Search results

All bikes now have fast steering. MTBs and cruisers have thrown me on my chin 6 times since 2008. Custom frame builders will not consider returning the steering caster to the pre 1990 value. Extra frame is required to clear the additional trail of the front wheel, which does not fit standard...

I let my bike down the stairs with the front brake. I use knobby tires to prevent flats, so traction is not a problem. I have front wheel drive so powering up with the throttle does not work. But it would with rear wheel drive and a throttle. I'm 74 years old and have rather wimpy arms.

Welcome to the print side of things. Those of us who read 2000 wpm are impatient with the slowness of speech in videos & podcasts. A picture is worth 1000 words, however. I ventured into Utah a couple of years ago. Hovenweep, Arches monument, Mule Canyon kiva, down the Moki Dugway on Hwy...

The yuba, the giant, and the blix stretch cargo bikes have bosses welded in the frame at the front to carry loads in a rack that does not steer. Yuba sells a basket for that position. You see in the avatar, I have my battery mounted up there in front. It is such a PITB to get the bolts out...

My yubabike bodaboda will take panniers plus a child seat. The baling twine I hold the panniers on with does not interfere with the child seat bars. The yuba panniers have a kevlar bar rivited to the back of the pannier which I can easily loop twine through. When I looked to replace them after...

I charge to 100% only twice a year. My 17.5 ah 48 v battery was purchased 9/18. It is fine. I have charged it approximately 500 cycles. Usually 85-95 %. I use a 120 vac timer to shut charger off. Controller usually red lights & cuts out on a steep hill 3 miles from my destination, although...

Cleated shoes are sold at bike supplies. Require D or E width feet. Cleats are fine if you intend to call your Mommy for a ride if you have an unrepairable bike problem. Assuming there is cell phone coverage there. Pushing a bike 7 miles on cleats woutd be a PITB. I've done it in flats at 96...

The video of the Eaton canyon fire starting under an electrical pylon is clearly shown on Delorme So Cal map p93 is inside the boundary of the Los Angeles National Forest. About 300 meters from the nearest street in Altadena. Not that the electric line caused the fire. Electric company...

Forest management is bad all over the west coast. This includes US & state owned properties. I once thought paving 1 mile wide strips throughout west coast forests might prevent fire spread. Now with 80 mph winds at 10% humidity, I don't think that is even good enough. Clear cutting then...

There are no comfortable bike seats. I have tried 8 on my bodaboda. Selle Royal Explora is the best of the bad, but I can only stand it for 3 hours before my hips pain me greatly. My bike requires a rail seat with an oddball stem diameter, so Cloud 9 is out. Adding a Cloud-9 Double Gel Seat...

Buy tin/lead solder with rosin core. Use safety glasses, solder splashes especially when you are removing it. I buy my solder and soldering irons at newark, the US arm of Farnell in the UK. You will want some heat shrink tubing to put on the wires before soldering, then slide down over the...

Welcome to the site and the hobby. I was a fan of 60's 70's 80's rock & pop until my local unemployed house painter (during covid shutdown) hauled 2200 LP's & 200 CD's off to his fence. Now I listen to the FM radio. The local rock station has a playlist of about 40 songs, which hasn't changed...

I like a front geared hub motor bike. If I rode a lot of hills off road I might prefer a rear hub motor bike. Front tire does slip on grass up 8% or more grade. I'm 74 and ride a drop frame. I do not know a mid-drive motor that runs without a display, and I ride in the rain a lot. Rain...

It is not the sprockets that wear first, it is the chain. Commuters with 10 speed chain report lives as low as 800 miles. I get 5000 miles out of the thicker 8 speed chain on my bike. 2 1/2 years. I have about 12000 miles and have not changed a sprocket yet on the bike in the avatar. I oil...

I keep a plastic bag and a vegetable tie in the pannier with the poncho and jacket. If there is not a sudden downpour, it mostly works to keep throttle working.

I start trips in the rain. It rains 220 days a year here. If the bike wouldn't run in the rain I would have to buy a horse.

You should measure "very steep". 7/8" rise on a 6" spirit level is 14.6%. I traverse a very hilly area and I have available 24:32 to 52:11 . I never use the top end as I do not like to go over 28 mph, but sometimes, especially when the throttle is dead due to rain and I am carrying 60 lb...

Looks like a standard 42 to 18 sprocket ratio. Fine for flat Houston where there is no wind. If you get a windy day rider may have to stand on the pedals. Plus that tiny motor will be overwhelmed. Not even as big as a brake rotor. Looks like there are no brake rotor on the rear either. When I...

I have a map of the US in my head. I spent my years 2-4 standing in the front seat of the car to avoid motion sickness. So I knew my way to & from grocery (24 miles) by age 3. Totally illegal these days. My wife reports GPS ran her & daughter in a circle 3 times on way from Elizabethtown to...

I bought 2 Pelican IP68 Marine Waterproof Phone Pouch $24.60 or $12.30 ea on Ebay. Guaranteed waterproof to 3 feet under. Fits smart phones. Has a hard loop with a lanyard to wrap around my belt so the phone will be in reach if I am knocked off the bike by a car; or fall in the ocean off a crab...