The Good Things You Have Bought ver. 2

Stefan Mikes

Gravel e-biker
Region
Europe
City
Mazovia, PL
Strange. I cannot find the original thread by a similar name... Let's go again! What are fine and good things you have recently bought for e-biking purposes? I've ordered these things for my future Vado SL and myself:
  • Race Face Chester pedals (green). I have never owned Chesters, being standardized on CrankBrothers Stamps;
  • Yet another Mirrycle. I cannot ride without the rear-view mirror!
  • KASK Rapido helmet, Lime colour. (Interestingly, the Polish name for any non-military helmet is just "kask") :)
 
Last edited:
Pretty much all MTB stuff.
  • Ergon Saddle
  • POC Tectal Helmet
  • KMC e12 Chain
  • Ice Spiker Pro Studded Tires
  • Couple of pairs of MTB pants/jerseys
 
Good! What is your typical range now?
My longer rides are generally 30 or 40 miles. Mostly limited by my need to get home to make dinner for my wife and me or other home chores. With the extender though I can go at higher speeds and more usefully, recharge less often. Of course the weather has to allow for the longer or more frequent rides. It’s been pouring all day and yes was over 92F so not a safe day to ride.
 
Just picked up this last week... It's more expensive than most saddle options, but since I ride with a Redshift ShockStop seat post, anything that required a seat post Velcro loop was out of the question.


My SQLab handlebars came in today... they're going on tomorrow morning. I can already tell that once I chop 20mm off each end, they'll get my hands EXACTLY where I want them. No more 25degree sweepback! :)


Finally, a new Garmin watch... the Fitbit was dying, and I wanted something that gave me more reliable stats, not just for cycling but for other health reasons. The bonus is that I can see e-bike data on it, which means I'll downsize my SC-E6100 to either the more discreet SC-E7000, or go entirely display free...

 
I read it "Tactical" 🤣
I guess it does look a bit tactical in design with more coverage at the back of the head as well as the temples. Slap on some night vision goggles and a comm system and I'll be good to go. 👍

Speaking of which, I also acquired some body armor in the form of elbow pads and knee pads.
 
upgraded my bike tools.

IMG_2881.jpg
IMG_2882.jpg
IMG_2885.jpg
 
SPD shoes and pedals well i had the pedals
Mirrcycle mirror
Abus folding lock
Sm bag to carry wallet and keys
New helmet
 
so many little things... need to stop!!

but the most satisfying lately have been a couple very small lenses for my nikon z7, and a blackrapid holster strap. total weight just a hair over a kilo. 45 megapixels, fantastic dynamic range and fast autofocus. on rides that i expect to be scenic or new i'll wear this. the camera sits back there while cruising, until i reach around and pull one of the little clips forward, which allows the camera to slide. after a couple rides it's second nature, takes maybe a half second to go from "oooh this is nice" to taking a couple pictures, another half second to slide the clip and camera back.

pictured at left with a dx/crop lens, only yielding a bit under half the resolution, but at right with a full frame lens. haven't used the crop version much, i might pick up a crop sensor camera to save a few hundred grams and lessen the sting that will occur if i crash on it.

the strap is highly recommended, i couldn't figure it quite out at first but once i did, two thumbs up. blackrapid sport breathe, right side, USD 78 or so.

cameraRig.jpg
 
Great stuff, @mschwett! I'm afraid to carry any real camera on me though (I fall with e-bikes far too often...)
just the thought of scratching up a bike makes me cringe a little. i know it’ll happen, but so far i haven’t fallen except one unclip slow motion toppling.

it also doesn’t seem like the bike finishes are easily repairable.
 
The bike: Soul Beach Cruisers, Sonic Saber with Pro Package
Handle bar extenders for mounting extra lights
Kinekt suspension seatposts
Cloud 9 Cruiser seats
Top Tube Bags
A couple of ABUS chain locks to lock seats and front tires
Insulated bottle holder for larger insulated bottles
Portable electric bike tire pump
Had a hitch installed on car so I don’t have to use the truck to go ride
 
Last edited:
To relieve range anxiety, I need an accurate battery gauge that gives me reliable & accurate readings. Many bikes come equipped with such a gauge but unfortunately, mine isn't one of them. After some searching, I found this accurate & reasonably priced battery gauge to augment the woefully poor one on my bike display.


Unlike most e-bike gauges which use non linear voltage readings to determine the state of charge, this gauge reads ampere hours consumed. It is programmable for any size battery and can be adjusted for age related capacity loss. It has a 10 segment bar gauge as well as percent remaining readout. It also reads voltage and real time current draw which I find useful to see how much energy I contribute at any one point in time.

It took a couple of hours of DIY time to install but to me it was well worth the investment. For anyone interested, details are included in this post:

 
Back