Our Rides in Words, Photos & Videos

[Stefan Mikes]

All my mates are eyeing it up for their wood stoves.

A norm in Norway. Any Norwegian household (normally powered by electricity only) keeps a wood stove under the staircase, and a stock of wood. Just in case.

I spoke with my Norwegian manager. He told me he regretted his purchase of a Ford Explorer. He should have bought a Tesla, he said. It is the most economical and practical car in Norway nowadays, the Tesla.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

Heading for the Sun:
Crossing the Alps along the Via Claudia Augusta…

R&M Delite & the Zugspitze​

• An interesting story of a young couple's adventure in Europe.​
• Link to article in Riese & Müller Magazine.

 

[Chargeride]

A norm in Norway. Any Norwegian household (normally powered by electricity only) keeps a wood stove under the staircase, and a stock of wood. Just in case.

I spoke with my Norwegian manager. He told me he regretted his purchase of a Ford Explorer. He should have bought a Tesla, he said. It is the most economical and practical car in Norway nowadays, the Tesla.

apparently due partly to other circumstances, the Tesla is the best selling car in the UK.
Its very hard to obtain a new car and second hand models are going for more than the new price.
Teslas are commonplace in the UK now.
Its going to be 35 pounds a day penalty to drive into London if you have an older car, its free in an electric car or the very latest clean city petrols.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

• An interesting story of a young couple's adventure in Europe.​
• Link to article in Riese & Müller Magazine.

Inspiring!

 

[Chargeride]

yes, and taking ine quote from the article, I think the two biggest problems for ebike commuting adoption in the UK is
The weather
security.
If you have to park in the street then it will be stolen, the police arent interested and the thieves can steal in full view, they just rock up with a cordless grinder and three mates with balaclavas who threaten anyone trying to intervene.

 

[Deleted member 18083]

EBR Forum member Sam MacNeill has some observations on owning an ebike as a car substitute (and as a fun machine):

• Reflections on owning an R&M Super Charger 2

In reading his blog, remember that in New Zealand ebikes are restricted to 300 watts. That's it; nothing else! No speed restrictions apply other than those for all road users; however, some manufacturers simply include a 25 km/h cutout as par to their ebikes' EU-centric spec.

 

[ChezCheese:)]

Stefan, what's the training you're teaching? (Confusing sentence. What are you teaching the students about?)

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Stefan, what's the training you're teaching? (Confusing sentence. What are you teaching the students about?)

It's process engineering computer simulation (I am a CHEMCAD guy in a wider area).

 

[reed scott]

yes, and taking ine quote from the article, I think the two biggest problems for ebike commuting adoption in the UK is
The weather
security.
If you have to park in the street then it will be stolen, the police arent interested and the thieves can steal in full view, they just rock up with a cordless grinder and three mates with balaclavas who threaten anyone trying to intervene.

I am reminded of the 'Broken Windows Theory'. By these lights it only gets worse and worse and worse.

 

[Chargeride]

This is but one of the events.
dont get depressed.
its a temporary hyper liberalisation of consequence.

 

[reed scott]

This is but one of the events.
dont get depressed.
its a temporary hyper liberalisation of consequence.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Winter Riding Impressions

I had been green for the last two Winter seasons. The 2019/2020 meant I was wearing many layers of clothing and was suffering cold even above the freezing point. The 2020/2021 season found me better prepared. Now, to my own surprise, I seem to know how to wear with possibly minimum effort and effectively.

I looked at the outside thermometer this morning: - 7 C. Which reminded me I managed to rescue my heated boot insoles from the March fire of my home. I could even find the charger but no remote. Oops! After charging the insoles, I determined they could be operated with a little button on the battery integrated inside the sole.

The most effective clothing (as for me):

• Base layer and merino wool socks
• Snowboarding suit, totally weatherproof (waterproof, windproof, warm, breathing), consisting of a separate pair of trousers and a jacket
• Leather mountain hiking boots with the (Li-Poly battery powered) heated insoles
• A warm balaclava (meant for a motorcycle)
• A warm snowboarding helmet with ear protectors
• 100% Accuri OTG goggles (MTB goggles with a wide view angle)
• Modern motorcycle water/windproof gloves.

I felt warm, dry, and so comfortable on my Vado SL ride (to inspect my old household). And yes, I could find the remote for the insoles among the rescued items

Whenever I was stopping to demonstrate the temperature was -5 C, it was rising to -4!

On a long bike path, with the notorious Moszna Stack in the background. When it's snowing, the huge smoke stack becomes totally invisible!

Winterproof

It might be interesting: During the one hour long ride, the battery temperature never fell below +8 C, and the motor temperature was +6 C minimum. Meaning: Vado SL could survive even colder temps under the condition it were ridden to release waste heat!

The motorcycle gloves are still effective. If I started suffering cold hands, I might invest in skiing ones. The only issue is I overdid handlebar grips! With Innerbarends 411 and Ergon GP2, there barely is space remaining for my hands in motorbike gloves, and the skiing ones would be even thicker! I might need to replace the GP2's with regular grips for the winter-time...

 

[kahn]

Winter Riding Impressions

I had been green for the last two Winter seasons. The 2019/2020 meant I was wearing many layers of clothing and was suffering cold even above the freezing point. The 2020/2021 season found me better prepared. Now, to my own surprise, I seem to know how to wear with possibly minimum effort and effectively.

I looked at the outside thermometer this morning: - 7 C. Which reminded me I managed to rescue my heated boot insoles from the March fire of my home. I could even find the charger but no remote. Oops! After charging the insoles, I determined they could be operated with a little button on the battery integrated inside the sole.

The most effective clothing (as for me):

• Base layer and merino wool socks
• Snowboarding suit, totally weatherproof (waterproof, windproof, warm, breathing), consisting of a separate pair of trousers and a jacket
• Leather mountain hiking boots with the (Li-Poly battery powered) heated insoles
• A warm balaclava (meant for a motorcycle)
• A warm snowboarding helmet with ear protectors
• 100% Accuri OTG goggles (MTB goggles with a wide view angle)
• Modern motorcycle water/windproof gloves.

I felt warm, dry, and so comfortable on my Vado SL ride (to inspect my old household). And yes, I could find the remote for the insoles among the rescued items

View attachment 108843
Whenever I was stopping to demonstrate the temperature was -5 C, it was rising to -4!

View attachment 108844
On a long bike path, with the notorious Moszna Stack in the background. When it's snowing, the huge smoke stack becomes totally invisible!

View attachment 108852
Winterproof

It might be interesting: During the one hour long ride, the battery temperature never fell below +8 C, and the motor temperature was +6 C minimum. Meaning: Vado SL could survive even colder temps under the condition it were ridden to release waste heat!

The motorcycle gloves are still effective. If I started suffering cold hands, I might invest in skiing ones. The only issue is I overdid handlebar grips! With Innerbarends 411 and Ergon GP2, there barely is space remaining for my hands in motorbike gloves, and the skiing ones would be even thicker! I might need to replace the GP2's with regular grips for the winter-time...

View attachment 108850
View attachment 108851

Which electric insoles?

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Which electric insoles?

Heated Insoles WIRELESS HOTSOLE - AH11

ALPENHEAT is THE specialist for heated clothing and shoe drying systems

alpenheat.com

I generally find all the electrically heated gear (insoles, socks, gloves...) as coming out from a single Chinese factory despite of the brand name. Even the remotes look identically for different brands! These insoles do work (and Glovii sells similar things) but these devices can unexpectedly switch off on the ride (or change the heating level), so the remote is to be used too often whenever you start feeling the cold (or excessive heat)!

 

[Chargeride]

Heated Insoles WIRELESS HOTSOLE - AH11

ALPENHEAT is THE specialist for heated clothing and shoe drying systems

alpenheat.com

I generally find all the electrically heated gear (insoles, socks, gloves...) as coming out from a single Chinese factory despite of the brand name. Even the remotes look identically for different brands! These insoles do work (and Glovii sells similar things) but these devices can unexpectedly switch off on the ride (or change the heating level), so the remote is to be used too often whenever you start feeling the cold (or excessive heat)!

Its not too cold here, just wind and monsoon rain, I'm not going out in it.
But.....theres a break in the downpour tomorrow and I'll risk it.

After clearing out the flat from the mouse infestation, I found my old hologram skull goggles from Enduro days.
I might follow Stefan and wear them on the next ride, and everyone will know I mean business.

 

[Prairie Dog]

The recent weather had me briefly pondering whether or not I would ride this morning as the rain that we received last night coated the roads which in turn transformed them into slippery sheets of ice. Then it began to snow this morning which further complicated matters as I likely wouldn't be able to see the slick roots hidden beneath cover along the trails. I didn't hesitate long before I realized that my trusty studded tires should get me through practically anything....well almost.

This section of wooded single track inside Heritage Ranch was transformed into a virtual wintry wonderland as a result of the snowfall. Several fat bikers had already made their presence known as evidenced by their tracks along the trail.

It was much warmer today and unlike @Stefan Mikes, I didn’t bother to wear my heated insoles. However, the -10 windchill still had me reaching for my heated glove liners before I left on my ride. Unusual as it was, the sun didn’t bother making much of an appearance today but that didn’t matter to me as the ambient temperature was quite tolerable and the wind remained mostly calm inside the treed trails.



I rode a double loop along the Heritage Ranch trails and then pushed off to the north end of town, only stopping to take a few photos of the partially frozen river before completing my ride up at the Pines and heading for home.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

It was much warmer today and unlike @Stefan Mikes, I didn’t bother to wear my heated insoles.

My issue is the inadequate blood supply to my feet, Art. I would have probably been eliminated from winter rides if no heated insoles were available!

 

[Prairie Dog]

My issue is the inadequate blood supply to my feet, Art. I would have probably been eliminated from winter rides if no heated insoles were available!

I think that I suffer from the same issue with my hands. Can’t seem to keep the darn things warm enough especially when removing them to take photos. The next ones I own will be touchscreen sensitive. Don’t know what I would do without them.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Heated gloves, perhaps? Do you use skiing gloves? (I can't remember, you might have written about it).
P.S. I'm sorry. You mentioned heated glove liners just above!

 

[Prairie Dog]

Heated gloves, perhaps? Do you use skiing gloves? (I can't remember, you might have written about it).
P.S. I'm sorry. You mentioned heated glove liners just above!

Stefan,I've been meaning to ask you, where did you acquire your balaclava/facemask? Link?