Kalkhoff Agattu Premium C11 Impulse (2012 model on 2013 software)
This was the first bike i tested, and the first crank drive bike i've ridden. First thoughts on riding it were that it was very comfortable. The assistance is very smooth and fairly quiet. It seems the indexing on the hub gear was out on the bike i tested and i had some issues getting it to find a gear at times, but i put this down to the setup of this particular bike. I liked the control screen, it's nicely presented and has a lot of information available at a glance. I think the 15ah battery would probably be plenty big enough for me, as i found the bike was so free running that i'm fairly sure i'd be able to spend a lot of time with it switched off if i needed huge range. Magura hydraulic rim brakes felt great to use, however i'd prefer discs as they are unaffected by grime on the rims or the wheel going out of true. The bike climbed well, however the hill used to test, while the biggest near Loughborough, was fairly small compared to my local hills. As mentioned on this forum, the Riding Profile can be changed to gain more climbing performance from the Impulse powered bikes. Overall this is a very nice bike, however being a clearance model it may not be available to me once i have sold the four bikes (one Wisper, 3 unpowered) i am getting rid of to fund a new one.
Agattu i8 HS
Most of what is said above for the C11 goes for the i8 too. It is the same price, but has two disadvantages of a Nexus 8 hub gear which has a more limited gear range, this seems mostly to lose the bike top end gearing. It's not a huge issue, as i already own a Nexus 8 equipped folding bike and i do like the system. The second disadvantage is the lack of an LCD control unit with built in speedometer. I thought the lack of this on a £2000 bike was very poor, as these now appear on many bikes half that price. The one advantage is the huge 17ah battery, claimed ranges are vast, and even halving those to be more realistic it's still more than i can envisage myself ever using. I was surprised how quiet the motor was on this bike, much quieter than the C11. A nice bike, and that range is hard to ignore.
Kalkhoff Endeavour BS10 400Wh
The illegal bike. The legality doesn't concern me. After the previous two bikes, climbing aboard the BS10 felt like i was getting on a normal fast hybrid. Positioning is less upright, the wheelbase is shorter and the whole bike feels much lighter. The Bosch battery location is very good, it's out of the way and doesn't require a long wheelbase frame. On the flat, with the power off, this feels like a normal hybrid bike, perhaps a little slower to accelerate because of the weight, but other than that you could never tell it was an ebike. Turning the power on, the Eco mode feels much the same as on the Impulse bikes, Tour then feels like the highest assist on the Impulse bikes, cruising with little effort around 15-16mph. Then switching up a level to sport you find yourself speeding up to around 24mph with little effort! Turbo seemed to only slightly increase that speed, but felt like it had a lot more torque. The hills around Loughborough were no real test for this bike. I came back with a huge smile on my face, this is an awesome machine. However, my sensible head also says it's £2800 with only an 11ah battery.
Tonaro Compy
I wanted to test ride a Tonaro as there are so many fans of them on here. I headed up to the Electric Cycle Centre in Penrith. Pete there was very helpful and sent me on my way with the Tonaro. First impressions, as a bike this thing is TERRIBLE, perhaps the worst actual bike i have ridden. However i persevered and took it up the huge hill out of Penrith, this hill is quite steep and very long, i qould guesstimate between 15-17% and around 1.2-1.5km long. The Compy was hard work and had me labouring up at 5mph, power seemed to gradually drop off throughout the climb. The motor was also very noisy and the cut-off at 15mph was like a switch, very harsh. I cant deny, i hated this bike and couldn't wait to give it back, i'd rather have a Cyclamatic again.
Kudos Arriba
As a hub motored bike this was not really what i was looking for, however Pete encouraged me to take it for a spin as he'd has some great feedback about it. The bike felt like a well sorted mountain bike, there was no perceptible drag from the hub motor and the geometry felt quite normal. Assistance was good on the flat, similar to my Wisper. Taking this bike up the big hill i found it to be an excellent climber, going up there at 8-10kph, noticeably faster than the Tonaro with considerably less effort. Only when i got back did i find out the actual proce of this bike, and i was very surprised! This is a SUPERB bike for a bargain price! If i didn't have hills of around 20-25% to climb regularly i would've bought this bike there and then.
BH Emotion Xenion 700
This is a Bosch 250w bike, in a fast hybrid style. The bike i took out was too small for me, so allowing for that i will just comment on the Bosch power. This bike climbed the same hill on maximum assist at 17kph! The bike felt very light which must have aided it. However, i think the bike is just a little too road focussed for me, the skinny tyres and lack of lights, full mudguards, rack, chainguard etc mean i'd have quite a lot to change, perhaps another £300 to get it the way i wanted it.
KTM Macina Cross
This was the final bike i took out, and the quality of the bike looked superb. It was the ladies frame and a little too small for me, but closer than the Xenion. This bike also had the 2013 Bosch system rather than the maddeningly confusing 2012 the Xenion had. However Pete had told me if i bought a Xenion it would come with the 2013 system. The 2013 Bosch systems felt more powerful than the 2012 too, something Pete said he had found too, this despite the Macina having a Nexus 8 which is meant to be lower powered assistance than the derailleur equipped Xenion. As a bike, this felt the nicest of the day to ride, and it was the best climber. It still needs mudguards, rack etc, however the price of this bike is quite reasonable.
Final thoughts
I still have not made up my mind. The Bosch bikes and the Impulse bikes are very good, but choosing between them is difficult. My head is telling me to get one of the Agattu's but my heart is screaming the exciting Endeavour! Somewhere inbetween sits the KTM, at a good price and yet somewhat more aesthetically pleasing than than Agattus.
This was the first bike i tested, and the first crank drive bike i've ridden. First thoughts on riding it were that it was very comfortable. The assistance is very smooth and fairly quiet. It seems the indexing on the hub gear was out on the bike i tested and i had some issues getting it to find a gear at times, but i put this down to the setup of this particular bike. I liked the control screen, it's nicely presented and has a lot of information available at a glance. I think the 15ah battery would probably be plenty big enough for me, as i found the bike was so free running that i'm fairly sure i'd be able to spend a lot of time with it switched off if i needed huge range. Magura hydraulic rim brakes felt great to use, however i'd prefer discs as they are unaffected by grime on the rims or the wheel going out of true. The bike climbed well, however the hill used to test, while the biggest near Loughborough, was fairly small compared to my local hills. As mentioned on this forum, the Riding Profile can be changed to gain more climbing performance from the Impulse powered bikes. Overall this is a very nice bike, however being a clearance model it may not be available to me once i have sold the four bikes (one Wisper, 3 unpowered) i am getting rid of to fund a new one.
Agattu i8 HS
Most of what is said above for the C11 goes for the i8 too. It is the same price, but has two disadvantages of a Nexus 8 hub gear which has a more limited gear range, this seems mostly to lose the bike top end gearing. It's not a huge issue, as i already own a Nexus 8 equipped folding bike and i do like the system. The second disadvantage is the lack of an LCD control unit with built in speedometer. I thought the lack of this on a £2000 bike was very poor, as these now appear on many bikes half that price. The one advantage is the huge 17ah battery, claimed ranges are vast, and even halving those to be more realistic it's still more than i can envisage myself ever using. I was surprised how quiet the motor was on this bike, much quieter than the C11. A nice bike, and that range is hard to ignore.
Kalkhoff Endeavour BS10 400Wh
The illegal bike. The legality doesn't concern me. After the previous two bikes, climbing aboard the BS10 felt like i was getting on a normal fast hybrid. Positioning is less upright, the wheelbase is shorter and the whole bike feels much lighter. The Bosch battery location is very good, it's out of the way and doesn't require a long wheelbase frame. On the flat, with the power off, this feels like a normal hybrid bike, perhaps a little slower to accelerate because of the weight, but other than that you could never tell it was an ebike. Turning the power on, the Eco mode feels much the same as on the Impulse bikes, Tour then feels like the highest assist on the Impulse bikes, cruising with little effort around 15-16mph. Then switching up a level to sport you find yourself speeding up to around 24mph with little effort! Turbo seemed to only slightly increase that speed, but felt like it had a lot more torque. The hills around Loughborough were no real test for this bike. I came back with a huge smile on my face, this is an awesome machine. However, my sensible head also says it's £2800 with only an 11ah battery.
Tonaro Compy
I wanted to test ride a Tonaro as there are so many fans of them on here. I headed up to the Electric Cycle Centre in Penrith. Pete there was very helpful and sent me on my way with the Tonaro. First impressions, as a bike this thing is TERRIBLE, perhaps the worst actual bike i have ridden. However i persevered and took it up the huge hill out of Penrith, this hill is quite steep and very long, i qould guesstimate between 15-17% and around 1.2-1.5km long. The Compy was hard work and had me labouring up at 5mph, power seemed to gradually drop off throughout the climb. The motor was also very noisy and the cut-off at 15mph was like a switch, very harsh. I cant deny, i hated this bike and couldn't wait to give it back, i'd rather have a Cyclamatic again.
Kudos Arriba
As a hub motored bike this was not really what i was looking for, however Pete encouraged me to take it for a spin as he'd has some great feedback about it. The bike felt like a well sorted mountain bike, there was no perceptible drag from the hub motor and the geometry felt quite normal. Assistance was good on the flat, similar to my Wisper. Taking this bike up the big hill i found it to be an excellent climber, going up there at 8-10kph, noticeably faster than the Tonaro with considerably less effort. Only when i got back did i find out the actual proce of this bike, and i was very surprised! This is a SUPERB bike for a bargain price! If i didn't have hills of around 20-25% to climb regularly i would've bought this bike there and then.
BH Emotion Xenion 700
This is a Bosch 250w bike, in a fast hybrid style. The bike i took out was too small for me, so allowing for that i will just comment on the Bosch power. This bike climbed the same hill on maximum assist at 17kph! The bike felt very light which must have aided it. However, i think the bike is just a little too road focussed for me, the skinny tyres and lack of lights, full mudguards, rack, chainguard etc mean i'd have quite a lot to change, perhaps another £300 to get it the way i wanted it.
KTM Macina Cross
This was the final bike i took out, and the quality of the bike looked superb. It was the ladies frame and a little too small for me, but closer than the Xenion. This bike also had the 2013 Bosch system rather than the maddeningly confusing 2012 the Xenion had. However Pete had told me if i bought a Xenion it would come with the 2013 system. The 2013 Bosch systems felt more powerful than the 2012 too, something Pete said he had found too, this despite the Macina having a Nexus 8 which is meant to be lower powered assistance than the derailleur equipped Xenion. As a bike, this felt the nicest of the day to ride, and it was the best climber. It still needs mudguards, rack etc, however the price of this bike is quite reasonable.
Final thoughts
I still have not made up my mind. The Bosch bikes and the Impulse bikes are very good, but choosing between them is difficult. My head is telling me to get one of the Agattu's but my heart is screaming the exciting Endeavour! Somewhere inbetween sits the KTM, at a good price and yet somewhat more aesthetically pleasing than than Agattus.
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