Remote Living and Riding

[Bufatutu]

Hopefully the border with Canada will open soon. My second home there is heavenly...but windy and hilly...and remote. Northern Newfoundland.

Last fall I got a used-one-season-rental, 620 mi., highish end emtn bike, Rossignol branded

Unisex E-Bike E-Track 27+

The E Track 27+ is a hardtail electric-assist mountain bike that features incredible performance for both easy climbing and aggressive descending, making for another best day on the mountain. It's powered by a Shimano E8000 motor. Its 500Wh battery provides amazing range up to 100km and allows...

www.rossignol.com

to ride on the hilly paved and gravel roads and bike trails and occasional offroad around here in the White Mtns of NH and to bring up to my Newfie place. In both places the riding is serious and I love grinding up the notches or the rocky wild windy seashore. I'm in my mid-seventies and been a regular biker, 29er guy the last eight or so years. But I can't do it anymore. The ebike is a joyous thing, giving me another couple of years I hope.

The nearest bike shop of any sort to my Newfoundland place is 300 miles away. Would even they be able to solve a problem with the motor or electronics? Doubtful. And getting parts or replacements up there can take weeks or months, because of custom's issues, and even be impossible. So I've begun to think about how can I take it there for four to eight months! with the least worry. Plus I'm no longer able to do a lot of the work myself. And I don't want to get stuck by the side of the road there, with minimal cell reception.

I've decided to take along a torque hex wrench set. I've changed out the tires to hopefully no flat Super Moto Xs, which I love. I'm gonna bring one of the spare tires and a tube. I've had my local bike shop give it a going over, but they aren't that familiar with ebike specific things. I'm probably going to take it down to a Shimano Service Center--its got a Shimano e8000 motor and all the components.

Anything else I should be thinking about? Parts and spares? Situations?

 

[Art Deco]

I would want a stash of wear parts and basic tools at the least. If you have the replacement parts, any bike shop and many auto garages should be able to install them for you.
Others will jump in with specific items, but batteries, tubes, brake pads, chains, screws, and such would be on my list.

 

[Mr. Coffee]

Chains, brake pads, bleed kits, rotors, tires, spare tubes, valve cores, floor pump.

Buy one of the basic toolkits from Park Tool and add stuff (order it online) as you find you need it.

 

[indianajo]

My summer camp is 36 miles from the nearest bike shop, which doesn't carry electric bike parts. I keep a spare tire and 3 spare tubes out there, a floor tire pump, and carry a complete tool kit. I keep a spare bike out there, a 26" pedal Huffy Savannah I paid $15 for when there was a charity resale shop 7 miles from the summer camp. Carried the Huffy out to the camp tied to the back of the cargo bike. I don't get mail out there to avoid trash pileup in the winter, and UPS won't deliver to long unpaved driveways. USPS cut my friends out there off from packages because they don't have a paved turn around spot near their house.
I keep a spare power wheel in town, or did until I consumed it last fall. Not urgent at the summer camp, geared hub motors can be pedaled after the gears fail. The ebikeling motor gear failed on the way out, so I pedaled it out, then 4 days later pedaled it all the way home. I only need power on >12 mph headwind days.
Mid drive users in remote locations need a spare chain out there plus the 3 chain tools to do the job. If I lose a chain my motor will drag me home, but a shimano 8000 won't. You can pedal a shimano 8000 without electricity without drag, the reviews say.
I'm age 70 and not really slowing down or losing power. I get sore a lot in the spring, but that means I'm building muscle again. My times go down 25% from April to October. My 98 year old church friend still swims laps 4 days a week at the Y - great inspiration. They say aerobic exercise is negatively correlated with dementia. I hope so: I had two grandparents that lost their memories about age 88. One lasted 7 more years. Horrible thought. I'm actually getting better at recognizing faces & remembering names, now that I get out more since I quit work.