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    2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

    Here, it's very close to Mount Mitchell, the highest mountain in the Appalachians. Elevation near here is about 4,300 feet. It's a fair amount of climbing and dropping. It's one lane in each direction with a minimal shoulder in spots, but as I said the cars are very respectful, because...
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    2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

    Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville, North Carolina. I last road it (Virginia end) more than 30 years ago. It lives up to its reputation as possibly the most beautiful paved ride in America. At this point in my life, the e-bike motor makes this kind of ride much more manageable. My...
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    Reviews

    We probably just differ about this, but I find that "crowd" reviews work for many things, but not for more sophisticated products or maybe more specific tastes. For example, yelp had Pizza Hut as the third best pizza in my pretty populated area and PF Chang's as the best place for Pad Thai...
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    Locks and Security Solutions for Electric Bikes

    https://www.ziilock.com/ it was $94 shipped. Indiegogo is definitely not a good choice if you need something right away though.
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    Reviews

    The trouble is that not all crowdsourced reviews are done by equally competent/informed reviewers (on Amazon there are additional issues) and the more superficial reviewers just don't have the same value. I've always thought Court's reviews here are pretty thoughtful, thorough, and well informed.
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    Locks and Security Solutions for Electric Bikes

    it has a fairly sturdy plastic holder. you have the option of attaching it through the water bottle mounts or it comes with rubber straps. My e-bike has only one set of water bottle mounts that I prefer to use for a water bottle. I carry it in my bag right now, but the rubber straps seem okay.
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    Locks and Security Solutions for Electric Bikes

    https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ziilock-the-first-foldable-proactive-bike-lock/x/22345550#/comments This was a bit of a nightmare with production and delivery delays, but now that I've gotten past the indiegogo/kickstarter frustrations, I like it a lot. I don't live in an urban...
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    20 MPH vs. 28 MPH Ebikes

    I do find that climbing is as much mental as it is physical, so there's' that. I also live in an area where the nearby rides are more or less rolling hills and not steep mountain trails.
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    20 MPH vs. 28 MPH Ebikes

    I find that it helps with all hills, but it's best for rolling hills. With a bigger hill, there's obviously a point where the momentum isn't helping you, but with Class 3 it comes significantly later.
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    20 MPH vs. 28 MPH Ebikes

    Class 3 bikes don't necessarily have more torque, but with rolling hills especially, they have a significant advantage. One hill climbing technique is to hit the hill going as fast as you can, maintaining the relatively high cadence while you downshift as you climb the hill. A bike motor that...
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    What shoes do you ride with?

    thanks for the recommendation of the 510's. I had been riding in Merrell hiking shoes which worked fairly well and were reasonably stiff. Still, at the end of rides, I'd start feeling the pedals coming through the soles. The 510's are stiffer, lighter, and wow do they stick to the pedals...
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    Dealing with Back Pain....

    My lower back issues are comparatively minor, but have been working on strengthening my core through various stretches/exercises. This is a little odd, but I've also been using my standing desk more instead of sitting and it's helped to reduce my back issues after long bike rides. I have sort...
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    Crazy Lenny's July 4th Sale or Markup?

    My non e-bikes are all quite old. Two of them were bought in the eighties and were less than $350 new. The third is from roughly 2009 and was about $850. I got interested in e-bikes partly because I was riding my ancient bikes less, but when I started looking at prices for e-bikes I was kind...
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    I can’t stand it anymore

    most defiantly :)
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    Crazy Lenny's July 4th Sale or Markup?

    it's $1284, though really 1484 if you include delivery. Crazy Lenny's confirmed it via text. Different sort of bike, but it's interesting to compare it to the Specialized Turbo Sl4. The weight difference is largely motor+battery. If you add the water bottle battery to the Specialized, it's...
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    Advice on buying first e-bike

    Sometimes bikes like the Shuangye turn out to be just fine. Still, I wouldn't buy a bike that's never been reviewed and has no clear track record (at least that's how it appears to me) as a first e-bike. It does help that there's a local dealer for it though. There are a lot of things that can...
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    Tires - size does matter?

    If you're basically talking about what some call gravel bike trails, I'm not even sure you'll need 2.6" if you have a front suspension and maybe seat post suspension. Everyone's different, but 38 mm is about my limit on the road, before I feel like my tires are slowing me down some. Of...
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    E-Bike lights - Are they worth getting?

    My e-bike has built in lights that don't turn off unless the bike is totally off. I wasn't wild about the idea, but I do feel safer. The big advantage is that as long as your motor has battery power your lights have power. It does use power that might otherwise be mileage, but nothing extreme.
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    2020 : Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

    I decided to try my Trek Crossrip + as a gravel bike on the trails at Umstead State Park near the Raleigh Durham Airport. I'm actually riding on 32mm smooth tires meant for street use, but thought I'd see how they fared before switching to wider knobbier tires. The trails there are considered...
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    FLX BABYMAKER E-BIKE MODEL QUESTIONS

    I don't have an FLX but the gear ratio is 64:22 it's roughly about 6th or 7th gear on a 1x11 cassette. It's not a gear most people would climb a hill with without a motor. It's also not a gear that will win you many races. It's about what I use for cruising on the flats with my mechanical...
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