New Member in Dorset

[PaulN]

Hi,

I have owned a Kalkhoff Pro Connect X27 Xion for the past 5 years but am now having serious problems as I can't get spare parts or find a Kalkhoff dealer with knowledge of the bike that can repair it. I am hoping that by joining this group I can draw on the collective knowledge and get some answers to the problems.

Thanking you all in advance

Paul N

 

[egroover]

Hi Paul,
Not sure where in Dorset you are, but if you are near Weymouth there's a Kalkhoff dealer there https://www.jurassic-electric.co.uk/
They have been operating for a few years at least and I think they run a fleet of Kalfhoff hire bikes for a good few years too, so I think they will have some knowledge of the older models perhaps ?

 

[PaulN]

Many thanks for your reply.

I have already tried Jurassic electric but they do not carry out repairs themselves and their normal repairer does not know this bike and cannot contact Kalkhoff himself as he is not a Kalkhoff agent.
Having spoken to a number of agents, all of whom say they do not know this bike as it is so old (5 years), I get the distinct impression that they do not expect e.bikes to last more than 3 years. A number of them also say that they only repair bikes that they themselves have sold. This does not bode well for the e.bike community. How many of us can afford to scrap a £2000 bike every 3 or so years? Not to mention manufacturers like Kalkhoff who stop selling replacement parts after 3 years. This cannot happen for car parts so why is it acceptable for bicycles?

I was on a cycling holiday in Portugal when my bicycle developed the communications fault and the nearest Kalkhoff agents were hundreds of kilometres away so that was the end of my holiday. Since returning two weeks ago I have been unable to find anyone who can fix it. I'll think twice before buying another as the servicing and repair is a nightmare.

 

[flecc]

I entered a reply on your other thread Paul:

Here's the link to it
.

 

[Fat Rat]

Hi welcome
Hope you find what your looking for soon

 

[Andy McNish]

It does sound a poor show.

This does not bode well for the e.bike community. How many of us can afford to scrap a £2000 bike every 3 or so years?

Well it's 5 years so the cost, even if it's a total write off, is £8 a week. Quite a lot of us can afford that I imagine.

But also most controller and motors around now on bikes in that price bracket are Bosch, Brose, Yamaha or Shimano. And huge numbers are being sold compared to 5 years ago. I don't imagine it will be as hard to find a replacement Intuvia or Purion display in 5 years, or a battery or someone who knows how to fix a Yamaha motor as it is for something as niche as the Xion. I think you are feeling the pain of the bleeding edge - the technology will only become more mature and more widespread over the next few years...

 

[oriteroom]

Pro golla in Germany have proved very useful for me. Have bought controller for Panasonic motor from them and will be using them for specific Kalkhoff/Panasonic now 50cycles have all but disowned the bikes. Not surprising given the Impulse motor fiasco.

On my wife's bike I've had trouble with water ingress in the controller (LED one not the later LCD ones) . It dried out, and all I do nowadays is to cover it over with a transparent freezer bag whenever rain threatens. WORKS!!! Hooe your controller dries out or Pro Golla have a replacement.

Also bought direct a walking assist button for a spare bike I bought, which were available in 2008/2010 but hard to find nowadays. The owner (i think) at Pro golla can advise on what's available and you can talk to him on phone, the contact is

https://www.pro-cycling-golla.de/ EDIT the chaps name is Ulli

Might be worth a try. The site is in german so I've had to resort to Google tanslate at times. Hope you have luck getting going again.

I live in Bournemouth, you'll struggle I think to get any Kalkhoff help locally.

PS Two of our Kalkhoff Panasonic ProConnects are 11 years old this coming August and each covered 17,000+ miles. Still on original batteries. Combined total mileage on all 3 bikes is over 40,000 miles. It's the later/latest incarnations that have the shorter life expectancy I think. You'll see from my sign off, we dabble with a Impulse powered Kalkhoff, but got shot of as soon as the Impulse2 'fiasco' surfaced. Bought some v. Low mileage Pro Connects as back-ups for the future. Bargains at less than £400 and immac low mileage.

 

[vfr400]

When people ask which bike to get, I always tell them to get the same one as everybody else because there will always be lots of knowledge about it, spare parts and somebody to help you. There have been many interesting and unique bikes appearing in the market, but if you buy one and they go wrong, you're on your own.

I'm sorry, Paul, that doesn't help you at all, but at least you might have helped others learn from your experience.