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>> Court: This is the Kalkhoff Compact and I'm actually here at the New Wheel in San
Francisco, it's raining out and kind of dark now but I had the chance to ride several of
these bikes and this one uses kind of the same drive system but has some really interesting
features that make it compact. So as you can see, the diameter of these wheels is a little
bit smaller, this is probably 20 inch, 20" wheels is that right? >> Shop Owner: Yep,
twenty inch wheels! >> Court: Yeah, so you know, a little bit smaller. But the fact that
the frame itself doesn't actually fold on this bike, like a lot of folding bikes makes
it relatively stiff. And you can see some of the other features here: folding pedals,
the handlebars themselves actually fold sideways. So if you live in an apartment, oh she's going
to do a demo, sweet! So if you live in an apartment, you know that's kind of a neat
feature to have [snap sound] which makes it a lot easier to store. Perfect, thank you!
Um, so yeah, this is a really cool system that they've got. And as you can see its got
like front and rear fenders, the lights, and they're actually dynamo powered on that front
hub which is really nice. Super solid brakes, so those are rim brakes, but they're actually
hydraulic. And that's why they've got this metal bracket here, because you're getting
a lot of stopping power. In terms of the electric drive system, this thing has a 250 watt mid
drive system. And there's an eight speed internally geared Nexus hub in the rear. So that's just
for pedaling, you're pedaling along and you've got 8 speeds to choose from. You can shift
from standstill which is nice and because you've got a middrive motor you're leveraging
those gears which is excellent. It actually extends the range, it helps you climb, so
it's a great choice for hilly areas like San Francisco. The battery on this thing is 36
volt, about 11 amp hours and that offers pretty good range for you know, a relatively small
bike like this. But I wanted to mention actually, the smaller diameter wheels on this bike,
they work in favor of the leverage for climbing and stuff. So this is a pretty torquey bike.
If you had this bike and you were going to work or cruising around the neighborhood,
you've got some nice storage options on the back with that rack and of course, just having
the lights and being able to work with traffic safely is always nice. Got the kickstand and
stuff. Let's get up here and look at the drive, or the control system. I love the ergo grips
here. Just, they make it a lot easier on your wrists and stuff, if you're like typing and
riding a lot. And they've got a relatively simple interface, you just turn this thing
on. Three levels of pedal assist and there's a walk mode. And this is so cool, like you're
walking with this bike, you hit that and the bike like powers itself. So you don't have
to push it like if you're going up a ramp or maybe a hill, you know like if you're walking
with your friend. So it's kind of a cool system, fairly common in Europe and it's just neat
to see. So, again this is a Kalkhoff electric bike, it's a German company and I'm, you know,
it's imported here by the New Wheel. And they carry quite a few of these, you can check
out some of the other reviews. The name may be changing, it may be called Focus in 2014
but it's a great design, will probably be very similar and yeah, I was pretty impressed
with this bike. It would be a good option for someone who's looking for something a
little smaller. This step-through design is great and the drive system just works well.
And you can even charge that battery off the bike so you can park it, lock it up, bring
the battery up to the office and you're all set. And it's relatively quiet and it's an
excellent choice and for more on this bike and others check out ElectricBikeReview.com.
I will see you there.