Photo's and comments after day 1 of riding a ebike
Yes, Its finally here.
The delays turned out to be a nice learning curve for me an my local bike shop. (
20 oranges) TJ has been very fair and reasonable with prices. Jim has a great attention to detail.
As for the ride, its not quite what I expected. The sound was little more than silent, (who knows why I was expecting the motor to be silent )
Starting from a dead stop works much better if you peddle once or twice first to get it moving, the kick the electric motor on. Starting from a dead stop can be done with the motor, but the motor doesnt have quite enough tourqe to get moving quickly. Plus from what I understand starting an ebike from a dead stop is the quickest way to use up power.
My travel time for my 10 mile communte tuned from 50 minutes to 35 minutes this morning. I cant say for sure why, but I suppose that when I felt like not peddling , I let the motor take me at full speed might have had something to do with it.
The bike is heavy, which is one reason I had heavier rims installed, heavy spokes and upgraded fatter tires put on it. My battery pack as you can see from the pictures is mounted under the rear rack which to me was done for pure aesthetics but ... because of the weight of the battery the back end of the bike does sway a little on turns, and I cant really peddle moving the bike left and right like I can on my bike without a motor.. This one I have to keep somewhat upright or the back end begins to feel like I am towing u-hal in the wind. I might have to think about an additional brace to keep this rack from moving arround when I sway the bike from side to side.
The sound it makes is similar to an electric golf cart or electric train. sort of high pitched hum- squeaky sound. Not bad really
There are two basic types of throttles available for e-bikes ; a twist grip, like a standard motorcycle or lever. I choose for this bike the twist grip as this bike but after riding it I think the lever might be better.
Power :
The power for me isn't quite enough to pull me up a large hill, but it does really help. As I peddle in a low gear with the power on as I go up a hilll it feels like I am peddling on a flat surface. I am beginning to get looks from people who see me scream by without so much a movement. If you recall the movie
Aliens I think where Sigourney Weaver wears some sort of robot suit. Its her controlling but there is power assist.
My next step in this process of research is go the closest
e-shop in Laguna Hills. I don't need another one I am just interested in learning as much as I can about this technology.
Bob
Spring 2008 TV update
I have recently stumbled across a few shows worth mentioning.
To top my list is two
That Mitchell and Webb Look Clicking the link gives you some video samples of their skits.
These two guys David Mitchell and Robert Webb have had two shows on the BBC . The first one "that Mitchell and Webb Look" is a series of skits not unlike Monty Python. Whereas their second and more popular show named Peep Show is more of a tradition sitcom. Both shows are worth watching and are shown on BBC America, or available on your favorite Torrent site. I highly recommend the first one. "You will laugh until you stop."
Next on my list is the drama
Damages staring Glen Close and Ted Danson. This is 13 part courtroom drama is every bit as watchable as Michael Clayton. As FX has proved to us with shows like The Shield they are capable of blurring the ideals of good and bad into just concepts which our fathers once held to. These characters now seemed all consumed with wining and not getting caught at the expense of anyone. Be warned its addictive.. you really are stuck to watch the entire 13 parts once you start... but in my opinion, its well worth it.
A and E's
Andromeda Strain While there is no air date yet, and the DVD Release date is June 3rd, and somewhere in the UK its already been broadcast. last night I watched part one Not Great,but not bad either. If you have nothing better do on a Sunday afternoon its better than watching UFO Stories on history channel.
Movie Pick of the week. (update on my bikes)
My movie pick for this tax week 2008 is a little known film named
The Air I Breathe The IMDB link gives you a pretty good idea of the basics. But if you like movies like 6 degrees and Amors Peros This is a must see for you.
I am a huge fan of Forest Whitaker etc.. what can I say ? I enjoyed the film.. Its out on DVD in about a month, or easy to get on your favorite torrent site.
News about riding
I started again on the 10th of april to ride to work, and since I kept up with an good cardio routine during the off months.. getting back on was not nearly as bad as I feared.
I was talked into getting a little wider tires for various reasons. Turns out I love them. Wider tires dont have quite the pressure of skinny track tires which have a psi of 105.. These are more like 65 psi. This give the rider more comfort as little rocks and bumps are not absorbed by the tires.
The story of my ebike is now the elecronics had to be sent back to Heinzman. I spoke with them today and it turns out the controller and motor are both in need of replacement. They claim they have never seen this before and they claim to have it all sent back this week.
If that happens I expect to have my ebike in my hands and under my feet in no more than 10 days.
Thats it for the evening.
Bob
