You don't necessarily need to be tied to a bike shop.
Gotcha! I’m not aging with grace. Working on builds is quite difficult these days. My hands are worn out and incredibly thin skinned combined with being a profuse bleeder means working with Kevlar sleeves and mechanics glove. Not little nuts and bolt friendly. But being a little nuts helps.
While my independence was once a critical need I’m finding that expanded social contact is a good thing. And no LBS is getting fat on routine motor maintenance.
Looks like I need to make a trip to Madison if I can actually ride each system back to back. Heck I might hate Yamaha but on paper... I have to lower the seats on conventional frame geometry and that does skew the feel and ride review. Or I just give up and swallow a Bosch system from Electra/Trek. I admire their quality battery packs and have some experience with them. Buying cells from rejected Bosch packs. Grade “A” cells but any flaw and Bosch sends entire cell pack to a reseller. Not a repair shop. I wouldn’t be stooping as low as shopping at Walmart, but a fella has to have rules.
Shimano does some cool things. I just gave the neighbor kid a Trek with a front hub generator that powered the automatic 3 speed. Spendy bike in its day and this one had under 100 miles. A failed concept. But really cool to me. I almost did a conversion to a friction drive but the geometry again. That Shimano engineering put them on my very impressive company list.
I fell again last week trying to ride a conventional bike. Flat foot is a must unless I give up and go tricycle. I’m in No hurry to get there. to me, crank forward Townie style is also the safest for spacial awareness. Sitting completely upright face to face level with cages. Despite very bad legs and back, I’m totally comfortable. Suspension seat-posts are the only suspension I need. But after riding a MTB with full suspension, a completely impractical full suspension flat foot might be a dream ride.
I’d hoped we’d have a smashing year but the fooking tariffs murdered any growth. Ending the custom built frame for 2019. Maybe 2020.
Fantastic offer and feedback. Thanks.