Recent content by Cycologist

I get chipmunks ALL the time. Much less scary than a snake, but when they come flying out of the weeds right in front of me, it's freaky because I don't want to hit them. This one passed between my front and rear wheels in the middle of the bike. I'm starting to think they do this on...

I have a friend who bought a $550 Huffy Vertis e-bike (class 2) and it's surprisingly decent for the money and has UL certification. It came in pieces, so I had to put it together for him and it seemed fairly well made for a bike this cheap. He loves it and it has improved his riding by quite a...

What semi-metallic pad do you guys recommend for the Turbo Vado SL? The brakes could use a little more bite on this thing.

Horses. One with some pink accessories.

Enormous snapping turtle. I've seen this guy around this trail area for years.

I agree, the UK restrictions of 15.5 mph are absolutely ridiculous. On my old non-electric bike, I'd frequently reach speeds of 25 or more and have average speeds of over 15 mph. On my Vado SL, my normal cruising speed is about 17 to 20 mph and I routinely hit 25 to 27 mph on every ride, which...

That's what I figured. Thanks. This week is shaping up to be bad luck for biking, at least for me. Today I was getting the bike ready for another ride when I noticed the rear tire was completely flat. This is the original Specialized tire which is supposed to have "Black Belt Puncture...

I went on a short ride today and my spoke protector broke. A few rides ago, I noticed one of the plastic clips broke off and it was not centered. I re-centered it and figured it would hold on, but today it completely broke and was flopping around on the rear hub like a dying fish. It freaked...

55/55 might be a bit much since most of the trails around here are basically flat. There are a few steep inclines here and there, but then I'll just push the power up to the Sport default, which I think is 60/60. I might try 45/45. The total elevation gain on this ride was 952 ft (290 m). I did...

Did a 50 mile ride (80.4 km) the other day up the same path I took in my previous post (all offroad, limestone and dirt, through the woods), but this time I rode to the very end of the trail. I had a full charge on both the main battery and the range extender when I started. Had the bike...

Unfortunately, I don't have the Mastermind, but my Garmin GPS does something similar. It will track the ride and charge level and estimate miles remaining. I just do it in my head. At the start of my ride, I pass a few flagpoles and get a read on wind speed and direction. I take a guess as to...

A few days ago, I did my longest ride ever on my Vado SL at over 40 miles. This was almost all offroad on crushed limestone and dirt. We have some great, well-maintained trails here that stretch for hundreds of miles and there was a particular route I've always wanted to try. I finally built...

Interesting. I've been wondering what tire I should use once I replace the stock Pathfinders on my Vado SL. The vast majority of my riding is done on crushed limestone trails and while the Pathfinders seem to work OK, they lack grip when cornering and have given me a few scares. On my old...

Some retirees golf. Others ride bikes. I'm the latter. I could never get that little white ball to go where I wanted.

I think I could live with the crankarm replacement if it only happens once every 12,000km. Still, it should never happen. I have an older bike made by GT which I've had for 25 years and God knows how many miles and it's still fine. For this new Vado, the wheel hub came loose at 400 mi and the...