failures are rare and I've never heard of an Impulse or Bosch total failure. Batteries last from two to four years generally, depending on the price/quality balance.
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[RobF]

A Kalkhoff could be a good choice, not least because they come with big batteries.

How much power you will use is hard to judge, and will vary with wind conditions.

You say you are prepared to put in the effort, but nearly 40 miles towing could well still be tight on a 10/11ah battery.

Thus you can discount all the Bosch powered bikes, and a lot of the better quality hub ones, including KTM, which have relatively small batteries.

I also wonder about towing with a crank drive, which will put even more strain on the transmission, which already has a bit to do.

Your rig would handle well with a front hub motor, so I think we are heading towards something from Cyclezee.

Their bikes also come with big batteries and are known to be durable, which answers another of your questions.

Plenty of grunt in the motor and a bit cheaper than a Kalkhoff.

http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-torq-mk3.html

 

[Cyclezee]

Hi AFV434,

Thinking laterally or rather longitudinally, instead of a trailer what about a cargo bike?

e.g. eZee Expedir http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-expedir-utility-bikes.html



or Yuba el Mundo http://www.cyclezee.com/ezee-yuba-el-mundo.html

 

[AFV434]

I think a Kalkhoff would be a good choice. My first e-bike for heavy towing was a Giant Lafree crank drive e-bike which was generally considered to be the forerunner of the Kalkhoffs. I used it for nearly six years, it went to another member for almost two years and then onto someone else still working fine. The Lafree was introduced in 2001 and many are still in use today. Mine was 2003.

I did replace the SRAM hub gear when it gave up, but I was being rather brutal with it and the Kalklhoffs don't use those. Here is my towing webpage.

If a crank drive unit fails it's sometimes necessary to buy a new one, the Panasonic ones being circa £500, but such failures are rare and I've never heard of an Impulse or Bosch total failure. Batteries last from two to four years generally, depending on the price/quality balance.
.

Thanks.Your trailer set up is impressive.
What Pedelec are you currently using to tow trailers in hilly terrain?

 

[flecc]

Thanks.Your trailer set up is impressive.
What Pedelec are you currently using to tow trailers in hilly terrain?

I'm not doing anywhere near as much towing now (age!), just lighter trips, but the one doing that is my much modified eZee Quando. Since those photos it's had a derailleur added (used to be singe speed) and many other mods.
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[Electrifying Cycles]

Most of the new Panasonic hub drives will have 560wh batteries so may be worth taking at look at the 2015 range.