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E-Bikes

The inevitable happened this afternoon at the 19,975 mile mark. The bike quit. It became completely unresponsive to torque or cadence. The motor was still working and I limped home on the throttle. In hopes the sensor was needing cleaning I attempted to remove it from the bike. Not knowing just how it should be removed, It had a couple of the six hair strand like wires pulled from the sensor when I got it loose. Either that was the problem or I pulled the wires lose. It is beyond cleaning now. I brought it in and hoped to gain access to the sensor to reattach the wires but It is sealed and there is no possible repair. I think I have a replacement located. It says it is for Juiced bikes but doesn't mention any specific models. I left a message to make certain they say it will work on my bike and I will order it or continue looking. I noticed the other day that the wire leading to the sensor had slack in line that I didn't remember it having. I also tried to clean it on the bike which once removed I see is impossible without pulling the rear wheel. Live and learn... I hope their sensor is correct and ultimately hope that it fixes the bike.

It was a fair day to ride. I ate breakfast with some classmates this morning, wrapping up the big reunion weekend. I came hope and went riding... I was ready. :) I drained one battery and was in town after four loops with the second battery when the bike became unresponsive. I saw my trike buddy Tim this morning and nobody this afternoon. It started out windy and became worse as the day progressed. I logged 83 miles today. I don't know when I might get to ride again. 😢
 
I'm beginning to think that the site I contacted is a fly by night outfit. I didn't expect someone to be sitting and waiting for my sensor query but I thought they would respond. They sell a RipCurrent base model and two of their own branded bikes that look to be the same brand that I'm riding. I'm all but certain they are selling a rebranded Juiced bike. I'd like to get the sensor ordered... it might be in China.
Every day I wait is another day that the riding window is closing.

I tried riding my bike without the battery weight and managed to ride it around the block. The bike simply wasn't designed to ride without some assistance. My son is out of town on vacation. I texted him in hopes he still has my old Giant Iguana bike. He borrowed it years ago and I haven't seen it since. It will take some work to make the bike safe to ride, if he still has it. The tire rubber will be suspect and it has typical rim brakes that I'm sure the rubber is hard as a rock. But... if the bike is still around, I'll try to bring it back into riding condition. I think I have the legs now to ride it. It was a state of the art bike 35 years ago. Most of the bike is carbon fiber so it's light and designed to ride without assistance.
 
I never heard back from the company. I'm left with less than a confident feeling I'll get the sensor. I'm not even certain it is the right sensor. I took some pictures of what I have and compared it to what they have and just by looks it's the right thing. I read their return policy.. if returned in it's original packing it will cost me shipping and a 20% restocking fee.. 34 bucks. My only shipping option was their free 6-8 day shipping. I paid with PayPal so I have them to help if I'm getting ripped off.

On a more positive note, I heard back from my son and my old bike is somewhere in his shed :). It will be a fun project to breath life back into that bike. I rode that bike daily for around two years before I missed a day. I rode three times around the city which was 21 miles way back then and then most weekends I took it cross country via county roads logging around 50 to 60 miles a trip. We went through a lot together.. rain... snow.. wind.. storms.. ice frozen in my beard.. you name it. Loved that bike. I hope I'm physically capable of riding that bike now. My buddy that bought my other RipCurrent S said he can't ride his ten speed. My Iguana is a carbon fiber bike with 21 gears. I hope that helps lol.
 
I brought the Giant Iguana home this afternoon. I wiped off most of the storage grime and had to replace both tubes. The rubber on the brakes was surprisingly good and the tires seem to still be good.
It is a 21 speed, non indexed geared bike. It was sitting in the middle sprocket gear and basically in the 4th rear hub gear when I tried riding it. (basically 11th gear) I could stand on the pedals and barely move forward. I know I don't have the strength I once had but I still weigh the same. Tomorrow I plan to clean and lube the chain. The chain is sticky. I hope that helps. It could be a lack of lube in the front sprocket. I'll leave that maintenance to a professional if it needs attention. The bike is in excellent shape considering it's been hanging in a shed for 30 years. I hope I can get it into riding shape. I rode around the block maybe six or seven times today and was worn out. The bike is mostly carbon fiber and weighs less than 15 pounds. It shouldn't be so difficult to pedal.

I heard from the place I ordered the cadence / torque sensor from tonight. They want a picture of the pin configuration from the sensor to confirm the one I ordered is correct. My son was over to watch the football game and I didn't get the email until way too late to address tonight. I'll grab a picture and send it to them tomorrow.

My 1990 Giant Iguana
Giant Iguana.jpg
 
So far, I'm about $25 invested in restoring the Iguana. I had to replace both tubes and now I've ordered new grips. The old grips have succumbed to environment exposure and the rubber compound in the original grips have turned into a goo. I suspect it was at least a decade ago when the bike was last ridden and my son had wrapped the grips with baseball bat tape. The adhesive on the tape has long since given up and I only speculate that the wrap was used because the grips were failing years ago. They are near paste like now and they stick to my hands. I rode twice today and had to scrub my hands to remove the grip goo. They aren't liquid but like a very thick tar. I removed a speedometer / odometer that I had added back in 1990. I might have been able to restore it but why?? I can barely ride the bike. :) I did repair a rear reflector / tail light. It needed new batteries and the contacts were corroded. I did a super clean on the chain and derailleur and reoiled them this morning. The old lube was sticky to the touch. I adjusted the front derailleur so it didn't struggle to move the chain onto the smallest chainring. Basically... I messed around and had fun cleaning and adjusting the old bike.

Once I had done all that I could do for the old girl, I put on my bike gear and went for a ride. I use the term ride loosely. :) It was more like taking a crawl than a ride. :) It is difficult for me to ride in the second set of seven gears and the third set is impossible. I rode in the first seven gears during both rides today. I was doing a lot of pedaling and not going very fast. Faster than a walk but not by much. My 73 year old bike legs simply say hell no on riding harder. I even stopped once to rest.
It is embarrassing but it is what it is. The e-bike has saved me from sitting and not riding. I feel like the king of the road on my e-bike and I feel ancient and slow on my Iguana.

I took a pic of the pins from the defuncted sensor and sent it off as requested. I told them, being as it hasn't been shipped and both sensors they sell are the same price, to please send me the correct sensor. I haven't heard back from them and it might well be another week before they respond again. They don't realize how desperate I am to ride... or they don't care.
 
I rode again late this afternoon. I did another four mini loops. That's eleven loops total. I put the Iguana up and took a look at the RipCurrent S and thought why not... I'm interested in how many miles I'm riding. I grabbed a battery and rode the same loop as the Iguana. I rode in second gear and used the throttle when I had to. I could have made the loop like the kids and never pedaled if I cared to. In any event, it was fun and comfortable riding the e-bike. I would not enjoy riding a road bike now. It feels like I'm standing on my hands. The idea is the rider isn't catching nearly as much wind when he/she is crouched over on the bike. That's fine but my hands go numb. Nope... not for me. The mini loop is .9 miles. So I rode the Iguana just under 10 miles today. That pretty much surprised me. I thought it would be less miles.
 
Update... I had ordered the wrong sensor. They had two for sale with one being black and the other red. I ordered the black that matched the color of the dead sensor but that was a wrong guess. I waited two days after contacting their support to request which one I needed before ordering. A week later they asked for a picture of the connector and they emailed again tonight saying that I had ordered the wrong one. Once confirmed they would ship the correct sensor from China next month... or refund my money. I immediately went shopping again. Though not shown as an item for sale, a fellow member of a facebook Juiced bike group had purchased one from Velowave where I bought my color display. I sent them an email asking if they still had them in stock. I also found the owner of the fb group had a bunch of the sensors for sale. He had a page that accepted credit/debit cards, Venmo, and PayPal. He had both sensors for sale.. the wrong one I had ordered and the correct one. I ordered from him and answered the support email offering to reimburse and kindly asked for that to happen. My wife is shaking her head. I read that the typical sensor life is less than 400 hours. I have over a thousand hours on my sensor. I doubt I need two new sensors, but if it came to that, I won't be sorry. I need to ride. The sensors cost around two hundred bucks each. Not the end of the world.

Watching the never ending ball game on TV, I received emails that my funds had been reimbursed by PayPal as well as the Napune site. Now to get the new sensor and hope it is a perfect fit.
 
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I rode a few mini loops on the e-bike yesterday. I only used the throttle when necessary and rode in first and second gear. I suffered leg craps in the night so I guess I worked harder than I thought. It felt good to ride some. I'm an addict.
 
The new grips I had ordered for the Iguana came in this afternoon so I installed them. I put the bike in the rack and worked on the gear shifters. I oiled the actual levers and oiled the moving parts of both the front and rear derailleurs. I was pedaling and changing gears and I could hear a click click and finally isolated the sound to the bottom bracket bearings. I have always called it the crank case bearings. I stopped and tried wiggling the cranks and there is play as well as the noise. It's worn out.
I rode the bike a million miles back in the day... and I'm sure the grease is hard as a rock. It's no wonder that with my weight on the bike it's so difficult to ride. With the ability to easily change gears, I took the bike for a ride. Using the gears as they were intended I could ride the bike. It actually rides pretty well once you get up to a respectable speed. Obviously, the bottom bracket bearings and repacking needs to happen. I did my R&D on the project. It's doable but I would need to purchase some specialized tools. I would only use them once which seems a waste. It would take some serious research to purchase the correct bearings if they can be bought. It would take some working knowledge to know if the retention system housing the bearing cranks are left or right thread. And last but not least, the crank could be pitted where the worn bearing or bearings have been chattering and need to be replaced. It's more project than I care to take on for a one shot repair. I'll hand the bike over to the professionals to rebuild it. I'm actually pleased to discover the bike has a problem.
Not that I'm in the riding shape I was 35 years ago when the bike was new, but I might be in better shape than the bike. :)
 
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