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E-Bikes

Today was very hot. The first triple digit day of many I'm afraid. I mowed my lawns and came home and rehydrated :) I didn't even cook dinner. I ordered a pizza I was being such a slug. After dinner I went riding. I took my best battery and rode it home on fumes. I logged 47 miles. It was 103° when I left and only 89° when I got home. Oddly, there was zero traffic on the sidewalk. :)

My third loop I pulled into the doggie park to get a drink. They have a very nice non refrigerated water fountain there. It has a little guy fountain, a water bottle fountain, a big person fountain, and a place to fill up a water bowl. I rode past two ladies and a dog on their way from the parking lot to the dog park. After getting a drink I walked back to my bike to find the elderly lady staring at my bike. She asked how I liked it and naturally that spawned a lengthy conversation. She has an interest in acquiring an e-trike and was quizzing me for information. I have not shopped trikes and really know little about them. I know what I would be looking for if I were in the market.
I tried to give her some good advice. The worst part about shopping for an e-bike or trike around here is you are at the mercy of less than a hand full of retailers where you can do a hands on and maybe even a test ride. That hands on luxury costs around a couple of grand more than comparable bikes on the net. It's scary to be a consumer!

I took the incorrect brake purchase to my local ups store this morning before mowing. I said that I have an amazon return, I showed the return qr code that was on my phone to the young lady, she scanned it, gave me a receipt, and whiz bang it was a done deal. Before I got home I had an email stating that I had successfully returned the item and should receive my refund by tomorrow. I have never returned anything to amazon. I was pleased with the ease of the process. I hope I don't make such a blunder in the future. The replacement brakes are to be delivered tomorrow. With some luck, I'll get them installed and bedded in. I'm more than anxious to have a functional front brake again. I reach for it every time I want to brake.
 
There was no riding today. I awoke to an early morning thunderstorm. It has rained a little to a lot at times the entire day. The temperature had fallen from eighty two degrees at midnight to fifty eight this morning. The high today was sixty three, wet and overcast. My brake delivery showed it was out for delivery so I pulled my front wheel off of the bike and brought it in. I removed the old rotor that I had reinstalled to keep the threaded mounting holes clean while riding. I got all of the tools out to install the new and waited... and waited. I brought up the tracking around six pm and it still showed out for delivery with an expected time between nine and ten. That's crazy. I can't imagine anyone needing an ordered item at that time of night. Oh well.
I hope to get the rotor installed tonight. I'm scheduled to take my wife's jeep in for service in the morning, then I have todays lawns to mow, and with some luck I will then have time to install my brakes.

I received an email at 8:54 saying my delivery was attempted. Unfortunately, we ran into an issue when attempting your delivery. We will try again tomorrow.

I can't imagine what "issue" they ran into. Perhaps they broke a nail or were simply not in the mood. 🤣
 
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While I waited for the water to dry from the grass, I ran to Lowes and found the correct size and thread for a little bolt that vibrated out of my display clamp. It was too long so I had to cut it down. I then went mowing. I hadn't been home fifteen minutes when my brakes showed up. I put the rotor on the front wheel and proceeded to install the caliper and the lever/reservoir. These brakes are shipped with the brake fluid pre bled. I watched videos and assumed that the cap on the line to the caliper would pierce when tightened into the lever. That was wrong!! Without instructions I tightened it in but it wasn't about to pierce. Instead it was supposed to be unscrewed. Sooo.. I ruined the end of the hydraulic line. It was longer than needed so I ordered a set of barbs and olives to make up a new end once I cut the old off... five bucks and change. Supposed to be delivered Sunday. Live and learn.
Next I discovered that the cutoff wire from the brake is the male half of a two pin connection and the wire from the controller is also a male two pin. I'm on Amazon again to order two female to female two pin cables. I had hoped for adapters but no such luck. I'm supposed to receive the cutoff connectors by the 9th of July. If it sounds like I'm having fun.. I'm not. I was out of time so I put my tools up and cooked dinner.

I went riding after dinner. It was a nice evening and riding was fun. It was cool and the sidewalk had riders and walkers enjoying it. When I was finishing my third loop I could see some dark clouds to my North. It looked to be raining as well. It was far enough away that it wasn't a thread. About the time I got into town and contemplating another loop, the wind suddenly came violently from the North. It was a cold wind and was making riding difficult as the gusts almost swept the bike out from under me a time or two. I decided to head on home. I felt certain it was going to rain but somehow it didn't. It did drop the mid eighties into the sixties which seemed pretty cold dressed in shorts.

Tomorrow, I plan to install the rear brakes. I might as well find out what else can go wrong so I can order more parts. :) I should be able to install the brake but it won't shut the motor off. There are riders that think brake cutoffs are just a problem waiting to happen. The other camp thinks the brakes last longer without fighting any rider delay in pedaling when braking. I figure the bike came with cutoffs for a reason.
Once I get the female to female patch cords, I'll use them if I can. The wiring could easily be exactly backwards and there is no fixing that. However, upon inspecting the cutoff from the original brake I removed, it looks to be a magnet switch. It either breaks or makes a complete circuit when the lever is pulled. It's DC so polarity shouldn't be a factor. (that's my guess anyway) I'll know the answer sometime in mid July... sheesh.
 
Today was a better day in the olbriar bike shop. It took some time to remove the existing rear brake and install the new. I didn't encounter any problem and the brakes work fine. The lever has more travel before braking than it should. I suspect there is a bit of air in the line. It will bubble into the highest point which is the reservoir after a few rides. I don't have a bleeding kit but I can get most of the air out by adding more mineral oil. I will probably have to do the same thing to the front brake when I get it working... hopefully tomorrow.

I took the bike out and bedded the back brake in. It's a matter of coming to a few quick stops just short of locking up the wheel. It beds a microscopic layer of brake pad onto the rotor which aids in braking and keeps the brake quiet. I returned home, put up my tools, changed clothes and went riding. It was nice and the wind wasn't ruining it for everyone. It wasn't crowded on the sidewalk but I wasn't the only person on it for a change. I enjoyed 46 miles of fun before I was low on battery.

I had a new tube ordered to repair a flat on my mower velke I use at the cabin. It had arrived while I was riding so I installed it, fixed dinner, and ate. I then went riding again. It had gotten a bit windy and that thinned the sidewalk users. I think I only saw one cyclist and two walkers. I managed to get 46 miles out of my original battery, much to my surprise. The bike is running good and it shows with the better battery mileage. Ninety two miles out of the two oldest batteries today is great.

I hope to go riding in the morning. I'm smoking a rack of beef ribs and will have a four to five hour window without needing attention. I'd like to get the front brake functional but it all depends on the timing of the parts delivery. It's also father's day so my local kids will likely be by. My best shot is to ride before parts and company.
 
It rained 3.57" of rain early this morning. The front put on quite a light show with wind that took out branches and a few trees about town. It was super wet and riding was out of the picture. My two children that live local came by with their significant other and spent most of the afternoon. I needed to be home to tend to my beef ribs I was smoking. My parts and the tool were delivered to fix my brakes while my kids were here. It took no time to finish the brake job once my company left. I had a short window while my rack was resting and I rode two quick loops. I came home and we ate dinner and then I went riding again. I rode until it was almost dark and I was nearly out of battery. Between the two rides I logged 65 mile.

I had fun riding today. It was mostly overcast sky with nearly zero wind. The temperature reached 88° at it's peak which is ideal for riding. There were more people out enjoying the weather today. I saw three different mom, pop, and kids groups riding as well as five or six single cyclists. There were numerous dog walkers and lone walkers and joggers out today as well. It was fun seeing so many people enjoying the day.

After my first ride, I tried to top off my brakes. Both levers do nothing for half of their travel. All the braking happen with the second half of the pull. There is plenty of braking power but I'm not accustomed to partially pulling the lever without a little braking happening. Adding fluid didn't gain me a thing. Neither reservoir seemed short of fluid. I'll have to do some R&D on the brakes. They might be designed to be braking the way they are. I will say that both levers act exactly the same. I am very happy with the braking function. I can stop the bike faster than I ever could with the old brakes. They run quite and I don't mind not having the cutoffs functioning. I'll use the female to female patch cords I ordered when they come in. If they work, I'll keep them installed. If not.... I'll just live without.
 
I researched my half pull brakes last night. With half of the lever travel being soft or non braking is either worn out brake pads, low on liquid, or air in the line. I know the pads are new and I have topped off the brake fluid in both brakes. That only leave air in the line as the culprit. I tried driving the air to the top of the reservoirs without any luck. I ordered a bleed kit for the brakes. It increases the fluid capacity and lets you tap on the lines and pump the brakes to get the air to bubble to the added reservoir. For twelve bucks, I will give it a try.

It rained again early this morning so it was too wet to ride or mow. It was one pm when the grass was dry enough to mow. I was late getting my mowing done and eating dinner. I went riding after dinner but I didn't dress warm enough and called it once I got cold. It only dropped into the upper sixties but with the wind chill it was too cold for shorts and a mesh jersey top. I logged thirty four miles. I met one rider my first loop and two joggers. It was a pretty evening to ride. I just didn't dress for the occasion.
 
So there's no bleed nipple on the calipers like on car brakes?

You could remove the caliper, elevate it, crack the line and pump the brake to get the air out, then tighten it. Doing that a few times should be enough. I suppose that functionally that is what the bleed kit will do.
 
Fox Mulder said:
So there's no bleed nipple on the calipers like on car brakes?

You could remove the caliper, elevate it, crack the line and pump the brake to get the air out, then tighten it. Doing that a few times should be enough. I suppose that functionally that is what the bleed kit will do.
Click to expand...
The bleed kit is nothing more than an added reservoir that screws into the access port of the brake. Pumping the lever and tapping on the lines forces the air to the high point of the system which is the kit while keeping the system submerged in fluid. For twelve bucks I've ordered the added reservoir, the converter to connect the kit to the brakes I have, and a stopper that fits into the kit to preserve the brake fluid once the air is purged so it can be reused.
 
It was boggy all day and then it rained. I waited until after noon before I started mowing. The grass was still wet and a couple of the yards were muddy in places. The ground has gone from being like concrete to being muddy and slick. I managed to mow all but one back yard that was just too muddy to put a mower on. When finished, I came home and employed my delivered bleeding kit. I would say it was over priced for such a simple design but it worked great. There was air in both brakes and the bleeder cup made removal easy. It started raining before I was done working so there wasn't a test ride. I can tell by the feel and it's easy to see the action of the front caliper that I'm all fixed up. I'll still try the cutoff patch cords when and if they arrive from China. I'm good with or without.
 
It rained again this morning so it was afternoon before I could mow. It was slow mowing with the wet grass and the soft ground so I didn't get home until dinner time. I went riding after dinner. As miserable as the day was, it was a beautiful evening. I rode with my best battery and logged 50 miles. The sidewalk was busy with walkers and joggers and I saw one lone rider and two different couples riding. It was a fun evening.

My brakes performed flawlessly. They are no longer mush but they still have some unnecessary lever travel before the pads make contact with the rotor. It is the way they are designed. I read that a fix is to remove the wheel and close the brakes without the rotor. Then gently pry them open enough to reinsert the wheel with the rotor. I just don't think I'll be doing that. The extra space will make the reinstall of the back wheel following a flat a lot easier. It also allows slight wheel wobble without the rotor ticking on the pads. I'm happy! I'm thinking my old brakes should have had more clearance. I will get accustomed to these brakes and love them.
 
It rained a third of an inch today. Most of it fell this morning but it sprinkled a bit here and there throughout the afternoon. I didn't get to mow at all today. Counting Sunday, so far 4.79" has fallen here and we have a system just North of here that might add to that. My buddy that I sold my first RCS to lives around ten miles North and just text saying he's closing in on two inches for today. It's starting to be a bit boggy.

I did go riding after dinner. I rode up my original battery which gave me 39 miles of fun tonight. I didn't see any cyclists on the sidewalk but I did see a number of pedestrians and one jogger. It was a nice night but super humid with a threat of rain my entire ride.

We have an early evening out planned with my son and his wife tomorrow. I am hoping I have a chance to get my lawns mowed first. I doubt that I get to ride tomorrow. I hate getting behind but that's the way it works sometimes.

I might get to ride and not mow tomorrow. Flash flood warnings blowing up my phone because over two inches of rain has fallen in the last half hour. ... sheesh!
 
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Before the rains moved out, a little over five inches fell in my area. There was flooding in the low areas as you can imagine. I waited as late as I dared to give the yards a chance to dry some before mowing. I started on the crummy yards and worked my way towards the the nicest of my Thursday lawns. It all worked out and I was home, showered and dressed when the kids came and picked us up. We were eating at a hot spot in town so we ate early to beat the crowd. I was home early enough that I had a chance for that ride I thought I wouldn't get to have.

I rode four loops and it was pretty much dark when I got home. There were a few walkers and dog walkers on the sidewalk but I didn't see any riders. It was humid with no wind and a pleasant upper seventies temp. I found a billfold tonight. It was in the road beside the curb in the town South. I stopped and picked it up. It was well worn. Being as it contained nothing at all, I suspect either the owner, or whoever cleaned it out if not the owner, tossed it out their window. I logged 47 miles today and hope I get to ride some more tomorrow.
 
It rained again early this morning but only .11". I rode early and being as there was zero wind, I did an experiment. I rode the battery down like usual but I rode entirely in #2 assist level, avoided using the throttle and I kept the bike under 20mph. The experiment would have proved better but the next to the last loop the wind started blowing from the South. My last loop it was blowing at least ten mph or more... I'm only guessing. The results of my test ride was eye opening all the same. I was riding with my second best battery that was getting around 35 miles use before the motor and brake change and then maybe 40 miles max with similar weather and my normal riding. Today, I logged 55 miles by riding in the next lower assist level and basically cruising instead of working hard at it. That really is a lot of difference. I like riding hard and pushing the bike... and myself. It comes at a mileage cost. The sidewalk was busy this morning. I liked that!

I spent the afternoon trying to get to my cabin to mow. Every avenue we attempted was closed due to high water. We gave up and then couldn't find a direct route home.
It was fun just driving around. I've lived in this area 73 years and actually traveled a couple of roads that I've never been on before today.

I wasn't hungry so I went riding again once we found our way home. I pretty much had my loops to myself. It had warmed into the low nineties with high humidity and a fairly strong South wind. It wasn't riding weather without some assistance. I rode 48 mile tonight to bring today's total to 103 miles.

I saw a funny... or not so funny sight on my way home after my last loop. I have to cross an East West four lane to go home. I was heading North and a truck was across the intersection signaling to turn East. I never consider I have the right of way on my bike so I waved him to turn in front of me. Behind his truck, he had a small trailer with a trampoline on its side standing straight up. It was a full size tramp so either 12' or 14' was standing up until he turned which put the surface of the trampoline catching that South wind I mentioned. The trampoline started to lean to the North and slowly fell onto the road though it was still strapped to the trailer. It twisted that trailer right off of his truck and he was in one lane and the tramp was in two lanes. Only the far right West bound was debris free. I thought about offering my assistance but quicky realized I was not going to be of any help. I have no idea how to fix that mess. Getting it off the road would be the priority. It's not like there was a twelve foot space to drag it to. I don't know if the trailer was ruined. I have no idea how long it would take to break down the tramp so it could be safely hauled. Bad deal....
 
Today was a miserable weather day. It was hot, windy, and humid. I spent the day working in the yard. I then cooked out and ate dinner. I wasn't going to ride but I decided I would be sorry if I didn't. I geared up and did battle with the wind and humidity. My station said it felt like 103° and the max gust was 28.9mph. Even riding an e-bike struggled to make the ride fun tonight. I saw nobody out during my ride.
It was that crummy. I logged 42 miles and I hope the heat dries out the humidity in a couple of days.
 
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