 The news in 2006 that the Lafree Twist Lite was to be discontinued was greeted with widespread dismay. For many it was the benchmark for what a good electric bike should be.
The other contenders using the same Panasonic drive unit all fell short in one way or another - price, weight, poor performance, lack of representation in the UK. When the new Kalkhoff Agattu model was announced, I thought that at last it might be the long-awaited successor. I was not to be disappointed, as you will see.
The first impression was of the difference from the Lafree. That bike had a light, somewhat Gallic style. The Agattu has a far more imposing presence, more Germanic, in keeping with it's place of conception. The construction is on a more epic scale, spacious and robust, yet the weight is no more than the similarly equipped Lafree Comfort models.
The Panasonic motor unit is the latest and best version with a high power mode and Li-ion battery with 54% higher capacity than the Lafree.
First Riding Impressions
I was immediately at home on this bike. The wide handlebars are similarly confortably angled but more of a cruiser style shaping giving excellent control with levers and controls all falling conveniently to hand. The frame is a big improvement on the Lafree.
Accessories
The Agattu comes with the tried-and-trusted front hub dynamo which supplies a Busch & Muller front halogen lamp, this having a rear switch for Off, Always On, and Automatic. The rear light on the test bike was a temporary LED type, the standard one in future will be a Busch & Muller Selectra type with a standlight when the bike is stationary.
Among the range of useful accessories provided there's the Abus rear wheel lock, a guard to protect clothing and keep little feet from trying to play harp music on the spokes, a Pletscher prop stand and a neat carrier-mounted compact tyre pump.
Brakes, cables and tyres
The brakes are Shimano V-brakes, the front one very sensibly on the fork rear so acting in compression against it, rather than against the bolt heads as happens on many front mounted brakes. The brake cables, like the electrical cables, are led unobtrusively through the frame via sealing grommets, making the bike much tidier in appearance and easier to clean than is usual.
The rear brake was easily controllable, not unpredictably locking the wheel. The front brake was very powerful and smooth acting with constant force and not the slightest trace of judder or snatch, this being also a tribute to the forks of course. Straight line stability under maximum braking was absolute without the slightest sign of sideslip from the Continental Cityride tyres,
I'd ridden the Kent Gate Way cyclepath again and found the bike rolling so freely that I stopped pedalling, the bike then rolling along at 17 mph for well over half a mile before the incline was lost. That's the best free rolling I've ever known over the years round here.
The Continental tyres must take much of the credit and definitely have lower roll resistance than the Marathon Plus I usually use, but nonetheless, for any e-bike to roll in this manner (and to be better than good normal bikes) is remarkable.
Designed for flexibilty
 It seems to me that a free rolling bike like this with it's very long range battery gives considerable flexibility. An owner in average territory who has settled on a easy to get range of, lets say, 35 miles (56 km), could at any time extend that by 10 or 15 miles (16 to 24 km) if the need arose since the additional cycling effort would be so small.
It's always very difficult to predict ranges for others, but with power on most of the time, and across the spectrum from rather heavy rider with hills, to very fit regular cyclist in easy territory, ranges should span from 30 to 50 miles. Using the handlebar Off button more often when the going is easy will add range in proportion to the rider's fitness.
'Truly bionic'
For those who are not familiar, this is totally unlike any motor vehicle. Instead of a continuous application of motor power, the system adds to your muscle strength on each thrust of the pedals, so it is truly bionic in nature, leaving the character of this bicycle unchanged from that of any unpowered bicycle. The more pedal pressure you exert, the more help you get.
With power on, you can cycle with the strength of two people and more. The transition is so smooth on these units that it's impossible to accurately detect where they start and end, so not in any way disturbing the cycling rhythm.
Conclusions - 'Stands out as rather special... all-round competence'
Once in a while an e-bike appears that stands out as rather special, usually because of some particular attribute, but only very rarely does one appear with a special level of all round competence.
To date those have all used the various versions of the Panasonic motor unit, but since the demise of the Giant Lafree Twist series, they have tended to be too expensive (usually more than £2,000) and have sometimes fallen short of that bike on grounds of weight and performance.
None of these deficiencies is true of the Kalkhoff Agattu. With a weight the same as the Lafree Comfort ST model and a superior specification including the high power, long range version of the latest Panasonic power unit, it's very reasonable price immediately elevates it to the top.
Taking every factor into account, design, features, build quality, strength, performance, long range and the UK price (significantly less than you'd pay on the continent), in my opinion the Kalkhoff Agattu is now the best electric bike ever, and the Lafree has lost that title to a worthy successor.
Read the unabridged version on Tony Flecchia's website.
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