Any Yukon Commuters?

[Barry S]

@mrgold35 I had a Topeak MTX Trunk Bag for a couple of years until one of the side pouches where I kept my dress shoes for work started to rip. Great bag but awkward to carry if I had to make a stop somewhere. If I go with the Yukon, replacing the tires will be my first task, and I'll let my LBS do the work. Looking at the Origin8 Supercells.

I've been fortunate in my road sharing experience and find that most motorists will move over to provide an additional buffer. However, there's always the occasional jerk that tries to polish his side mirror with my sleeve, or tries to beat me to the intersection so he can make a right turn without having to stop to wait on me to cross. A separated bike path is the way to go, but if it's a "multi-use pathway" like I have along a portion of my route, you have to put up with the soccer moms out walking 3 abreast, or the lone jogger that's weaving from side-to-side. Calling out "On your left!" is usually met with a WTF look. I recently got a bell, but it doesn't work on pedestrians with earbuds wedged in their ears.

I started to video all my rides with my GeekPro after a couple of close encounters with vehicles. Like many places, bicyclists are considered fair game for motorists in Hawaii and there's a definite lack of enforcement. Riding on the sidewalk is illegal in business districts, Waikiki, and where otherwise posted. Where it is allowed, bicyclists are required not to exceed 10 mph, which I can understand. I've seen videos on YT of some awesome bike infrastructure in California that makes me envious. I guess it will take another 1979 energy crisis (anyone here old enough to remember that one?) before Government seriously considers bicycles as a viable transportation alternative and makes the necessary investment. Sorry, time to get off my soap box.

 

[Barry S]

Just a quick update. I stopped in a local ebike dealer over the weekend and was thoroughly disappointed. Thanks to the dozens of hours I've put into watching bike review videos on EBR and other online research, it didn't take long for me to figure out that I knew more than the bike shop's owner. I'm not talking about getting into the nitty gritty about specific components or discussing Newton meters, but rather knowing the names of the models he had on his sales floor and how to work the LCD display. This guy should have been able to point at the bike and sound off, "That's a Motiv Shadow, that's an IZIP E3 Zuma, etc.", but he didn't know without taking a closer look at the bike and then he didn't know the hub and battery specs or how to access the pedal assist modes on the dislays. Keep in mind that this was an extremely small shop. My bedroom was larger than his sales floor. The only good that came out of my visit was that I now know I hate twist throttles and I won't be returning to this dealer. After this experience, I've decided I don't need the middleman (LBS) after all and am completely fine with dealing direct with Voltbike.

 

[mrgold35]

I have Topeak uni-super tourist rear racks with QuickTrack system on both of my Radrovers and have two different Topeak rack bags:

16.6L MTX Trunkbag EXP with QuickTrack
22.6L DXP Trunkbag with velcro straps (I had this with my other pedal bike before the rover)

I like the QuickTrack system because you can slide on/off in seconds and very secure with off balance or heavy loads (like using only one pannier) . Major downsides are your can't use this bag on any other rack other than ones with the QuickTrack system and the hard plastic bottom of the bag does rattle in the metal track on rough roads.

The Velcro strap bag is silent on all surfaces; but, a real pain to put on/off, a heavy load in one pannier can make the bag lean to one side, and bottom velcro straps are just barely long enough because of the extra wide rack (had to add addition straps to extend the existing straps to secure the bag to my liking).

I rate the Topeak bags between "not bad"; but, "not great". I might look at something different if these start to give out.