I purchased the Kalkhoff Pro Connect for my wife (no worries, she buys me fine china - we both use both!) last fall because I loved the clean look and elegant ride it offered.  I didn’t need all the bells and whistles found on the Sport model and for year round commuting I prefer an internally geared hub.  The first modification was to put on the Ergon Biocork grips and some heavy thorn resistant tubes with standard schrader valves.  Then I replaced the rigid front fork with the suspension fork from the Sport model but quickly decided that it didn’t improve the ride any and looked clunky so the original fork went back on.  I really wanted a little more speed than the stock bike offered so I switched out the motor gear from the stock 8 tooth to the 11 tooth offered on the Sport model. (Unfortunately, the 11 tooth gear is no longer obtainable easily in the United States).  I was happy with the change and found that power was available up to about 24 mph, pretty close to the number on the faster Sport model.  I have a commute of 14 miles from home to our shop in Boulder and often found myself wanting more gears because I was out-pedaling the motor.  This spring, Shimano released their new Alfine 11-speed hub.  The internals are lubricated in an oil bath (much like the Rohloff) and the gearing ratio is wider than the Alfine 8 (409% compared to 306%). The Rapidfire shifter features “push-push” operation similar to XTR and operates more intuitively than the shifter on the 8-speed.  After studying the gear chart from the new 11-speed and comparing to the stock 8-speed, I discovered that the new 11-speed would offer just what I was looking for - more gears.  Not just more gears but MORE gears - bigger gears - two of them!  At the low end, the gears in the 11-speed are substantially the same as in the 8-speed with the exception of having an additional gear in between what is 7 and 8 on the 8-speed.  Where things get interesting is gear 10 and 11.  Both of these gears are bigger than what was available on the stock 8-speed and 11, at 142.4” is MUCH bigger.  Last night I rode home on the new hub and was blown away.  I had power up to 34.5 mph and I could cruise at 32 pretty easily.  I was able to cut a full 4 minutes of my best time along the route home and the exhilaration of riding at that speed put a huge smile on my face.  Shifting is a bit notchier than with the 8-speed but still precise and I love being able to shift while stopped so I have the right gear for starting back up.  Now I can’t wait to try this hub on one of the new 300 watt bikes!

NOTE: These modifications take the bike out of the legal classification of a “bicycle”.