Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Even with Seth's cooties on it?
;^}
2025 - Our Rides in Words, Photos, Maps and Videos
- Thread starter Saratoga Dave
- Start date
;^}
I've zero problem with Berm Peak. He's entertaining. Plus this was a good cause & lovely to see that Dad haul his kid up the trails. I think what Stefan misses is that influencers like Seth realised a while back is that regular MTB/EMTB reviews get monotonous, people get bored, numbers drop off. The main draw is Seth himself, like any popular traditional TV presenter. He's got good screen presence, easy going, confessional, entertaining. People like him and subscribe because of that. I'm sure they have an interest in bikes but most bike reviewers or influencers have much smaller numbers, people 'tune in' to Seth the way people do to TV shows week by week, because he himself is interesting and fun to watch regardless of what he's talking about that particular show.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
"I didn't want to go up there"
I rode an older Levo SL and didn't particularly like it. Yes, the e-MTB shone in rough terrain but was hopeless and slow on the streets. Levo SL was the only e-bike on which I got the Over-The-Bars! I underestimated the stopping power of the disk brakes and the fact the full suspension was inflated for someone more lightweight than me. While our small group rode on asphalt, a friend got an idea to shoot a video, so he stopped in front of me. I inadvertently blocked the brakes, the fork collapsed, and I flew!
Levo SL is certainly a good option for someone who wants to ride technical singletracks and also be able to carry the e-MTB over obstacles. It has a very small chainring (32T) that hardly can be replaced with anything bigger (a big no-no if you want to ride paved roads). For the terrain I'm riding, a Vado SL is adequate.
P.S. Seth is not an e-bike expert. His hammering of the motor is the proof. He can dismantle and reassemble the e-bike, true. What would he do if electronic gremlins attacked his e-bike?
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Arsed= bovvered
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Heres my dock ride if you have five minutes of nothing to do.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Revisited our San Luis Rey River Trail loop with neighbor DB yesterday.
The loop's primary goal: To ride the entire 9-mile length of the traffic-free River Trail. But the 12-mile inland hill and 11-mile coastal segments have their own charms. Before its long descent into the San Luis Rey Valley, the hill segment averages well over 100 vertical feet of elevation gain per mile.
Representative River Trail shot from an earlier ride. The nicely paved and mostly flat 2-lane trail's officially an MUP, but the paucity of entrances and exits seems to discourage pedestrian use. Imagine how disappointed the cyclists must be!
Riding nearly all of the trail with the Vado SL's motor off left me dreaming of lunch at the (west) Oceanside end. So we stopped at the locally famous Tin Fish outdoor diner at the foot of the Oceanside Pier. Dismissing the food here as mere tourist fare would be a big mistake. My fried calamari was top-notch.
Just beyond our table in this photo was The Strand, perhaps Oceanside's most popular attraction. It runs right along the beach for over a mile, both north and south of the pier. It's open to cars, but when busy — as it was on this sunny Saturday in the mid-60s — it functions more like a chaotic MUP with a few hapless cars trapped in the Brownian motion.
Of the many cyclists we saw on The Strand, at least 80% were on ebikes, with RadRover-like fatties predominanting. Most of the rest were unmotorized roadies in lycra. A typical mix throughout coastal north San Diego County, but roadies account for a good 50% of the bike traffic on the River Trail.
Once clear of Oceanside, the final leg home to south Carlsbad followed the Coast Highway. I usually ride inland on fair-weather weekends like this to avoid the many 2-footed and 4-wheeled bike lane intruders. But the going was pretty easy this time.
Didn't take any photos on this last leg, but here are a few more representative scenes from earlier rides:
The loop's primary goal: To ride the entire 9-mile length of the traffic-free River Trail. But the 12-mile inland hill and 11-mile coastal segments have their own charms. Before its long descent into the San Luis Rey Valley, the hill segment averages well over 100 vertical feet of elevation gain per mile.
Representative River Trail shot from an earlier ride. The nicely paved and mostly flat 2-lane trail's officially an MUP, but the paucity of entrances and exits seems to discourage pedestrian use. Imagine how disappointed the cyclists must be!
Riding nearly all of the trail with the Vado SL's motor off left me dreaming of lunch at the (west) Oceanside end. So we stopped at the locally famous Tin Fish outdoor diner at the foot of the Oceanside Pier. Dismissing the food here as mere tourist fare would be a big mistake. My fried calamari was top-notch.
Just beyond our table in this photo was The Strand, perhaps Oceanside's most popular attraction. It runs right along the beach for over a mile, both north and south of the pier. It's open to cars, but when busy — as it was on this sunny Saturday in the mid-60s — it functions more like a chaotic MUP with a few hapless cars trapped in the Brownian motion.
Of the many cyclists we saw on The Strand, at least 80% were on ebikes, with RadRover-like fatties predominanting. Most of the rest were unmotorized roadies in lycra. A typical mix throughout coastal north San Diego County, but roadies account for a good 50% of the bike traffic on the River Trail.
Once clear of Oceanside, the final leg home to south Carlsbad followed the Coast Highway. I usually ride inland on fair-weather weekends like this to avoid the many 2-footed and 4-wheeled bike lane intruders. But the going was pretty easy this time.
Didn't take any photos on this last leg, but here are a few more representative scenes from earlier rides:
Attachments
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Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Isnt that nice, they found his original owner.
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Thats Cali to me, cute little shacks, prices seem OK as well.
Chargeride
Well-Known Member
Sam Pilgrim has got the Revo bike, it may end badly.
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Oceanside is the most retro and least gentrified of all the beach towns south of greater LA, and they actively cultivate that image. If you're after a dose of classic SoCal surfing or car culture, that's definitely the place to go.
The Beach Break Cafe on the Coast Highway in south Oceanside's a classic example steeped in local surfing history.
Inside, a funky atmosphere with surfing memorabilia everywhere. Great greasy spoon-style breakfasts and lunches, too.
I normally make a point of avoiding immersive experiences in public rest rooms. But the totally immersive mural in the men's room makes you feel like you're taking a whiz right in the tube — no doubt every surfer's dream.
A few blocks west:
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
980 kcal for 50+ km / 500 m elevation gain is a very good effort!
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Sure felt like it, but a 40-something female roadie on a very serious unmotorized bike just sailed past us on the first big, long hill. I was huffing up the 5-7% grade in ECO at 180-200W per the SL 5.0's built-in power meter. She must've been pushing a good bit more than 300W, and she sustained that uphill for nearly a mile.
Say what you want about roadies, but some are pretty amazing athletes.
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Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Sure they are! Gravel cyclists as well!
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
Meanwhile, somewhere on the Moon...
A 7.6 km grocery ride at -12 C (10 F).
During the frost, I put a 4F skiing jacket on (4F is a big Polish sports clothing company that sponsors the national Olympic team). I also own 4F skiing trousers but wear them as the last protection item against the frost.
A 7.6 km grocery ride at -12 C (10 F).
During the frost, I put a 4F skiing jacket on (4F is a big Polish sports clothing company that sponsors the national Olympic team). I also own 4F skiing trousers but wear them as the last protection item against the frost.
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
fooferdoggie
Well-Known Member
BlackHand
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Western WA
Was it actually plugged in and did you flip that lever?
You're still posting so I guess it didn't transport you to another dimension... Looks like maybe it's a fancy fog machine or maybe gas flames?
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