Riding without the motor

[BlackHand]

Tried licking my motor on yesterday's ride but couldn't feel a difference. Maybe I'm licking it in the wrong place?
;^}

At least you confirmed that flexibility and balance aren't issues for you as you age!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Depends on how my knee is doing.

Same here. On any given day, I might have to pamper one, both, or neither. But I can almost always ride an ebike in some fashion.

The knees are usually happy when I can keep cadence in the 80-95 rpm range. When I can do that in OFF, OFF is on the menu.

But I always need assist for the one thing my knees hate most: Strong accelerations at low cadence. My first ebike had a throttle, and keeping my knees out of that situation accounted for 95% of its use.

 

[E biker]

Yesterday I thought I had enough battery to last,well I forgot to check the charge meter, but I ran out and old school pedal for three miles before I thought about removing the battery and putting it in my wife's sattle bag,the last mile was a little bit better , Denango fat tire has a heavy battery.

 

[Catalyzt]

My bike is 46.5 pounds-- sort of an "L" instead of an "SL"-- and I'm fascinated at how minor increases in grade makes a difference in terms of whether, and how long, I can ride without assistance.

On dead flat terrain, I set assistance to zero, and it's hardly any different from ECO, I ride for five miles or more that way. A very slight upward incline is fine for a mile or two if I'm in shape (and I know I don't have a brutal climb ahead.) The bummer is, to get to the Verdugos, I need to ride for four or five miles that are just a few degrees steeper than I can manage with no assistance, and the last mile or two is brutal even in ECO-- and I really need to conserve as much power (in the battery, and in the human) as possible for the climb.

It really might make sense for me to do a CF wheel build for the Motobecane -- @PedalUma, we were considering this for the Marin-- with high-tech low-friction hubs, slightly narrower tires, and maybe even a titanium front fork, CF bars and seatpost, hollow cranks-- the whole weight weenie package. Could I drop four more pounds, decrease rolling resistance even further, ride without assistance longer, and get significantly more range? It would really help give me better access to steeper and more interesting terrain.

Of course, I have to have super lightweight clothing, tool, and water options as well. (That sounded senseless, I cannot decrease the weight of water! I do have a lightweight sling option for a small plastic water bottle.)

 

[PedalUma]

There are diminishing returns at some point when sheading weight. It can get to the point were sheading another three grams costs another $1000. But there is one proven way to shed weight though which costs nothing. They ride naked every year in Madison, WI.

 

[Chargeride]

Age restricted, they should know we are all old enough on here to have a sticky karma sutra on the shelf

 

[Roamers]

I ride unpowered most of the time; knee dependent. Also will kick it on if increased speed is needed (usually potential rain related).

Unpowered "normal" speed is 12ish mph; powered normal is 15 mph, (20 used once).

 

[PedalUma]

No one would believe the project I am working on. It is green, seven feet long and up on an operating table. For one of its wheels I had to use a folding step ladder with a milk crate on top of it. It started as a $7200+ recumbent trike that got a botched hub-drive conversion. I am taking all that off and starting fresh with a mid-drive. Stripped of all electrical, it is still well over 100 pounds. No riding without power with this baby, unless you are on salt flats without wind. The hardest part was getting a solid axle cargo grade replacement wheel; I found one, the right size, new with new gears for $70 cash.

 

[PedalUma]

@Jeremy McCreary, I had to replace the chain; the new one it is getting a special hot wax treatment that will never need lube or cleaning. The old chain is now draped over a standard door. Each side's end is two inches from the floor. It is that long! I got the new wheel from someone who used to work warranty at Yuba HQ. It was hanging for over five years on a hook. This 'bike' requires power. It will have duel batteries. It is getting silver crank arms and a silver disguising chainguard.

 

[Chazmo]

I tried riding an unassisted fatty back in the early 2000s when I was a younger man, and even then I realized I was not enough of a hero to do that on a regular basis. I gave up on fat bikes back then since they were not practical or useful for my riding purposes.

Now, with my 75lb e-fatty, I can only turn the assist off if the trail is barely (and I mean barely) upward slanted (maybe 0.25%). Anything more than that and I cannot sustain 8 - 10MPH. On the road it’s a foregone conclusion because I almost never want to go that slowly so assist is always on.

Honestly, though, if it’s a flat trail, I often turn off the assist. The rail trails that I ride are great for that as the grades are (obviously) mild. If it’s an ascent, usually not. But that’s what round-trips are for.

 

[sc00ter]

I was coming back from Walmart today with cat food for the strays. I was on the Xpedition with my wife on the back and I had it on assist 3 cruising along. I hit a bump and I'm thinking "Wow, I should bump the assist up! Bike just got heavier!" but nooooo, the assist turned off! I huffed those pedals for a block in the lowest gear and thought my fat butt was gonna die! I pulled over and somehow got it working again but that one block was total torture!

Oh, and later that same day I got a flat on my Honda Fit. Luckily I plugged it and it's fine now. Now the bathroom sink is leaking. I'll deal with my 'Happens in Threes' in the morning.

 

[Chazmo]

I was coming back from Walmart today with cat food for the strays. I was on the Xpedition with my wife on the back and I had it on assist 3 cruising along. I hit a bump and I'm thinking "Wow, I should bump the assist up! Bike just got heavier!" but nooooo, the assist turned off! I huffed those pedals for a block in the lowest gear and thought my fat butt was gonna die! I pulled over and somehow got it working again but that one block was total torture!

Oh, and later that same day I got a flat on my Honda Fit. Luckily I plugged it and it's fine now. Now the bathroom sink is leaking. I'll deal with my 'Happens in Threes' in the morning.

tough day!