bombadero
Active Member
Hey all, new to the forum, but been watching Court's videos for a while and owned some bikes with my spouse for a couple of years. We have a 2018 Riese & Muller Homage GT Nuvinci that we traded up from a Kalkhoff Tasman Classic. We loved the Kalkhoff, but its Impulse drive system was getting literally destroyed on the steep grades of San Francisco and required several warranty motor replacements. The R&M is a much better bike and pretty much bullet- and bomb-proof. The only thing it seems it can't do are fat bike surfaces like sand, although we haven't tried it in snow.
We also have a 2006 (!) HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS20 that I had reftrofitted with their s-pedelec system from Go SwissDrive a little over a year ago. I've had to replace some parts on the Scorpion due to it being an older model and not designed for being assisted originally. The entry-level Avid BB5 brakes are acceptable but not phenomenal on the grades here so I will probably upgrade it to hydraulic at some point. I changed the tires from the stock Schwalbe Marathon Plusses to Schwalbe Marathon GT 365, which make it a little more offroad capable. We call him 'Scorp' (all bikes should have names).
I also have old 90's mtb I rebuilt recently, dubbed Bruce. He's unassisted, but I want to add a LunaCycle kit to him in the future, maybe a Golden Pie. Scorp works well most places we want to go offroad, but unfortunately has issues on the more rutted and narrow trails, so Bruce would be able to keep up with Ellie (the R&M).
Rounding out my bike stable, I have a 2007 entry level Specialized Allez that I added Magura hydros to at one point for the hills here and a singlespeed commuter I bought around 2012 (Giuseppe and Percival, respectively). I really want to get a Rubbee X for Giuseppe and Percy one day so my whole stable will be e-bikable. Percy is surprisingly ridable here because I upgraded his rear cog to a 22t or something, but of course on the really steep hills he's not great.
Giuseppe does great on hills, both up and down, between being a road bike and the hydros, but the Rubbee X would give me more range and a rescue option on the return trip.
I guess you could say I've become a bit of an e-bike fanboy. The R&M and Scorpion haven't gotten tons of miles already - we use them for commuting, as towncars, for grocery shopping, running the dog, impromptu cargo bikes, towing the dog, camping, etc. Our car is now mainly used to leave town, carry the bikes somewhere for an adventure, or when we have more to carry than a bike can handle. My spouse has a disability causing balance issues, so they're both great for that. We originally got the Scorpion for that reason in 2006, but e-bikes allow them to ride two-wheeled machines as well, so we share both of them. The dog loves running with a bike leash off of the Scorpion and has gotten in great shape.
PS - tried posting photos but that feature doesn't seem to work on mobile, at least from Android. I'll try later from a desktop.
We also have a 2006 (!) HP Velotechnik Scorpion FS20 that I had reftrofitted with their s-pedelec system from Go SwissDrive a little over a year ago. I've had to replace some parts on the Scorpion due to it being an older model and not designed for being assisted originally. The entry-level Avid BB5 brakes are acceptable but not phenomenal on the grades here so I will probably upgrade it to hydraulic at some point. I changed the tires from the stock Schwalbe Marathon Plusses to Schwalbe Marathon GT 365, which make it a little more offroad capable. We call him 'Scorp' (all bikes should have names).
I also have old 90's mtb I rebuilt recently, dubbed Bruce. He's unassisted, but I want to add a LunaCycle kit to him in the future, maybe a Golden Pie. Scorp works well most places we want to go offroad, but unfortunately has issues on the more rutted and narrow trails, so Bruce would be able to keep up with Ellie (the R&M).
Rounding out my bike stable, I have a 2007 entry level Specialized Allez that I added Magura hydros to at one point for the hills here and a singlespeed commuter I bought around 2012 (Giuseppe and Percival, respectively). I really want to get a Rubbee X for Giuseppe and Percy one day so my whole stable will be e-bikable. Percy is surprisingly ridable here because I upgraded his rear cog to a 22t or something, but of course on the really steep hills he's not great.
Giuseppe does great on hills, both up and down, between being a road bike and the hydros, but the Rubbee X would give me more range and a rescue option on the return trip.
I guess you could say I've become a bit of an e-bike fanboy. The R&M and Scorpion haven't gotten tons of miles already - we use them for commuting, as towncars, for grocery shopping, running the dog, impromptu cargo bikes, towing the dog, camping, etc. Our car is now mainly used to leave town, carry the bikes somewhere for an adventure, or when we have more to carry than a bike can handle. My spouse has a disability causing balance issues, so they're both great for that. We originally got the Scorpion for that reason in 2006, but e-bikes allow them to ride two-wheeled machines as well, so we share both of them. The dog loves running with a bike leash off of the Scorpion and has gotten in great shape.
PS - tried posting photos but that feature doesn't seem to work on mobile, at least from Android. I'll try later from a desktop.
