2021–2022 Riese & Müller Homage

[John W M]

thanks John, I have thought about them a bit. Another interesting question. How does one protect the Nyon computer from installing on my bike rack for travel...any thoughts in that re

thanks John, I have thought about them a bit. Another interesting question. How does one protect the Nyon computer from installing on my bike rack for travel...any thoughts in that regard/

I have the cell phone version. Sounds like the Nyon come off. this also helps if you lock the bike up you should take it with you as well. We are doing a road trip next week and looking to do biking at a few stops. I have considered bike covers for the bikes. just now looing into them. may also be an option for you.

 

[amayers]

I didn’t realize until during the drive home, but it didn’t come with the water bottles like my Superdelight did. We got the front carrier on the Homage, and the carrier’s attachment bolts do not stick out for attaching the cageless water bottles. Is this a change, or maybe the dealer used the wrong bolts to attach the carrier?

Looks like the easiest fix is to just buy two bottles on Amazon that come with the studs, then source longer bolts locally.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

My 2021 Homage came with the carrier attached using bolts with the correct Fabric mushrooms studs. Fabric bottles were not included by R&M, but added as a good will gesture by Electric Bikes Brisbane. (They're generous people.)

As far as I know, the front carrier bolts (M6?) have a larger diameter than standard water bottle cage bolts (M5?).

JVB is surely the one to set us straight!

 

[John W M]

My two Homage's did not come with the water bottles but I orders a set for both bikes. These were from R&M but the bolts did not work. My bike shop made 4 pieces to make it work. We also have the front carrier on both bikes. I think it needed a spacer and they cut a piece of tubbing. Not sure why R&M did not include this. They work well. The price for the two bottles and bolts were $40.00 USD for each bike.

 

[Jay Kay]

What size disc rotors are on the dual battery 2021 Homage, and how many pistons up front?

My wife’s 2020 Homage has 180mm rotors and a single piston brake up front and I was wondering if anything had changed in the brake department.

 

[smitty]

I didn’t realize until during the drive home, but it didn’t come with the water bottles like my Superdelight did. We got the front carrier on the Homage, and the carrier’s attachment bolts do not stick out for attaching the cageless water bottles. Is this a change, or maybe the dealer used the wrong bolts to attach the carrier?

Looks like the easiest fix is to just buy two bottles on Amazon that come with the studs, then source longer bolts locally.

 

[smitty]

Interesting, they sent me spacers for my Homage and I managed to lose one of them when trying to install. I asked Propel to give me another set and they did. The new set included the spacers and the additional ones that allowed to install the bottles, very thoughtful on their part and much appreciated.

 

[Apparatschik]

Last Monday I fetched my Homage from the local dealer. On thursday and friday got into my office (around 23 km distance) using that bike. Immediatly it became clear, that some modifications will be meaningful.

• Saddle: Coming from a recumbent this is a very important issue for me. After 15 min driving the original saddle felt very uncomfortable. For me it was cleart that I never will be happy with this one. Hence I replaced it by a Brooks B17 Imperial. What a difference. On friday going into the office was nearly a pleasure. Going backwards in the evening the saddle felt a little bit hard. But I'm confident this is due to the phase of accomodation. We will see.
• Stem: For a more relaxed bike feeling I put the stem into a more upright position. As a consequence it was really hard to read the display of the bike computer (nyon), since the angle was too steep. Unfortunately the user manual doesn't give any instruction how to adjust the angle of the computer holder. Fortunately I found some hints in the Web and also my local dealer could help me partially. To make it short: If you loosen the two screws below the front beam a little bit you can change the angle of the holder. You can see the result on the attached picture. Unfortunately the holder ist no more stabilised by the stem after this modification. I contacted R+M regarding this issue. This detail could have been solved better or maybe they already got a solution.
• Control buttons on the left side: Just look at the first picture. I think this arrangement makes much more sense. Especially usabilty has been improved, which is a very important aspect for me as a software guy. Your can reach every button with your thumb without changing the position of your hand. And the break lever now has the same distance to your hand as on the right side of the handle bar.
• Handlebar grip: Although I am accustomed to this type of grips I still got some problems with my hands probably because of problems with the blood circulation. Changing the angle of the grips helped but still the problems didn't vanish completely. Maybe the GP3 or the GP4 can improve the situation. But I didn't arrive at a decision regarding this issue yet.

To avoid a false impression. I'm really happy with that bike. It's a great piece of German engineering (as a German I must say this). Every critics is just "Jammern auf hohem Niveau" (whining at a high level) as we say in Germany. On the other hand there is nothing which still can be improved.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Handlebar grip: Although I am accustomed to this type of grips I still got some problems with my hands probably because of problems with the blood circulation. Changing the angle of the grips helped but still the problems didn't vanish completely. Maybe the GP3 or the GP4 can improve the situation.

Numb hands might result from pressure on your nerves in quite another body part. I often experience a similar issue as your do. I use a pair of GP2 on my lightweight e-bike and the GP3 on the heavier one, and spend majority of my long rides keeping my hands on the grips in the "trail position":

Regarding the saddle, there's been a lot of discussion in these Fora to come up to the conclusion the ideal saddle is a unicorn You need to get used to, and that takes thousands of kilometres of your rides

Congratulations for getting your Homage! Many happy kilometres!

 

[webcurl]

• Handlebar grip: Although I am accustomed to this type of grips I still got some problems with my hands probably because of problems with the blood circulation. Changing the angle of the grips helped but still the problems didn't vanish completely. Maybe the GP3 or the GP4 can improve the situation. But I didn't arrive at a decision regarding this issue yet.

These usually require =multiple= minor adjustments until they are just right, can be painful until you arrive at the ultimate position but pure bliss once you get there!

 

[Apparatschik]

Thx for your replies. Yesterday I tested the Ergon GP5, which I removed from the second bike of my wife which she currently doesn't use. To make it short: Changing hand position gives you relief but this type of vertical grip feels too broad for me. And I still got problems with my hands, which means dumb fingers and hurting ankles.

Hence I decided to order the SQLab 710 combined with the inner bar ends (402/410), which makes much more sence due to my opinion. In my case the major benefit of the bar ends doesn't consist in giving me a better grip on difficult trails (I'm not a mountainbiker). The primary objection of such modifications is to have more comfort, which, I'm confident, well be better met by the so called "inner barends". (Yeah...sounds a little bit weird. A bar end which ist not mounted at the end of the handle bar seems to be a contradiction.) The only problem left is the high beam switch which doesn't fit anymore into this new configuration. Fortunately I found a special switch holder from Supernova for the Magura breaks (just look for MSH-MT) which will replace the original one, whereby the switch will move onto the right side of the handle bar.

As soon as I will have realised this new arrangement described above, I will post a foto of the optimised cockpit on this site.

Almost forgot...the saddle. I had no severe problems both trips yesterday (into the office and back home), after I readjusted the angle of the saddle in the morning. I suppose I'm a leather saddle or Brooks guy.

So far...Thomas

PS: One joke I created recently: Which culinary surprise has got Ken for his girlfriend? A barbiecue!

 

[Stefan Mikes]

What culinary surprise has got Ken for his girlfriend? A barbiecue!

Haha!

SQLab 710

We're waiting for your ride report!

 

[webcurl]

Or these: https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/grips/sqlab-grip-stuby.html
with the inner bar ends

 

[Apparatschik]

Or these: https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/grips/sqlab-grip-stuby.html
with the inner bar ends

Yeah David, I saw this variant too. But If you add inner bar ends to this variant you got two bar ends on each side. This doesn't make sense in my eyes.

The so called combo barends 402/410 are especially designed to combine them with the 702/710 grips, hence the name "combo". The clue of this "combo" is, that the space you need on your handle bar is minimised, if you mount these grips combined with the appropriate bar ends, because the clamp of the grip is replaced by the bar end, which serves also as a clamp. That way it is ensured, that you can furthermore reach all the control elements (and we've learned there are a lot of them at our luxury bikes) of your ebike comfortably. (As you know I'm obsessed with usability.)

 

[webcurl]

This doesn't make sense in my eyes.

I will post another smiley at the end

 

[Apparatschik]

On Wendnesday evening I mounted the new grips and inner bar ends from SQLab on the handle bar. On Thursday I had my first ride with this new configuration. Not perfect but much better. Around 80% of the time I grabbed the handle bar at the inner bar ends. In my eyes also the grips are better in comparison to the original ones from Ergon. The whole grip has got an ergonomic shape, not just the outer part. But fine tuning will still be necessary. At the weekend a will reconfigure the control elements completely. That means greater distance between brakes and grips (very important for optimised break control due to several comments in the web...maybe I will exchange the original levers by the one finger lever HC1 later....nice christmas gift), new bell (trigger bell) will be attached on the left side, seat post control will be moved to the right side,...

When everything is finished I will post a new foto.

 

[Alaskan]

Although I no longer own a Homage, I do have SQ Labs grips with inner bar ends on my Trek Allant 9.9S.

They are definitely a step up from the Ergon GP's in terms of comfort, cushion and hand position. The broad part of the grip where the heel of the hand lives has more flex, with just the right amount of firmness, making them considerably more compliant/impact absorbing.

The inner bar ends provide a useful alternative hand and wrist position the helps resolve tingling and numbness on longer rides, while still being able to activate the brakes. Shifting the Sram AXS wireless shifter does require returning the right hand to the grip.

I did have to drill out the left grip in order to inset the Busch & Muller 701 mirror, which I consider to be the best made, most useful bike mirror by far.

 

[Apparatschik]

I see, I'm not the only one who appreciates the SQLab grips and inner bar ends. This evening I optimised my configuration. But I had to step back from my original plans regarding several issues. The lever for the seat post can't be moved to the left side due to its construction. And there doesn't exist a right side variant. (The same with other seat post manufacturers.) As a consequence mounting the bell on the left side is also not possible due to lack of space. Putting the motor control panel on the left side of the brake lever to get it closer to the grip isn't an option too. That way the panel would get in conflict with the inner bar ends (the mounting ring ist very thick) or if not the distance between the brake lever and the grip would become too far. Replacing the brake lever is also nonsense. This original lever is the only one from magura which has got a cable for the brake light.

In spite of all these setbacks I think I could improve the cockpit situation once again:

• More comfort for the hands/arms/shoulders. Crucial are the inner bar ends. Like Alaskan I also prefer the SQLab grips to the Ergons due to their excellent ergonomic shape. But as you can see at the picture of Alaskan, he mounted the barends beside of the clamps of the grips. In contrast I bought these bar ends which replace the original clamps of the grip. As a result my grip/bar end combination needs less space than Alaskans and hence overall accessability of the buttons and levers is better.
• Position for the seat post lever has been optimised. The lever can be reached by the thumb perfectly.
• The high beam button now uses the clamp of the right break lever, which serves also as a holder (double function). As a result the reachability and stability of this button has been improved. Removing from the old holder was a little bit difficult since R+M didn't trust the magnetic fixing mechanism and sticked the button by double-side-tape into the holder. Some force was necessary to separate holder and button.
• I exchanged the original bell by the "trigger bell" (mentioned in my previous post), since the orientation of the lever of the new bell is better.

Only the position of the control-pad of the engine could be a little bit closer to the grip. Regarding this issue I opted for a compromise between brake-lever position and control-pad position.

Summarised I think this configuration is now very close to the optimum. Overall accessability of the levers and buttons (and there are a lot of them at an e-bike) and ergonomics could be significantly improved. Especially the grips combined with the inner bar ends are the best you can currently get on the market due to my opinion.

Alas I replaced the pedals by "half-clickies" since I got already appropriate biking shoes with cleats. (If you are using a recumbent they are obligatory. Hence I'm accustomed to the usage of click pedals.)

Next Monday I will go to office by bike again. Then I can report, how all these modifications will prove themselves in reality.

 

[Apparatschik]

Yeah ... was a great ride this morning. Sunny weather and very fresh air (about 4 degrees Celsius).

The leather saddle (Brooks B17 Imperial) feels better with every ride. Hence replacing the original saddle was the right decision. ("As-issue" resolved)

Unfortunately I've still got minor problems with my hands (numb fingertips especially at the left hand). Wearing gloves this morning the new grips felt a little bit too thick. For this use case maybe the small size would have been the better choice. Of course this is not an realistic option. But thinner gloves could be. Gear switching is also a little bit clumsy with my current gloves. Hence I orderd special biking gloves a number smaller than my current ones.

At last the bell...accessability is good but pedestrians tend to overhear the "ping" (happened two times this morning). Maybe I will try the "Airzound" although it's forbidden to use it at a bike in Germany. Some bike rules a really outdated if you apply them on ebikes.

I should have made some photographs. There a really nice places in the "Isar-Auen" and the "Englisch Garden" of Munich. I'll try to remember next time. (Should fetch my Fuji camera).

 

[Deleted member 18083]

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