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E-Bikes

I've been working around the recent rains and managing getting in a daily ride or two. It has been nice weather temperature wise but uncomfortably humid.
Much to my delight, I've seen an e-bike and sometimes two a day while I'm mowing or riding. I love seeing them become more popular. The more consumers the cheaper they will become. The more riders will create the need for better bike paths and designated lanes. All good stuff
 
Tell me more about this rain stuff? Seriously, we haven't had any rain to speak of in a month now. Haven't cut my grass it 3 weeks and it still looks like I cut it yesterday.
 
I'm still way short of normal rainfall this year. We have watering restrictions in place because of the acute shortage of rain over the past two years. There has only been one substantial rain recently. It has rained a little which hasn't helped much beyond keeping the humidity high. This week my station recorded .53" of rain total from three mini storms. Just enough rain to keep the grass wet half of the day. It has complicated my mowing and riding schedule and nothing more.
 
No riding lately, weather must be crappy, LOL 🤔
 
DonB said:
No riding lately, weather must be crappy, LOL 🤔
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Since you asked... :)
I've had some good riding days and some not so good since I last posted. For the end of August, the weather has been better than most years. I've managed to ride some every day this past week and checking my logs I recorded 295 miles. I'm going to finish my coffee and ride this morning. I'm addicted!
I received a note from Juiced that the battery I want was back in stock. I have it ordered but haven't received a shipping notice. I miss having the spare battery and without it I've had to dial back my riding.
I partied with friends at the cabin yesterday and the guy that bought my spare bike was there. We talked bikes most all afternoon. He is in love with his bike and super grateful for the deal I gave him. He bought it the 18th and has put around 100 miles on the bike. That is quite a bit of riding for someone new to the sport. I didn't log my early miles on that bike but suspect it was similar riding. He said he is feeling better and breathing better. That made my day!
 
I came home from my first ride with the thought that I would ride again tonight. I started my cook for dinner and decided that I would do my second ride early. It was a beautiful day to be riding. I was at the max distance from home when I had a flat. I used my portable battery operated pump to air up the tire, put the controller in top assist, and pedaled as fast as I could towards home. I had to repeat that process only once to get home. I logged forty two miles today.
I have shopped a number of times for new tires for my bike. I've struggled between replacing my factory tires with similar tires or try to up my game and buy into what is billed to be a better tire. Reviews are all over the place so i haven't purchased until this afternoon. My indecision will keep me from riding until Friday. I refuse to replace the tube and not the tire only to repeat the process when I get new tires. The chore is the same for replacing the tube as replacing tire and tube. I ordered HEB ALLSCAPE 26X4 tires.
 
Just a bit about the tires I ordered... they are different than the factory tires. They are thicker with a stiffer sidewall. They are actually moped tires. They are billed as being more flat resistant and more like a motorcycle tire. That's the good if it is true. The bad is the difference it will make on the bike. Thicker means they are a small amount larger in diameter. That should mess with the odometer and speed. It is recommended to alter the settings in the controller to compensate for the oversized tire but I don't know if that's possible. Reviewers say it made little to no difference in the readings and some say it should be compensated for if possible. In the scheme of things, I ride as fast as I want and though I log my mileage it's not a big factor if it's not absolutely accurate. The more concerning factor is thicker tire is also heavier tire. They weigh close to a pound more than the original tires. Some reviewers say be prepared to lose a bit of mileage per charge and others say they could not detect any difference. And the last bad is they are more difficult to mount on the wheel. Being stiff they can easily have high and low spots in relation to the wheel when mounted. This creates a bumpy ride because of the out of round you are riding on. It takes extra care to see that the tires are properly mounted to avoid the problem. All of the above hassles cost around an extra sixty bucks for a set of tires.

My buddy that bought my original bike said there is no way he would consider buying the tires I have ordered. He has yet to experience the nightmare of a flat which might well change his mind. It is nearly impossible to walk the bike with a flat tire. Leaving the bike and walking home is not a good option. No amount of money or hassle comes close to being a waste if they truly deter flats. I would be a buyer for hard rubber tires if they were available for my bike... it's that terrible to have a flat away from home.
 
I was notified that my tires have shipped. They are now supposed to show up tomorrow instead of Thursday. I'm excited to get them mounted and to give them a try. I'm mostly excited to ride again. Two days off have been brutal.
 
olbriar said:
I was notified that my tires have shipped. They are now supposed to show up tomorrow instead of Thursday. I'm excited to get them mounted and to give them a try. I'm mostly excited to ride again. Two days off have been brutal.
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Hope it all work out and worth the change. I know you will figure it out, I'll be curious to hear about the results and if you notice a difference in the ride.
 
That's a lot of bike! It has a price tag that matches too! Crazy power!

I got my new tires today, mounted them, and gave them a test ride. I hope they save me from countless flats. Otherwise, I'm not really very happy with them. They were harder to mount but doable. They are definitely a thicker heavier tire than the stock tires. I didn't explore editing the controller settings for the larger diameter tire so my 21 mile loop showed 22 miles. I think I can edit that but it's not a biggie to me. What proved to be a biggie is the extra weight of the tires. Though videos assured me that wouldn't effect my ride or battery life they were lying. I could definitely feel the difference when pedaling and my 50 mile range on a charge became 40. That's a 20% decrease and frankly I would not have purchased the tires if I had known.
My every day ride is ... or was... two 21 mile rides. I had eight miles left to mess around with. Now I can't even ride my normal ride. I'm pissed. The tires are noisy though they do a great job holding the road. They have a harmonic vibration that runs through the bike at higher speeds that I'll get accustomed to. They are super good looking and I hope do a great job avoiding flats. I'll know more when I ride more. If I just can't stand the new tires, I'll replace them and chalk it up to a lesson learned.
 
I'm surprised that Juice doesn't have a better option for tires for you.
 
DonB said:
I'm surprised that Juice doesn't have a better option for tires for you.
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They have tires for sale that are shipping on their bikes now. Nothing wrong with them and I should have gone with them. I only went looking for something more flat resistant. I'm certain what I bought will be a better product in that regard. Time will tell if the difference is worth the compromises. On another note, I found the tire offered by Juiced cheaper on Amazon.
 
I logged 55 miles today. That is 15 more miles than my battery had yesterday. Obviously, my battery wasn't fully charged yesterday. It showed that it was charged but my charger is showing it's age... or use... and with the slightest bump come unplugged at the brick lead to the battery and will show charged. It must have been the case. The rides were identical. I'm not nearly so upset with my purchase now.

There is a problem with the tires however. I mentioned that they have a harmonic vibration that travels through the bike at higher speeds. It actually starts around 23mph. The vibration is not a big deal and it didn't really bother me today. I'm pretty sure that the vibration is a big problem however. Yesterday, for the first time in seven thousand miles riding my bike, I had my left Bose earbud fall out of my ear while riding. It took me a half hour crawling through the grass along my path to find it. I thought nothing more about it until the right bud fell out tonight. My ears have not changed and I'm not sweating like crazy as I was a month ago. I have to blame it on the vibration. My wife suggested duct tape. :) All jokes aside, I'm not in the mood to crawl around looking for them and know there will come a time where one will be lost. I can't think of an acceptable solution.
 
olbriar said:
They have tires for sale that are shipping on their bikes now. Nothing wrong with them and I should have gone with them. I only went looking for something more flat resistant. I'm certain what I bought will be a better product in that regard. Time will tell if the difference is worth the compromises. On another note, I found the tire offered by Juiced cheaper on Amazon.
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I know they sell tires, Just thought they would have more Flat resistance options if wanted.
 
Back to square one. I am certain my battery was fully charged and yet I was only able to ride 42 miles. Yesterday my battery received a supplementary 90-120 minute charge between rides. I can't imagine that adding thirteen miles to my ride but perhaps it did. I'll ride my 21 and charge close to two hours and ride again. If I can't duplicate my 55 mile ride something very weird is going on.
 
I'm still testing my mileage. I rode this morning and again this afternoon. I replicated the 90 minute bump charge between rides. I rode 50 miles on the two charges. I also adjusted my front tire not long into my first ride. I don't know just how it was impacting my ride but I noticed that the front tire was not quite straight and ticked the frame once ever revolution. Not to the point that it was marking the side wall of the tire but it had to be producing some friction. I should and will check that the back tire is running true. Both seem to be true but the slightest wobble could have the disk brake rubbing.

I received a shipping update from Juiced. My new battery is on it's way and should be delivered Tuesday. It will be interesting to evaluate the degradation of the old battery after seven thousand miles and countless charging cycles compared to a brand new one.
 
I thought I detected a slight drag during my morning 22 mile ride. I adjusted both the front and rear brakes when I returned. They are made to move and tightened down to provide the max clearance when the brake isn't engaged.
It would be far easier to adjust if I wasn't without glasses and waiting for my cataract surgery. It would also be far easier if my hearing aids weren't in transit for repair. I had to set them over and over again to finally feel friction/vibration free. It made a difference even if they aren't perfectly set. I did my 90 minute bump charge between rides and then rode an additional 37 miles. 59 miles total... I won't complain.

It was in the low sixties this morning and I saw quite a few riders. The doctors have my blood so thin that I had to bundle up before riding. I was cold and cold weather is still months out. I don't know how I will keep warm this winter. I hope I can figure something out. I have asked for the blood thinning meds to be backed off but they freak out and say no way.. not for months yet. What a bummer.
 
Just take an 81mg EC Aspirin a day,& you'll be fine*

*Please note : I am not a health care professional, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
 
Bearsyzf said:
I've been on blood thinning meds for years now.
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I'm on a slow release asprin and Plavix. Between the two I look like I've been in a couple of fights and lost both. I've been banned from sitting on the furniture because I bleed somewhere all of the time. If you look at my bed sheets you start wondering where the horse head is. I like staying alive but this is ridiculous.

I rode my 22 mile loop this morning and plan to ride again tonight. I'm omitting the recently added bump charge between rides. The hope is that after fine tuning the bike I can once again ride 45 miles on a single charge.
 
Success!! The brake adjustments was the fix. I rode my two loops to the town South and then finished ridding off the battery charge in town. It was a very typical day's riding before the new tires and I logged the same amount of miles. It wasn't the tires after all. The wheel seating is just enough different that the brakes were rubbing a bit. Friction is a drag :)
 
I rode twice today logging 46 miles. I had battery left for a couple of more miles but I called it a ride. It was pretty windy today so I didn't see but a couple of other riders. It's been a good year so far for low winds for Kansas.
Winds take the fun out of riding a traditional bike and lessen the fun on an e-bike.

I checked on my battery shipping early this afternoon. It managed to make it to Kansas but not to me. I don't know what caused the delay but delivery has been changed from today to Thursday. I'm anxious to have a back up but I'm not desperate.
 
I only got to ride once today. Besides being very windy this afternoon, I had company this evening that prevented the evening ride. I did receive my spare battery this afternoon, a day earlier than their second guess. It has been charging since it's arrival. It just now showed a full charge. I'll likely ride with it tomorrow and with some luck have a chance to test it's range.
 
I find this amazing. I rode twice yesterday on the new battery. I could see no difference between the new and the old. It was pretty windy and I rode pretty hard. I fully expected a few more miles on a full charge even though I pushed it. I was wrong. I guess that's why I could see no difference between the batteries on the two bikes and why I never noticed any less miles on a charge through time. I took a rough count of charge cycles on the original battery and counted 140. It provides the same power/miles as the new battery with it's first charge. Crazy!
I rode twice today and it was nearly dark when I finished. I'm pretty sure that I ran out of brake pads on my rear brake on my last ride. I'll investigate and do some R&D tomorrow. With some luck, I will be able to replace the pads and be good to go. I'm guessing around 50-75 bucks for a pair of pads for the bike.
 
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