Commuter Log

[Allan47.7339]

Have you checked the chain for excessive wear and stretch? I would also check the chainring.

 

[Marko]

Have you checked the chain for excessive wear and stretch? I would also check the chainring.

Thanks for this, I'll have to check. Although the bike only has about 1500 miles on it so the chainring should not yet be in that bad shape. However, the chain could be already streched. On my normal 7-speed hub geared bike the chain needs to be tightened quite frequently when commuting regularly.

 

[Brambor]

(The way I feel today) The most gratifying part of commuting on an ebike is the ability to punch through headwind without agony. This week I biked 2 days on regular bike and 2 days on ebike and the days I had to bike into the wind on a regular bike left me with distaste ;-)

 

[Marko]

Absolutely. Especially during autumn and winter there is almost always hard wind and there are always long streches where it's headwind. Makes you kind of smile inside when overtaking people agonizing in the wind on their normal bikes.

 

[Allan47.7339]

1500 miles in winter with a lot rain snow sand and grit can destroy a chain. I've had some that were done in 700 miles in those conditions. It really depends on conditions and your maintenance program. I use some the extra time from using the Turbo on my commute to keep it clean.

Using a ramp for that many steps is probably a good idea even if could carry it. I only have four step down and sometimes a bit off balance.

 

[J.R.]

@JayVee You may want to consider a ready made ramp, I've used these for motorcycles. M6 and M8 folding ramps. M6 is 6 feet long weighing 11 pounds and the M8 is 8 feet long weighing 13 pounds. Both fold in half for carry and storage. M6, $100.00 and M8, $120.00 USD. YouTube video here.

 

[Marko]

To be honest, even with a ramp, I'm wondering if a heavy bike will be able to make the sharp U Turn, and if I can push the bike up the ramp. So I'm going to build the ramp as soon as I'm able and then try it with my regular bike and some really heavy panniers.

Maybe you could use the throttle mode to help push it up. Set it to 1 km/h or something so it wont rocket off of your hands.

 

[Allan47.7339]

Taking out the battery makes a noticeable difference in weight. I would not want to make taking off the rear wheel part of the daily ritual.

 

[Brambor]

Still frost in the morning. Frozen windshield on my car in my driveway. Wore, gloves and headmask. My toes were freezing after 45 minutes. Otherwise a gorgeous day. Good to be in the saddle after a couple of rainy days.

 

[Brambor]

Blustery day today. Thanking my bike to help me punch through the winds during my commute. The gusts were so strong they were jerking my handlebars sideways.

 

[Brambor]

And Winter is here again. 2 Weeks ago I put my Nokian Haakapelitas winter tires on my Turbo and officially crowned it to be my full time winter commuter again. The temperatures have been around freezing mark for the past two weeks which is much warmer than we're used to. While the standard lights are adequate I have also added two front niteriders, one rear red niterider and some mini Lezyne blinkers on the forks.

 

[JoePah]

you are hard core!

 

[Brambor]

the roads were much wetter this morning ... I guess I did not give it much thought so I think it will be laundry time when I get home tonight.

 

[opimax]

Hah! Wish my coats were that clean after washing lol

 

[J.R.]

Brambor, you don't look happy. Sorry, but it brought a smile to me. In my little PA world, this has been the warmest early winter we've had in years. The weatherman predicted El Nino would bring us a warmer, wetter winter and so far, so true. After last winter, the coldest we ever had and the year before, the snowiest we ever had, this year is welcomed! I'm hoping for a warm, sunny Christmas Day ride

Pennsylvania can't compete with Maine in this, but I'm sure we'll be swapping snow commute stories as we did last year. Be safe!

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Road to breakfast yesterday morning in fog. Took the rail trail instead of roads to stay safe. Afterwards, I continued my ride. Total distance was 17.5 miles at 19.5 mph with 40% battery left at the end. I was full TURBO the whole way.

 

[Douglas Ruby]

Road to breakfast again. Total distance was 16.9 miles at 17.5 mph. Used ECO 50% for the segment with my daughter. Had 60% battery left at the end.

 

[Brambor]

Checking in. Turbo is still going strong but I have now essentially worn out the casette and had to have it replaced. Not a huge cost. I think the cassette was 60 dollars with a total service bill coming up to under 80 dollars. Bike is great. I rode it today as I'm nursing a bum right knee. I now ride my regular bike to my ebike in a ratio of approximately 3:1. My Strava says
Specialized Sirrus 2,701.8 mi
Specialized Turbo 1,083.4 mi
Surly Ice Cream Truck 76.7 mi

The Turbo rides in the wintery months full time and on very windy days or on 'recuperation' days. Cheers.

 

[Brambor]

I just checked ... I started this thread on March 29, 2014 ! nice. Good showing for a reliable EBike. I'm sure there are better choices out there now. I haven't really checked what's hot now but I'm happy for whatever is pushing the envelope nowadays

 

[Bike_On]

I just checked ... I started this thread on March 29, 2014 ! nice. Good showing for a reliable EBike. I'm sure there are better choices out there now. I haven't really checked what's hot now but I'm happy for whatever is pushing the envelope nowadays

I think your Spec Turbo, with a 250W++ ddhub, concealed downtube battery and speed pedelec feature was actually ahead of its time in 2013-14. Commuting options are not much better, especially for the lower weight of the Turbo.