Review of the Kalkhoff Agattu
- Thread starter flecc
- Start date
Kalkhoff History?
Apologies if this is slightly off-topic. I've just bought a slightly curious looking old bike (not electric) for a few pounds from a local charity shop. I bought it for going to the shops in the village without the need for the big locks I use otherwise.
When I got it home I noticed "Made in West Germany" and a K on the front. The name on it is "Yeti". It has a steel diamond frame without suspension, 26in wheels with steel rims and knobbly tyres (probably original), and is 10 speed. The bike looks to be in near original condition and has been carefully looked after and not used much.
This prompted me to look on the web for Kalkhoff history, and it seems they are a long-established German company. I can't find any reference to a Yeti in their past, but they do seem to have exported 10 speed bikes to the UK.
The equipment on the bike is not of especially high quality, but is all highly functional. Can anyone confirm whether there was a Kalkhoff Yeti?
Apologies if this is slightly off-topic. I've just bought a slightly curious looking old bike (not electric) for a few pounds from a local charity shop. I bought it for going to the shops in the village without the need for the big locks I use otherwise.
When I got it home I noticed "Made in West Germany" and a K on the front. The name on it is "Yeti". It has a steel diamond frame without suspension, 26in wheels with steel rims and knobbly tyres (probably original), and is 10 speed. The bike looks to be in near original condition and has been carefully looked after and not used much.
This prompted me to look on the web for Kalkhoff history, and it seems they are a long-established German company. I can't find any reference to a Yeti in their past, but they do seem to have exported 10 speed bikes to the UK.
The equipment on the bike is not of especially high quality, but is all highly functional. Can anyone confirm whether there was a Kalkhoff Yeti?
Agattu frame sizes
Flecc
When a bicycle is offered in more than one frame design (step through and gents diamond), are all frame dimension points the same across the 2 designs ?
I am wondering if it is safe to assess the size and feel of say a 53" Medium Frame in the step through design, and assume that a 53" Gents Diamond Frame will be the same fit.
Given that the Gents is done in 49,53,57,61 sizes, I might have expected the 57" to correspond with my 6'0" height and the 61" to correspond with a very tall 6'4" or so.
Is there any advice on this possible, prior to riding a gents version ?
James
Flecc
When a bicycle is offered in more than one frame design (step through and gents diamond), are all frame dimension points the same across the 2 designs ?
I am wondering if it is safe to assess the size and feel of say a 53" Medium Frame in the step through design, and assume that a 53" Gents Diamond Frame will be the same fit.
Given that the Gents is done in 49,53,57,61 sizes, I might have expected the 57" to correspond with my 6'0" height and the 61" to correspond with a very tall 6'4" or so.
Is there any advice on this possible, prior to riding a gents version ?
James
There is proportionality James, but some variation due to the wheel size on any bike. The 28" wheel on these does restrict exactly where the headstock is, but the effect isn't serious on the Pro Connect diamond frame, since having two joining tubes attached to the headstock makes it much shorter than on the step through.
I'd say the 57" was your size on the Pro Connect, since it hasn't got a sprung seatpost. Those posts tend to alter the size. For example, I could ride a rigid post 53", but a sprung post means I'd have to have a 49".
Pro Connect
.
I'd say the 57" was your size on the Pro Connect, since it hasn't got a sprung seatpost. Those posts tend to alter the size. For example, I could ride a rigid post 53", but a sprung post means I'd have to have a 49".
Pro Connect
.
Don't forget that on the continent they don't usually class bikes as being for use specifically by any one sex, the two frame types are simply different frame styles, each equally usable by either sex. The quoted frame sizes on all types are the measurement from the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube measured in cm, however it's probably not reasonable to assume that other frame dimensions will be the same on both styles or indeed proportional between sizes.
Marina has it right Sector, Yeti Kokopelli obviously the one. I couldn't imagine Kalkhoff ever producing a bike quite like that.
That Yeti seems to have been well respected in MTB circles, so likely to have been looked after.
.
I don't think it could be a Kokopelli. I couldn't be that lucky, and since it doesn't seem to be a Kalkhoff either I'll bow out of this thread.
The bike just seems to be a West German import of dubious quality, but surprisingly good fun to ride for short distances.
Thanks for your comments anyway.
Pete
The bike just seems to be a West German import of dubious quality, but surprisingly good fun to ride for short distances.
Thanks for your comments anyway.
Pete
No so happy
Flecc Hi,
Thanks for your postings and review of the Agattu
It seems that I will be the first very unhappy user of the of this byke.
To begin with, 50cycles give misleading information in the web page, offering a range of sizes that latter can't supply.
But is is not a big issue if at the end of a long wait you get a nice well working bike consistent with a price of 1250pounds. In my case, I got a bike that only had 2 gears (6th and 7th) and spent the next 2 weeks going to and from the repair shop to take or collect the bike, with the consequent time off work. Also, having sold my car, had to take the bus on several occasions which is extremely unreliable and made me be late to work on few occasions.After all the hazel, a new hub and gear switch was installed but the bike needed a service as there were other things that were not working well (bell, rear lock, brakes). I had to pay 70 pounds that still haven't been reimbursed to me by 50cycles. Why 50cycles did not check the bike before sending it to me? I don't know, but it has costed me big amounts of time so far and it seems that this is not the end.
Once the new hub was on, 6th and 7th gear don't work. First repair shop says it works well and latter admit that it doesn't work under power. In fact 6th and 7th gear don't work either with or without power on. Now 50cycles say that in this bike, 6th and 7th gear should not work under power, that it is normal, and I get the feeling that they are lying to me just to avoid a problem. I have checked in the Owner's manual and in different forums and there is no mention of this bike only having 5 gears on the power mode. Also, my German friend has contacted Kalkhoff on the phone and they denied this problem. Now they will get the bike back to 50cycles to check it themselves. This will mean at least another week without bicycle with the consequent cost of money and time.
I got the bike on the 18th Dec07 and still have not been able to ride it at normal functioning. I still haven't heard an apology from 50cycles. And I still don't know how and when this is going to end.
I would be very interested in knowing your opinion
Thanks
Flecc Hi,
Thanks for your postings and review of the Agattu
It seems that I will be the first very unhappy user of the of this byke.
To begin with, 50cycles give misleading information in the web page, offering a range of sizes that latter can't supply.
But is is not a big issue if at the end of a long wait you get a nice well working bike consistent with a price of 1250pounds. In my case, I got a bike that only had 2 gears (6th and 7th) and spent the next 2 weeks going to and from the repair shop to take or collect the bike, with the consequent time off work. Also, having sold my car, had to take the bus on several occasions which is extremely unreliable and made me be late to work on few occasions.After all the hazel, a new hub and gear switch was installed but the bike needed a service as there were other things that were not working well (bell, rear lock, brakes). I had to pay 70 pounds that still haven't been reimbursed to me by 50cycles. Why 50cycles did not check the bike before sending it to me? I don't know, but it has costed me big amounts of time so far and it seems that this is not the end.
Once the new hub was on, 6th and 7th gear don't work. First repair shop says it works well and latter admit that it doesn't work under power. In fact 6th and 7th gear don't work either with or without power on. Now 50cycles say that in this bike, 6th and 7th gear should not work under power, that it is normal, and I get the feeling that they are lying to me just to avoid a problem. I have checked in the Owner's manual and in different forums and there is no mention of this bike only having 5 gears on the power mode. Also, my German friend has contacted Kalkhoff on the phone and they denied this problem. Now they will get the bike back to 50cycles to check it themselves. This will mean at least another week without bicycle with the consequent cost of money and time.
I got the bike on the 18th Dec07 and still have not been able to ride it at normal functioning. I still haven't heard an apology from 50cycles. And I still don't know how and when this is going to end.
I would be very interested in knowing your opinion
Thanks
C
Cyclezee
Guest
Scott,
could you please give the forum a firm date for arrival of the diamond frame Agattu's that are on order?
John
could you please give the forum a firm date for arrival of the diamond frame Agattu's that are on order?
John
C
Critical Mass
Guest
Anta said
"50cycles say that in this bike, 6th and 7th gear should not work under power, that it is normal,"
so s/he appears to have been told that only gears 1-5 work under power.
gear problem
Hi Scott,
I guess you are the Scott (from50cycles) that I have being in touch with in the phone on previous occasions. My name is Antonia. I'm not waiting for an order, perhaps I have not explained myself well. I received my bike around the 18th Dec and it had a problem with the hub, as it was faulty. I had to ride it for a month with two gears as the wheels were on the way from Germany. At the end, I couldnt wait longer and Lloyd (50cycles) sent me the hub without wheel. Now that the new hub has been built in my wheel, there are only 5 gears as the 6th and 7th dont work. Repair shop says it works when the power is off, but actually it doesnt. And Lloyd has told to the manager on the shop that I shouldnt expect to be able to use the 6th or 7th gear with power on, which I dont believe. I did not buy a bike with 5 gears on power and 7 off power.
It's been a month and 3 weeks already and I dont stop going to and from the shop, wasting time and having no means to go to work.
If it is Scott, the owner of 50cycles, then I must ask you to take responsibilities and do something about this.
Now I must leave my work place, 1hr and 30min before my time, to get to King cycles in Croydon, to collect the bike, still unrepeared.
Hope to hear from you soon
Hi Scott,
I guess you are the Scott (from50cycles) that I have being in touch with in the phone on previous occasions. My name is Antonia. I'm not waiting for an order, perhaps I have not explained myself well. I received my bike around the 18th Dec and it had a problem with the hub, as it was faulty. I had to ride it for a month with two gears as the wheels were on the way from Germany. At the end, I couldnt wait longer and Lloyd (50cycles) sent me the hub without wheel. Now that the new hub has been built in my wheel, there are only 5 gears as the 6th and 7th dont work. Repair shop says it works when the power is off, but actually it doesnt. And Lloyd has told to the manager on the shop that I shouldnt expect to be able to use the 6th or 7th gear with power on, which I dont believe. I did not buy a bike with 5 gears on power and 7 off power.
It's been a month and 3 weeks already and I dont stop going to and from the shop, wasting time and having no means to go to work.
If it is Scott, the owner of 50cycles, then I must ask you to take responsibilities and do something about this.
Now I must leave my work place, 1hr and 30min before my time, to get to King cycles in Croydon, to collect the bike, still unrepeared.
Hope to hear from you soon
Hello Anta
Sorry to hear of your experiences which are so radically different from mine. There's obviously something seriously wrong with the gears if you are using them correctly for a hub gear, i.e. pausing between changes.
I can't imagine what can be wrong with the bell, lock and brakes, or why there should be so many faults on one particular bike when I and others found our ones to have such excellent build quality.
Therefore I'll leave it with 50cycles for the moment to find out why all these faults occurred on yours, rather than just guessing at a cause.
.
Sorry to hear of your experiences which are so radically different from mine. There's obviously something seriously wrong with the gears if you are using them correctly for a hub gear, i.e. pausing between changes.
I can't imagine what can be wrong with the bell, lock and brakes, or why there should be so many faults on one particular bike when I and others found our ones to have such excellent build quality.
Therefore I'll leave it with 50cycles for the moment to find out why all these faults occurred on yours, rather than just guessing at a cause.
.
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Further to my above post, I see you mention King Cycles, which I take to be Cycle King, the bike discount shop in South Croydon.
In that area you'd be better advised to use Bike Plus which is a bit further down Brighton Road on the other side, next to MachineMart. They are Giant bike agents who are very experienced with bikes using the Panasonic motor system, having sold many of the Giant Lafree models which are very similar to the Kalkhoff.
.
In that area you'd be better advised to use Bike Plus which is a bit further down Brighton Road on the other side, next to MachineMart. They are Giant bike agents who are very experienced with bikes using the Panasonic motor system, having sold many of the Giant Lafree models which are very similar to the Kalkhoff.
.
Hi, my name is Lloyd and I am the Workshop manager here at 50Cycles. I would like to clear a few things up as there seems to have been a MAJOR communication problem here. With regards to your bike Anta, it did have a fault at the beginning with the Shimano nexus hub. I apologize for that being the case. I didn't have anything in stock to replace it with so I did send you out a new Nexus hub and offered to pay the bill of your local shop for rebuilding your wheel. The shop then contacted me and told me that the wheel was built but that you weren't happy with it. At this point I asked them if there was a problem with it and they said it was fine.They told me they had ridden it and all gears were working fine. After speaking with you earlier today I have offered to collect the bike for you and have a look myself. At no point did I suggest that the bike will not work in 6th and 7th in power mode. The nexus gear system will work flawlessly in all gears in any mode on the bike. I did suggest to you however that you shouldn't put the bike under excessive load whilst trying to change gear. By this I meant easing up on the pedaling pressure whilst changing gear. I would like to reassure you and everyone else that I am doing everything I can to sort your bike out for you.
Gear problem
Lloyd,
What you say is very reassuring because both the manager at King cycle and the deputy said that you spoke to them on the phone and told them that 6th and 7th gear should not work when power on. To me that meant that I should just give up and forget to have a fully functioning bike. This pm I have been to King cycles again, to collect the bike again, and again they assured me that you had said that 6th and 7th shouldn't work with power on and therefore there is nothing that they can do.
I have been to another shop this pm, Bike plus, recommended by Flecc (thanks). They went for a test ride and were in agreement with me that 6th and 7th gear don't work either with or without power. They offered me to do some adjustments as they thought it could be repaired quite easily. Actually they said that at times by keeping the switch between the 5th and the 6th the 6th clicks on, but only at times. This is something that I needed to do as I was starting to think that I was hallucinating...
What is appalling here is that you guys sent me a faulty bike in first place. After having paid so much money, couldn't you just check the bike before delivering it to me? I would have saved so much time, frustration, dispair, arguments with the doggies of King cycles, bus tickets.........When it was serviced they found disadjusments in the front brake which was making a lot of noise and getting stuck (not returning to the original position). The bell wasn't working. The rear brake is bended and I have to push it every time I lock.
Once the fault was discovered, couldn't you recommend any diligent and competent repair service?
I only hope that this nightmare finishes asap as I have said before I am highly dependant on the bike.
I'm sure the Agattu is a great bike, but I just haven't had the opportunity of seeing it for myself, despite having one
Lloyd,
What you say is very reassuring because both the manager at King cycle and the deputy said that you spoke to them on the phone and told them that 6th and 7th gear should not work when power on. To me that meant that I should just give up and forget to have a fully functioning bike. This pm I have been to King cycles again, to collect the bike again, and again they assured me that you had said that 6th and 7th shouldn't work with power on and therefore there is nothing that they can do.
I have been to another shop this pm, Bike plus, recommended by Flecc (thanks). They went for a test ride and were in agreement with me that 6th and 7th gear don't work either with or without power. They offered me to do some adjustments as they thought it could be repaired quite easily. Actually they said that at times by keeping the switch between the 5th and the 6th the 6th clicks on, but only at times. This is something that I needed to do as I was starting to think that I was hallucinating...
What is appalling here is that you guys sent me a faulty bike in first place. After having paid so much money, couldn't you just check the bike before delivering it to me? I would have saved so much time, frustration, dispair, arguments with the doggies of King cycles, bus tickets.........When it was serviced they found disadjusments in the front brake which was making a lot of noise and getting stuck (not returning to the original position). The bell wasn't working. The rear brake is bended and I have to push it every time I lock.
Once the fault was discovered, couldn't you recommend any diligent and competent repair service?
I only hope that this nightmare finishes asap as I have said before I am highly dependant on the bike.
I'm sure the Agattu is a great bike, but I just haven't had the opportunity of seeing it for myself, despite having one
a previous member posted that on receipt of the agattu the nexus hub was faulty and was sent a new wheel/hub by 50 cycles.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well it is still a mystery what the problem was but a new wheel sent by lloyd at 50cycles has got my Agattu working. Seems I was just unlucky with a very rare nexus problem" daniel 67
so on 2 occassions faulty hubs were not picked up during assembly testing or by chance they became faulty upon receipt. i know several members have had no such problems but surely a decent pre inspection should pick up a duff hub.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Well it is still a mystery what the problem was but a new wheel sent by lloyd at 50cycles has got my Agattu working. Seems I was just unlucky with a very rare nexus problem" daniel 67
so on 2 occassions faulty hubs were not picked up during assembly testing or by chance they became faulty upon receipt. i know several members have had no such problems but surely a decent pre inspection should pick up a duff hub.
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Well done for making the connection, Joe. When you are the only person with a problem you start to think that there is something wrong with you!
I have sympathy for 50Cycles as electric bikes are quite complicated and the odd fault inevitably will creep through. However, that means anyone buying a bike mail order is taking a risk. Some will be lucky, some not. If you are unlucky it will be a real pain. Therefore, although it is no help to Anta, I am more convinced than ever that electric bikes are not a suitable product for mail order!
Frank
I have sympathy for 50Cycles as electric bikes are quite complicated and the odd fault inevitably will creep through. However, that means anyone buying a bike mail order is taking a risk. Some will be lucky, some not. If you are unlucky it will be a real pain. Therefore, although it is no help to Anta, I am more convinced than ever that electric bikes are not a suitable product for mail order!
Frank
i can vouch for that theory too frank, when i bought my last bike a synergy from someone off e-bay in scotland and had what i thought was a fault, turned out wasnt but didnt know when i asked them a question, their response was "pop round to the workshop and have a chat with bob"...all very friendly except i live as they know 250 miles away..that was the last communication from them on the matter....i say for all goods that better to buy from somewhere that know about the product..ie..they dont sell 500 different products so anything to them is just a name on the box,and that in the case of an expensive item you can if need be talk direct to someone or even take it to them, not 50 cycles fault they dont live at the end of my street i supose...as if i ever have to send it back for repair under warranty i think i have to foot the transport there and back cost...which im not looking forward to as a winge will set in im sure...
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