I am super delighted!

[Neville Welsh]

Had my first of hopefully many long tours today. The trip lastet for 3,5 hours and the distance was 63,3 km on paved roads, gravel roads and the odd rooty forest road thrown in. The Superdelite is absolutely stunning and excels when given challenges such as climbing ascents of up to 24% with roots and stones - what we call "tractor roads". Actually, the bike excels on everything and feels so planted and safe - and very comfortable. My bum did become quite sore in the last half hour or so, but I'm fine with that. I carried aproximately 10 extra kg of water, food, cooking equipment etc. and had no problems whatsoever with the bike.
Here are som pics from today:

 

[Neville Welsh]

God I love this bike!
Last Tuesdsay a mate from work and I took an early day off and went for a bike tour. This time on asphalt only, but it's still nice to feel the fast flowing pace and still be in eco mode. The distance was a little more than 30 kilometers and it was wonderful with an autumn sun on the horizon and warm breeze. Once I got home I packed up the bike with a Primus, pancake dough and fresh coffee beans and together with my wife and two dogs we went to a lake 5 minutes from home. I forgot the butter and burnt the pancakes - but the coffee was divine

 

[Neville Welsh]

Changed brake pads on the rear brake today and swapped the winter tyres for Johnny Watts tyres. Gave the bike a good clean and it feels great again!
I love this bicycle!

the

 

[Neville Welsh]

A quick update on the latest change to the Superdelite. The Selle Royal seat is gone in favour of a Brooks B17. The Selle seat was ok for short distances, but there was always an issue with numbness - typically with casual trousers. Apart from this minor gripe the real problem was on longer tours lasting for a couple of hours or more where I ended up with a burning sensation - which wasn't "superdelitefull". The Brooks B17 seat is supposed to be perfect for touring and sitting fairly upright such as on the Superdelite. So far it's very nice - even before it's bedded in. I think it looks great tool!

 

[sammcneill]

A quick update on the latest change to the Superdelite. The Selle Royal seat is gone in favour of a Brooks B17. The Selle seat was ok for short distances, but there was always an issue with numbness - typically with casual trousers. Apart from this minor gripe the real problem was on longer tours lasting for a couple of hours or more where I ended up with a burning sensation - which wasn't "superdelitefull". The Brooks B17 seat is supposed to be perfect for touring and sitting fairly upright such as on the Superdelite. So far it's very nice - even before it's bedded in. I think it looks great tool!
View attachment 153355View attachment 153356

Good choice!
I’ve just done a 10 day bikepacking trip with my Brooks B17 and can confirm it was super comfortable:

Redundancy Ride + Alps 2 Ocean – May 2023

In late March I was let go from my job at Microsoft, so I took some time to go on a bikepacking adventure before starting my new role – this is the collection of memories from an unforgettabl…

samuelmcneill.com

 

[Neville Welsh]

Good choice!
I’ve just done a 10 day bikepacking trip with my Brooks B17 and can confirm it was super comfortable:

Redundancy Ride + Alps 2 Ocean – May 2023

In late March I was let go from my job at Microsoft, so I took some time to go on a bikepacking adventure before starting my new role – this is the collection of memories from an unforgettabl…

samuelmcneill.com

Thanks for the link to your adventure! The kettle is on and will enjoy the reading soon!

 

[peterh_nz]

Hello Neville and Sam

So you both use and enjoy Brooks B17 saddles. I periodically consider replacing my S2's Selle Royal with a Brooks (interestingly the former owns the latter) and don't get across the line because of my concern about the effect of rain on the Brooks. How do, or will, you both manage that? Also, what version of the B17 did you choose?

Neville, I agree, it does look good on the SD.

Sam, that is inspired riding to Tekapo to join the A2O. Excellent! I know you weren't on your S2 but I'm interested to hear of your observations on the opportunities for ebike charging on that leg on the trip, beit at campgrounds or other convenient places.

Cheers

Peter

PS My late father's bike, which is probably around 100 years old has a rather neglected looking sprung Brooks saddle. Also a 1980s Raleigh Carlton touring bike I was given has a Brooks, unfortunately narrower than the B17 and set like a rock!

 

[sammcneill]

Hello Neville and Sam

So you both use and enjoy Brooks B17 saddles. I periodically consider replacing my S2's Selle Royal with a Brooks (interestingly the former owns the latter) and don't get across the line because of my concern about the effect of rain on the Brooks. How do, or will, you both manage that? Also, what version of the B17 did you choose?

Neville, I agree, it does look good on the SD.

Sam, that is inspired riding to Tekapo to join the A2O. Excellent! I know you weren't on your S2 but I'm interested to hear of your observations on the opportunities for ebike charging on that leg on the trip, beit at campgrounds or other convenient places.

Cheers

Peter

PS My late father's bike, which is probably around 100 years old has a rather neglected looking sprung Brooks saddle. Also a 1980s Raleigh Carlton touring bike I was given has a Brooks, unfortunately narrower than the B17 and set like a rock!

Hi Peter,

I bought the Brooks raincover that fits the saddle and has a drawstring/toggle to secure it - used that on wet days and when I cleaned the bike and also overnight due to heavy dews. Worked great. Think it was around $30. I use standard boot leather polish to keep the saddle in good form. Worked so far, but the bike is still quite young at 6 months old.

re: A20 and eBike charging - totally possible and from what I could see, highly common. all of the campgrounds I stayed at had big "A2O sponsors" signage and seemed very open to charging eBikes. Actually, I saw the LBS R&M dealer's most recent newsletter had a shot of them doing the A2O recently on R&M bikes so you could possibly stop in there and get their first hand experience.

My parents had some friends recently complete it on eBikes too. I was averaging ~70km a day so not big distances that your SD2 could easily eat up, but I was basically doing 2 legs a day. if you wanted shorter distances most of the stops were 30-40km apart. I also reckon a lot of the eateries would have been open to requests for charging whilst having lunch etc if asked nicely as they all had the A2O stickers on them as well.

I'll be honest, it was super easy to do - I'd previously thought about doing it with the family and been a bit worried about logistics, but having done it solo now, I'd jump at doing it again without too much thought.

 

[peterh_nz]

Hi Peter,

I bought the Brooks raincover that fits the saddle and has a drawstring/toggle to secure it - used that on wet days and when I cleaned the bike and also overnight due to heavy dews. Worked great. Think it was around $30. I use standard boot leather polish to keep the saddle in good form. Worked so far, but the bike is still quite young at 6 months old.

re: A20 and eBike charging - totally possible and from what I could see, highly common. all of the campgrounds I stayed at had big "A2O sponsors" signage and seemed very open to charging eBikes. Actually, I saw the LBS R&M dealer's most recent newsletter had a shot of them doing the A2O recently on R&M bikes so you could possibly stop in there and get their first hand experience.

My parents had some friends recently complete it on eBikes too. I was averaging ~70km a day so not big distances that your SD2 could easily eat up, but I was basically doing 2 legs a day. if you wanted shorter distances most of the stops were 30-40km apart. I also reckon a lot of the eateries would have been open to requests for charging whilst having lunch etc if asked nicely as they all had the A2O stickers on them as well.

I'll be honest, it was super easy to do - I'd previously thought about doing it with the family and been a bit worried about logistics, but having done it solo now, I'd jump at doing it again without too much thought.

Sam.

Thanks for your reply.

What about ebike charging on the Chch to Tekapo leg?

Some friends and I rode the A2O immediately before the first lockdown. Some of us had ebikes and we stayed at motels, guest houses and the Ohau Lodge. No camping that trip and therefore the reason I'm curious about charging at campgrounds.

Peter

 

[sammcneill]

Ahh apologies - I misread that.

I think it would be fine - I did ride my S2 over to Akaroa:

Waitangi Weekend eBike Wandering – February 2021

Sharing my eBike Touring journey around Banks Peninsula on Waitangi Weekend 2021

samuelmcneill.com

I simply removed the batteries and charged them in the kitchen of the Top 10 Holiday Camp. I recall asking the reception if I could charge them in the office and they said that was fine but thy were going to be locking it up at the end of the day and I didn't want that restriction.

It may pay to call ahead, but if you have access to a kitchen at the campsite you can easily plug in, and if you have a cabin you could charge in your room.

I know when I walked around Arrowtown last year, some of the cafes there had free eBike charging out the front AND included chargers for the most popular models which was quite surprising to see! one way to encourage customers to come dine at your cafe!

PS - it might be worth explaining the cost of the charge being a few cents if there is some pushback and/or offering a gold coin donation to cover teh cost of charging?

 

[peterh_nz]

Ahh apologies - I misread that.

I think it would be fine - I did ride my S2 over to Akaroa:

Waitangi Weekend eBike Wandering – February 2021

Sharing my eBike Touring journey around Banks Peninsula on Waitangi Weekend 2021

samuelmcneill.com

I simply removed the batteries and charged them in the kitchen of the Top 10 Holiday Camp. I recall asking the reception if I could charge them in the office and they said that was fine but thy were going to be locking it up at the end of the day and I didn't want that restriction.

It may pay to call ahead, but if you have access to a kitchen at the campsite you can easily plug in, and if you have a cabin you could charge in your room.

I know when I walked around Arrowtown last year, some of the cafes there had free eBike charging out the front AND included chargers for the most popular models which was quite surprising to see! one way to encourage customers to come dine at your cafe!

PS - it might be worth explaining the cost of the charge being a few cents if there is some pushback and/or offering a gold coin donation to cover teh cost of charging?

That's interesting. I expected ebike charging facilities would have increased over the last three years.

I agree, I have no problem paying for convenient ebike charging. Maybe even up to five dollars for a full charge.

What was road safety like on the Chch to Tekapo stretch?

Cheers

 

[sammcneill]

What was road safety like on the Chch to Tekapo stretch?

Cheers

Overall, really good. Remember, I use all the time a Garmin Varia that I discussed here:

(11) Garmin Varia usage on eBikes | Electric Bike Forums - Q&A, Help, Reviews and Maintenance (electricbikereview.com)

The Varia gives a heaps of details too about how many vehicles passed you, what their absolute and relative speeds were - this was the section from my house to Glentunnel - so you can see a few cars passed me in excess of 100kph, but most tended to slow somewhere between 80-100kph.

Christchurch to Glentunnel (66km)

I would always pull hard left whenever I was alerted of a vehicle, much of the road had quite good shoulders, although sections of Geraldine to Tekapo had limited shoulders.

Glentunnel to Methven (43km)

Methven to Geraldine (76km):

Geraldine to Tekapo (90km):

you can actually map all of these cars and see where they passed you if you were so interested - I'm not! Although I suppose if there was an incident of a dangerous overtake that caused you to fall off etc, then mapping that would be handy.

 

[peterh_nz]

Yes, the Garmin Varia is a valuable safety device. I have the RTL 515 and use it all the time.