E-Bikes

[olbriar]

I rode 33 miles yesterday. I mowed and rode in the afternoon. It was my birthday so we were going out for dinner. I rode a couple of times today. I logged 69 miles and had a great time. I rode slow and enjoyed my ride. My son was coming over for conversation and brews so I didn't get to ride tonight. I only saw one rider today but hope the sidewalk South is busy tomorrow. It is supposed to be a decent day to be out side.
When I came home from draining my first battery I put it on the charger and had a relaxing beer. When I grabbed up another battery I noticed the the charger said the battery was changed. I knew that couldn't be correct. Sure enough, the charging brick and suffered a melt down. It had melted to the carpet in my office. I unplugged it and pulled it off the floor to find a hole melted out of the charging brick. I'm lucky it hadn't set the place on fire. I'm not sure if it was an arc of power source to the charging brick or if the brick it self just gave it up. Pretty scary no matter which. That charger has been used for ever charge or partial charge of my bike's batteries. That's a lot of charges but no excuse for burning up. If it had burned my house down I would have been very unhappy.

 

[olbriar]

I ordered a new charger from Amazon last night. I have my doubts that it will last as long as the original. It has a mini fan built into the brick to help disperse some of the heat caused by converting AC to DC. The charging bricks get very hot to the touch which can't be a good thing. I had the ability to order the exact charger from the company that purchased Juiced. They wanted three times the amount of the Amazon charger and it was 40 to 60 days shipping vs two days. The Amazon charger is worth a try.

 

[olbriar]

I rode twice today. This morning was a beautiful time to be outside. The temperature was perfect and there was very little wind. By the time I was into my third loop South it had warmed up and the wind had ramped up. It was still a great day to be riding and I logged 41 miles before my battery was depleted. I met or passed a number of cyclists this morning. One was a fat tire trike with an older lady rider. She looked happy and her trike looked sweet. I stopped and talked to one e-bike rider. He was stopped and I thought it best to ask if he needed assistance. He did not but we at least exchanged names and visited some about loving e-bikes. He was riding a Lectric foldable step through. I think it was this bike.

He is a retired commercial pilot from the Phoenix area that had retired in Kansas with his retirement money going so much farther than in AZ. Chuck was a super nice guy I hope to see more often. He was in love with his bike!

I came home and relaxed and then went riding again. There is now a chance of rain/storms tomorrow so I took advantage of the dry weather today. I rode a short path that leads East out of the city to a golf course. It's a fun enough ride though I don't like my commute to get to the path. I then came back into town and rode three loops South. I logged 82 miles for today and must say that I had a great time.

 

[DonB]

He did not but we at least exchanged names and visited some about loving e-bikes. He was riding a Lectric foldable step through. I think it was this bike.

He is a retired commercial pilot from the Phoenix area that had retired in Kansas with his retirement money going so much farther than in AZ. Chuck was a super nice guy I hope to see more often. He was in love with his bike!

Yes a few homeowners in our community have Lectric bikes and they like it as well, they travel, so they like the ease of folding and getting it into their vehicles, and say they are pretty reliable and serve it's purpose. If I recall i believe they said they paid around 1K for them, but don't quote me on it.

 

[olbriar]

He is a retired commercial pilot from the Phoenix area that had retired in Kansas with his retirement money going so much farther than in AZ. Chuck was a super nice guy I hope to see more often. He was in love with his bike!

Yes a few homeowners in our community have Lectric bikes and they like it as well, they travel, so they like the ease of folding and getting it into their vehicles, and say they are pretty reliable and serve it's purpose. If I recall i believe they said they paid around 1K for them, but don't quote me on it.

My bike is far from portable. I purchased a heavy duty bike rack that attaches to a vehicle that has a hitch. There are limited racks designed to carry the weight of a full size e-bike. The racks are heavy due to the bold construction. My bike will not fit in the back of my wife's Jeep Renegade without hanging out the back. I love my full size bike, but by nature, transporting the bike is a real hassle at best. If anticipated, the transport can be accommodated. In an emergency situation, transport is very limited.
I have no idea if I would like a smaller fold up bike. I would explore the smaller bike options if I were buying again. I'm very spoiled to my ride. The smaller bike would likely fall short of pleasing me. However, the ability to haul the bike would weigh in heavily on a purchase decision.

 

[olbriar]

I rode today but the majority of my riding window was consumed by necessary bike maintenance. I went out to ride only to find that I had a flat. I removed the back wheel and broke the tire down and pulled the punctured tube out. I could not see anything in my tire and carefully running my hand inside the tire I could feel nothing. I was leery of replacing the tube to have it punctured by whatever got the other tube. I aired up the flat tube and found the puncture. I laid the tube over the the tire and marked the tire where the tube had been punctured and still couldn't find the flat causing culprit. Giving up I put another tube in the tire and aired it up. I went to put it back on the bike and to my dismay I found that I had zero brake pads left on the rear. Fortunately, I had another set of brake pads. By the time I had fixed my flat and done a brake job it was already eleven am. I rode one loop South and came home and started my dinner smoking. I then rode two more loops South and came home to take care of my cook. It had become pretty windy and I could see that weather clouds were building. I called it a day. At least I didn't get rained on while riding.
The replacement charger showed up in time to charge the battery I used today. It did it's thing and ran a lot cooler than the other two chargers that were originally shipped with a Juiced bike. I think I'll like the new charger. A week or two using it should tell the tale of good or bad.

 

[olbriar]

It was very wet this morning following yesterday's rain. I didn't get to mow until after noon and had no time to ride before dinner. I got in a good ride after dinner. It had cooled off a little and the wind had died down to make a great evening to be on the bike. I only saw two other cyclists tonight. I rode 44 miles of pure enjoyment tonight.

 

[olbriar]

I rode 22 miles this afternoon. My back was killing me so I called it a day. It happens sometimes that my back is out of whack and I can usually work it out. Two loops of pain was enough. I ate an early dinner hopping it will back off and I can ride some more.

I manned up and went riding after dinner. My back was feeling better so I rode three loops. I saw a number of riders tonight. It was a nice evening to be riding. I saw the elderly trike lady and a guy on a sweet looking road bike. I saw a couple of other riders as well.

I visited a rider today while I was mowing. One of today's lawns is just a couple of houses away from a main city street. I saw the guy ride by on that street as I was walking to the rear of the trailer to let down the ramp. By the time I had the mower off of the trailer he was there beside me on his bike. He offered to trim the yard while I was mowing for five bucks. It's a nice yard so I said no thanks. He said he was just riding through town and never misses a chance to make a buck or two. He went on to say that he was on his way home to North Carolina. He had ridden his bike to California and was now heading home. So we stood there and talked bikes. My story was I love to ride and it's a chance to add a day or two to my life. His story was he sold everything he owned and took off riding in hopes to escape his drug habit. He said I'm clean and can face anything without drugs. Between me the bike and the road I figured it out. He wished me luck and I wished him luck and he started to ride off. I hollered at him and gave him five bucks. Oddly enough, on my first return leg toward home this evening, I saw a young male and female couple heading South on their bikes. Both bikes were loaded down with what looked to be sleeping bags and such. Three migrating cyclists in one day. The only riders I've ever seen on the move.

 

[olbriar]

The rains yesterday kept me from riding. I almost got my work done when it started raining again and into the night. It was raining when I got up this morning and I thought oh boy, here we go again. I quit raining around noon and was almost dry enough to mow by one so I worked my way though today's lawns and the one I didn't get to yesterday. I fixed dinner, ate, and then went riding. I ran out of sunlight just a few miles before I ran out of battery. I rode off the remaining charge, using my headlight, and put the bike up. It was a nice night and I saw four or five cyclists while I was riding. I logged my normal four loop 42 mile ride. My odometer read 19,026 miles when I turned the bike off tonight. The last thousand miles took me 25 days where I've been riding a K in less than 20 days. Between getting rained out a few days and less sunlight hours, it has cut down my riding time.