Greetings from a new member in...Zambia

[dino*67]

Thanks for the tips Jeremy.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Thanks for the tips Jeremy.

Wait, there's another Jeremy around here?

 

[PedalUma]

Hey, @Jeremy McCreary. How's the bike? I rode a lesser yet popular torque sensor bike today like the way your bike likes it at 70+ cadence and it was a surge and lurch dud. I ride a S. Vad 4.0 about four times per week. Better bikes are like better guitars, including the great masters. Riese & Muller Delite's are heavy as 'F,' Hades. Pinch flats happen all the time on overly heavy bikes. Get a Globe Haul. It puts R&M to shame for what you are doing. It would be fun to pair with your bike and give it the best firmware updates at 28 mph (45+kph} in Africa.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Hey, @Jeremy McCreary. How's the bike? I rode a lesser yet popular torque sensor bike today like the way your bike likes it at 70+ cadence and it was a surge and lurch dud. I ride a S. Vad 4.0 about four times per week. Better bikes are like better guitars, including the great masters. Riese & Muller Delite's are heavy as 'F,' Hades. Pinch flats happen all the time on overly heavy bikes. Get a Globe Haul. It puts R&M to shame for what you are doing. It would be fun to pair with your bike and give it the best firmware updates at 28 mph (45+kph} in Africa.

The new SL's a dream to ride. My torque-sensing hub-drive's still useful and fun to ride at twice the weight. The torque-sensing assist is nicely implemented, but the SL's assist is of course more refined.

 

[dino*67]

I'm certainly no expert on e-bikes, and the R&M Delite feels very heavy when you have to pick it up, but so light and nimble as soon as you get pedalling. I need front and rear suspension due to the bumpy ground I sometimes cross (e.g. elephant or hippo deep tracks in mud during the rains, now baked hard in the dry season, or loose rocky areas). I have adapted the motor, so it now stops helping at 25mph, not 15.5mph. I hated 'hitting the wall' at a relatively low speed.
I watched the long video on the Globe Haul and thought it was a great bike, that looked easy to pedal at a good speed, but it simply wouldn't work here. 90% of my riding is offroad. Another thing that sold the bike to me was the Rohloff 14-hub gears...I don't like Shimano-type gears. I also don't want mudguards. For luggage, I just need a small Basil crate on the rear rack, everything else in my rucksack on my back. I thought of using Cool Cave panniers but they'd be just something else I'd worry about getting stolen when I left the bike. My Basil crate will either be hidden some distance away, or secured with Hiplok Z loks.

Hey, @Jeremy McCreary. How's the bike? I rode a lesser yet popular torque sensor bike today like the way your bike likes it at 70+ cadence and it was a surge and lurch dud. I ride a S. Vad 4.0 about four times per week. Better bikes are like better guitars, including the great masters. Riese & Muller Delite's are heavy as 'F,' Hades. Pinch flats happen all the time on overly heavy bikes. Get a Globe Haul. It puts R&M to shame for what you are doing. It would be fun to pair with your bike and give it the best firmware updates at 28 mph (45+kph} in Africa.

 

[PedalUma]

When Dillon plugged in at New Port '65 people freaked. The good bikes still need to be played like a guitar. But they are electric. Santana can play an acoustic. I am happy he went electric. That's how I feel when riding good electric bikes.

 

[PCeBiker]

,.. Get a Globe Haul.

Eewww,.. !!!

I've always hated mini-bikes.
I wanted a real dirt bike.
My first dirt bike was full size, full suspension.

My e-bike is similar.
It weighs 89 pounds with two batteries and a rack bag with tools,..

That's still 150 pounds lighter than my dirt bike.

I'm floating through 2" deep potholes and around corners at 32 kph no-hands, no-problem.

,.. Pinch flats happen all the time on overly heavy bikes.

There is more than one daily rider who have not gotten any in three years riding eCargo tires from Schwalbe, called PickUps. Check your sizing.

@dino*67
Just get a pair of PickUps for your Delite.

The only issue you have with your ebike is the flat tires.

(Cool Fricken E-Bike BTW !!!)

Don't let @PedalUma sell you a hard-tail mini-bike.

The good bikes still need to be played like a guitar. But they are electric. Santana can play an acoustic.

I play my ebike like a dirt-bike.

I flew my acoustic, non-electric Rail Sailer at over 60 kph,..

 

[dino*67]

I'm not going to be changing the Delite Rohloff....

I like the look of the Schwalbe Pick-up tyres...just a shame the offroad grip seems to be mediocre. However, lack of punctures is something worth considering.

Before I got the Delite I bought a new Yamaha TW200 about 5 years ago. I love it, but it's too big and heavy to be able to get across bad gullies, steep ridges, river crossings, etc.. With the Delite I can carry it through the worst areas. I planned to sell the TW when the Delite arrived, but still love riding it locally on longer trips. It took up too much room in the back of my vehicle to justify taking it on expeditions.

 

[PedalUma]

offroad grip

I am working on a conversion of a gravel/adventure bike with Schwalbe Mondial tires. The DD, V-Guard is very nice. These are sturdy tires. The bike is a Straggler with a B-17 and matching leather grips. It is getting a 90Nm torque sensing motor. The next step is cutting off all the extra wire and splicing. It is a pain but worth it for a clean build. When finished it will not look like an electric bike. And it will out run and out climb just about everything. The motor is a fully programable ToSeven. Tires are so important.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I am working on a conversion of a gravel/adventure bike with Schwalbe Mondial tires. The DD, V-Guard is very nice. These are sturdy tires. The bike is a Straggler with a B-17 and matching leather grips. It is getting a 90Nm torque sensing motor. The next step is cutting off all the extra wire and splicing. It is a pain but worth it for a clean build. When finished it will not look like an electric bike. And it will out run and out climb just about everything. The motor is a fully programable ToSeven. Tires are so important.

Sounds like a nice conversion. Have to wonder, though — what branding genius came up with "Straggler" as a bicycle model name when Laggard and Slowpoke are still available?

 

[PedalUma]

Ever hear of the senior mock retro metal cover band called IronKnee? I like Laggard. The bike's logo is a snail or in some cases a banana slug. I have fed banana slugs bananas in the redwoods, they are huge. The downplay is fun at a time of so much hyperbole.

 

[PCeBiker]

I installed Tannus Armour and Flat-out on my first ebike (26x4.0 fat tires) but didn't like how the Tannus inserts squashed down to less than ¼" thick so I added Mr Tuffy liners as well.

I remember reading here on the forum somewhere that I wasn't using my Tannus inserts properly.

I was supposed to let the air out of the tires after every ride and suspend the bike so it isn't sitting on flat tires, then re-inflate the tires before the next ride.

That's how you prevent the Tannus inserts from flattening.

 

[PCeBiker]

I like the look of the Schwalbe Pick-up tyres...just a shame the offroad grip seems to be mediocre. However, lack of punctures is something worth considering.

My Super Moto-X tires kinda suck in the dirt,..




I got stuck in a rut and the tire couldn't climb out, but the only thing that really matters to me is not getting a flat.

The Schwalbe Pick-up tires appear to be more off-road capable than my tires, and they are the highest rated for puncture protection.
They're heavy, but I personally don't care about that, I just don't want and damn flats.
If you get a flat tire, you may feed the local wildlife.
If I get a flat tire I only feed the mosquitoes when I get swarmed.

I did buy a Schwalbe Hurricane tire, thinking that it could climb out of ruts better with the sidewall knobs and still get lots of MPG on the tarmac, but the tire is Super thin and it just doesn't look durable.



It's not E-bike rated either, and I never did install it.

On a side note, I'm pretty sure that I could have gotten through those muddy ruts if I had just hammered the throttle to get my speed up, and inertia would have carried me through the mush.
If I was actually being chased by an elephant, I'm pretty sure momentum and adrenaline would have carried me through the sticky spots.

Carrying a change of underwear as my emergency kit instead of flat repair tools is also lighter and easier to transport.

 

[dino*67]

I read that someone said the answer to punctures is: ‘Schwalbe Marathon Plus with Mr. Tuffy. I get a flat every 20,000 miles or so’.
Or maybe Marathon Green Guards, but they look a bit slick?

 

[PCeBiker]

I haven't put Mr. Tuffy in my my Super Moto-X tires, at least not yet.
I've only got the Flat-out in the tires.

I've got over 3500 km on the tires now with no flats, but that doesn't really prove anything.

I'm seriously thinking about poking a needle through my tire to see what happens.

The guy from Area 13 did a comparison test of different flat protection and drilled holes in the tires,..

One thing that wasn't done in the video was to wait for a a few days for the Tannus inserts to squash down to ¼" thick.
He mentions how Tannus says that you can ride on a flat tire, but he didn't test that

You and I both know that Tannus doesn't let you ride on flat tires.

 

[dino*67]

I've just seen a very convincing test of FlatOut stopping even big holes quickly...and it never dries out. Shame they don't sell it in the UK (where I usually order things from).

 

[dino*67]

P.S. You're right....there is no way you can ride on Tannus Armour once you have a puncture! I thought I'd try it when I had my first puncture and it was obvious that doing so would destroy the inner tube and/or the tyre.

 

[PCeBiker]

I've just seen a very convincing test of FlatOut stopping even big holes quickly...and it never dries out. Shame they don't sell it in the UK (where I usually order things from).

They don't sell it in Canada either so I bought it on Amazon.
It's around $50 CAD. My first order came in a bottle, then the next two orders came in a bag.

The bag works great because you just squeeze the bag to push the Flat-out into the tube. The bottle has to be inverted when you squeeze it.
I have ½ a bag with me on the bike. It rolls up nicely with no air pockets in the bag and takes up less space. The bag is quite durable.

The marketing has been changed. I got the "Sportsman Formula" that's meant for wheelbarrows and lawnmowers and isn't supposed to be used at highway speed.

This thread talks about it,..

Tubeless or Mr Tuffy and sealant in tube for goatheads?

Not a spectacular ride but I want to do more of the Palouse to Cascades (John Wayne) trail in WA. East of the Columbia River goatheads are reported to be a problem. I have Schwalbe G-one tires with tubes and Mr Tuffy liners. Wheels are tubeless ready and I picked up some Orange Seal, went to...

forums.electricbikereview.com

You might be able to get it shipped to Africa?

It ships well because if the bag gets punctured during shipping, it will plug its own hole.

Maybe @m@Robertson knows how to get it shipped to Africa, if you are interested in trying it?


Here's another tire thread worth reading,..

How much difference do street tires make compared to knobbies

I realize there's a thousand variables but when I switch to road tires from knobbies, how much more range can I expect, if any. I can go 40mi. now on a full charge. Going from cheap Kenda knobbies to Schwalbe MotoX tires is the plan. I'm hoping for a mile or two more range since the tires should...

forums.electricbikereview.com

 

[dino*67]

I'm certainly interested. I use the same courier in the US as I use in the UK, except they charge 50% more than UK to Zambia. I ordered 8.6kgs of a 8.2mm Pewag chain from the UK and they charged me over $130 to send it to Zambia!

 

[dino*67]

Thanks for the pictures. Interesting life.
If you want to save a few pounds, a SS wire rope sling weighs half of what a chain does. https://www.mcmaster.com/8942T14 Mcmaster has 8' and 10' , the latter $80. Try your local industrial supply for wire rope slings with crimped end. Any port city should have some. I use stainless steel because it takes a stainless capable $280 cable cutter to cut it. Even with $60 battery angle grinders, nobody has attempted to steal my $1800 cargo bike in 6 years locked with the cable. Stainless does not melt out when orange as carbon steel does. Takes 3 hands to cut a cable with an angle grinder. It does take a 19"x19" pannier to contain a rolled up sling. I use an Abus 92/80 lock with a 12 mm spinning shaft https://www.bing.com/aclk?ld=e8tnkm...=7a01ae6fdb561202e5bbc890253f190f&ntb=1&ntb=1.
I would not respect a black mambo but I have rat snakes climbing the drain pipe into my summer trailer. They eat the mice which is a big plus. Mice eat my clothes, eat wire harnesses & upholstry of my vehicles & hammond organ, foul every place they want to visit again, one bit my finger one night. I'm too old to take on a cat, I would probably outlive it. Plus I would have to carry it back & forth between properties weekly on the bicycle. Groceries weed killer & mower fuel is weight enough. One nice thing about Indiana, if a snake falls on you (has happened after a big rain) I know it is not poisonous. I do have to watch for black widow spiders in fall. Houston had copperheads ( one in my house) water moccasins coral snakes and tarantulas. Sorry about the scorpion bite. Had to shake out my boots in the morning in the Army.
An ebike cannot outrun an elephant but maybe has more stamina. My range is about 30 miles at 8 mph, less at 23 (max). Cheetahs do not attack humans IMHO. Happy fossil hunting.