I still have it, a lot of it, anyhow. I was into some light flatland aka freestyle & BMX as a kid and YA and still can pull off quite a few tricks. My skiing and skating is good, paddleboarding no problem. I already sense that I’m pushing the mechanical limits of my new escooter, carving turns and drops & hops.
But, to the extent this sort of riding is dangerous, keeping it under 15 MPH is just prudent. That’s about as fast as I can run, for a few paces, anyway. I’m more comfortable on one or zero wheels at 6 MPH than on both wheels at 22.
I don’t really do bicycles, but was an avid motorcyclist in my youth. My wife and I took a bicycle tour in Hawaii where they take you up a mountain, and you coast down. I figured it would be easy peasy for me as I was so used to two (motorized) wheels.
Holy shit. That was too fast. We didn’t have speedometers, but scared me pretty good. Typical paved curvy mountain road. With the expected hand full of gravel/sand in some corners.
Bikes do NOT handle like motorcycles, not at all. Totally different CG and the the rake on the forks and plenty of other stuff.
My wife did fine, but she’s done a lot of bicycle racing.
We are in the process of moving out of our mountains (Colorado) and will probably get some ebikes (I’ll have to if I want to keep up to my wife). This thread has been very interesting to me.
It’s similar on the canyon roads here. I’ll be on Lefthand or Goldengate on my motorcycle, and the bicycles will pass me on the way down. The speed limit is often 35, and I’ll stay within 5 of that. When bicycles come up behind me I’ll slow down and wave them past, but to catch up to me, they’re probably going well over 40.
I’ve been reading reviews of ebikes, and a lot of them say that tightening the bolts and screws to the specs recommended by the manufacturers isn’t enough, and they need to be tighter, but I worry about stripping.
I’m thinking about using Loctite. When I worked on cars as a hobby, I always used it. I always used the type that could be removed with hand tools, not the kind that needed power tools, or a solvent, and it was great. Never had bolts or screws come loose, and never stripped anything from overtightening.
Anyone have experience with a bike that you assembled yourself?
A few of them come completely disassembled, but most say “85% assembled.” I take that to mean they are going to be as assembled as they can be and still packed in fairly small boxes.
I’ve never assembled a bike that was completely in pieces, but, I have done enough maintenance on them, that I have taken apart and put back together pretty much any system. The pedal-assist motor on the bike is the only thing I will be completely unfamiliar with, but I’m inferring from what I am reading that the motors are assembled-- sometimes they need to be attached to the axle, and the wires connected, but that is all.
So, basically, I’m not concerned about my ability to get the pieces together correctly-- just about this tightness issue.
Anyone ever used Loctite on a bike? Or not, and wished you did?
I’m a motorcyclist as well as a cyclist. I’m an ATGATT type of moto rider (all the gear, all the time including full-face helmet). For some reason though, I get on my cycle with minimal clothing and what passes as a helmet and I will bomb down grades and routinely hit 40MPH (looking through my Strava at normal loops with good down grades, and that is a normal although I do see a high of 46). Now that I’m getting older and more risk averse (healing is getting harder), I expect I’ll start slowing down a bit.
Never had that kind of a get-off on a motorcycle, but from, a bicycler perspective, slowing really sucks if it’s your palms and forearms working as brake pads against a gravel surface. The scrubbing session in the hospital was noooooo fun.
I’m interested in an ebike as a lower-environmental-impact way to run small shopping trips, get to the train station, etc. i am not looking for exercise. If I’m heading into the city by train, i don’t want to be all sweaty when i get there. And also, i can’t ride regular bikes (or exercise bikes) because they aggravate my knees. This problem first came up when i was about 20, and I’ve seen at least 3 doctors and tried physical therapy a few times for it. Twice, I’ve blown out my knees on an exercise bicycle while under the supervision of a physical therapist. (So I’m oretty sure it’s not just, “you are riding wrong”.)
Is an ebike an option? It is it going to be risky for my knees?
Been there and done that a couple of times. Most of the scars have faded except for my last one a few years ago. My right forearm and knee both look pretty bad and I’m not sure these will go away (seems like scars and discolorations don’t disappear as quickly the older you get).
Definitely. After my last incident (see above), I was very glad for the invention of those large clear sheets of bandaging. Wrist to elbow needed it.
When using the bike paths here in Chicago the assholes are not confined to scooters or e-bikes. Some of the worst offenders are the cyclists who comport themselves like they are riding in the Tour de France (complete with the expensive bike and slick body suit with matching helmet and crouched in a racer’s form to minimize wind resistance). To them, everyone else on the bike path are impediments and it annoys them to no end. They are cycling at over 20+mph easily and will pass you so closely you rub elbows. If you, being in front of them, move over they will curse profusely at you because they had to make an emergency move to avoid a crash (because they were flying by you an inch away).
And there are more than a few of this kinda person out there. I encounter them almost every time I am riding.
Then you get the pedestrians who carelessly wander in the bike lanes and seem to do random shifts to one side or the other as they amble along. They are not being jerks, as such but they are clueless to where they are. Or the ones who cross against the light as you are riding down a bike lane. Just step off the curb without looking.
If you get a bike with a throttle, as much or as little pedaling as you want. You’ll have to check your local rules on what types of e-bikes are allowed, and where you can ride them. Then just ride them wherever you want, like everyone else does.
With a throttle you won’t have to pedal at all if you don’t want to. Range will be greatly reduced, but if the bike is rated for 50 miles, and you’re doing 6 miles round trip to the train station, you’ll be fine.
Your options for vehicles range from true e-bikes with a throttle to electric or gas powered scooters that don’t have pedals. The advantage of an e-bike is you can follow bicycle rules instead of motorcycle rules. So riding on bike paths, bike lanes, and parking at bike racks.
If you do plan for throttle only use, then definitely read/watch reviews on any models you’re interested in. Some of them do not have enough power on throttle alone to climb steep or long hills. Usually this is because the motor will boost to higher power for a brief period of time, and then drop back to a lower power that may be insufficient.
For those looking to buy an e-bike, here is a long article from Electrek that came out today picking their favorite bikes in various price ranges. This is a good place to start for a list of specific models to test ride.
Almost everything with an electric motor can do that range. Of course, check to be sure but really…that is easy for almost everything. Still, be sure to check and know that the max range advertised tends to be a really optimistic assessment of real world use (like they put someone who weighs 100 pounds on, rode them on flat ground, doing 8 MPH the whole way with the wind behind them). While I have no research for this my rule-of-thumb has been to cut the range claims in half to be safe. And, remember, range is there and back again unless you can charge at the turn-around point. I have had a few friends tell me stories about having to walk the last couple miles when the battery is done on the return trip. Not the worst thing ever but still sucks.
Got two separate things, unrelated except for the bicycle aspect:
1. Going to repeat my question about using Loctite, because it seemed to have gotten lost: are there any opinions on using Loctite when assembling a bike?
One complaint that seems to come up a lot in reviews, after “I love the bike, but…” is that the screws and bolts need to be tightened past the specs given by the manufacturer. I don’t like the idea of twisting more than maybe 1/4 turn past spec, and stripping something out (which with my luck would be the socket, not the screw), so I thought using the med-strength Loctite might be a good idea, but I can’t find any info on using it on a bike.
I wouldn’t think it’s be that much different from using it on the metal parts of a car, but I just don’t know for sure.
2.Second question is that the bike I just ordered comes with a rear rack, but the rear reflector is on the seat post, not the back of the rack, which means that if the rack is loaded, the reflector won’t be visible.
The rack, for some reason, has no way-- no holes or flanges-- for attaching a reflector. I have been searching for an aftermarket mount for a reflector, but no luck. Any opinions on whether reflective tape would be good enough? or on an effective way of rigging a mount? I have a hacksaw and a drill bit that works well on metal.
Also, I am going to be able to assemble this indoors, with access to power, good light, and temperature control.