I don't really think lugging a folded-up Brompton around the shops is particularly practical - they're heavy, and even folded up they're still quite bulky (but much less so than a conventional bike).
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Bicycle ERA |OT| This Is Why
- Thread starter Jill Sandwich
- Start date
At least in london the scumbags drive around on mopeds and they'll jump off and will physically take the bikes from you. If it's locked up they'll take an angle grinder to the bike stand, not the lock.
Price doesn't really have too much impact on weight unless you are spending serious money on carbon. Generally road bikes will be under 10kg, mountain bikes will be around 15kg. Commuter bike will be around a road bike or a little heavier. Price just gets better components (or a brand name). Unless you are going to have to carry it up and down stairs or ride up hills everyday, weight isn't a major issue.
It's impossible to give anything other than general advice over the internet. If the aesthetics of a brompton is a big draw and you can easily afford it then you should concider it. I've never seen anyone riding one have a hard time. Probably best to test ride one first if you haven't already to make sure the image you have in your head about them is the reality of riding one.
The price of a normal bike varies wildly. You can get a decent bike for a lot less used (or even new online since there is still a lot of over stock from covid times). Brand new from a brand name bumps the cost up closer to brompton.
Order still processing but going to get a Titanium bike from BlackHeart https://blackheartbikeco.com/products/allroad-ti?variant=43801651282073
Going to start my journey for long distance rides.
Going to start my journey for long distance rides.
So my first stage of training for this year's events is complete and to be honest, I couldn't really have hoped it would go any better (at least not realistically).
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be at a higher FTP right now, but I've got to be realistic about how much I can improve that sort of thing at the age I'm at.
Just over a week until I ride coast to coast in Spain (bikepacking, self supported), and a ton I need to sort out.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to be at a higher FTP right now, but I've got to be realistic about how much I can improve that sort of thing at the age I'm at.
Just over a week until I ride coast to coast in Spain (bikepacking, self supported), and a ton I need to sort out.
Starting a new job next week, but ever since I accepted the offer, I've been thinking about my bike commute route and feasibility. I don't own a car. My Kona Rove ST is my ride or die buddy, and has been for years. Tricked out for errands, commuting, and bikepacking at all times of year. But the new commute is gonna be 8mi each way. 16mi round-trip. Like two or three times per week. Woof.
I live and work in a US West Coast metro area with good bike infrastructure. I've been on almost every part of the route that I'd be commuting on. When the weather is nice, it'll be a beautiful 50 minute commute each way. Alas, I've spent the last week researching and test riding a few different Class 3 ebikes. I feel like I'm betraying my Kona, but this feels like the natural next step for a car-free person who doesn't want a motorcycle or moped/scooter. Lots of amazing options from Specialized, Trek, Tern, and Gazelle available locally.
This has also been my first time on a Class 3 ebike. Holy shit, the Bosch Performance Sport motors kick HARD. Barely any effort to maintain 20mph. Easy to push up to 25mph cruising speed with good use of gears and finding comfy cadence.
Has anyone else gone through this process?
I live and work in a US West Coast metro area with good bike infrastructure. I've been on almost every part of the route that I'd be commuting on. When the weather is nice, it'll be a beautiful 50 minute commute each way. Alas, I've spent the last week researching and test riding a few different Class 3 ebikes. I feel like I'm betraying my Kona, but this feels like the natural next step for a car-free person who doesn't want a motorcycle or moped/scooter. Lots of amazing options from Specialized, Trek, Tern, and Gazelle available locally.
This has also been my first time on a Class 3 ebike. Holy shit, the Bosch Performance Sport motors kick HARD. Barely any effort to maintain 20mph. Easy to push up to 25mph cruising speed with good use of gears and finding comfy cadence.
Has anyone else gone through this process?
My ebike isn't class 3 nor is it a crazy performant ebike. I bought a cheap one just to build up a habit of commuting with it and see if it fits my lifestyle. I was convinced because of how much easier it made climbing some of the hills on my commute. I commuted far more with the ebike than my regular bike. That was last year and I am now considering spending more money to get a better bike this now as you can see in my earlier post. Honestly, I think if getting the ebike allows you to keep up your riding habit easier, then it is worth it. After all, it is your car replacement for commute, so you want to make sure it's a nice experience. You are improving your health, maintaining the environment and so much more by continuing to bike.
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You know where the bike is from? If it from a department store like walmart, it wont be good for actual off-road trails. So it is best for simple travels.Trying to figure out what to do with this bike I own.
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It's actually a Gary Fisher Piranha from 2005ish. I bought it from a local bike shop right before I decided to road bike more. (Roads were easier to get to then trails to ride this on). Since then it's sat in my basement.
If I had any sort of bike repair skills I'd try to refit it to work as more of a gravel bike. Otherwise I'm trying to decide if it's worth selling or not
I put air in the tires and rode it around the block. It works fine but the gears could use some cleaning and adjustments.
Got it.
If you looking to sell, a good clean up will do and adjust the price if you selling it as is or you had a bike shop d a once over on it.
If you looking to sell, a good clean up will do and adjust the price if you selling it as is or you had a bike shop d a once over on it.
Wanna know how mad smart I am?
A creak randomly appeared on my road bike a few weeks ago. Tried to work out what it was whilst riding and guessed that it was either the headset or a chainring screw on the crank.
Finally could be arsed to clean the headset and take apart the crank this morning, went shopping tonight and the creak was still there and finally figured out what it was. Just the fucking seatpost...
A creak randomly appeared on my road bike a few weeks ago. Tried to work out what it was whilst riding and guessed that it was either the headset or a chainring screw on the crank.
Finally could be arsed to clean the headset and take apart the crank this morning, went shopping tonight and the creak was still there and finally figured out what it was. Just the fucking seatpost...
Had this problem a bunch of times. Seatpost is ok now but the rails in the seat creak so I have to pack the ends with grease to stop it lol
I bought a budget ebike when we moved a couple miles to the west - the subway was no longer walkable and I wanted to make my commute easier.
No regrets! I still like commuting with my acoustic bike when I have time for a shower at work and want the exercise, but the ebike is a great way to get to work quickly and in my work clothes. Takes about 30 minutes to go 7 miles each way on the ebike
Oh nice! Let us know how you find them.Have treated myself to a pair of Favaro Assioma pros.
Let's see how they hold up.
Urgh, I get tempted by ebikes every time the big hill on the way home kicks my ass.
Like, how noticeable is the difference?
Like, how noticeable is the difference?
It's doing virtually all of the work for you... how much difference do you think there will be? lol
(I should note this is also dependant on your country. A US e-bike is potentially very different to an EU one)
As noticeable as you want it to be and as it's configured to be.
If you turn the motor off, it's a bike. If you get a throttle-controlled ebike with a powerful motor, you can zoom up hills without pedaling.
If you get a fancy one that can drive the motor according to a pedaling torque sensor, you can feel like you're stronger than you are.
My manager found that out trying to show off to his partner who's an avid cyclist, he got home 20minutes after her after the batteries died and he'd bonk'd on the hill heading home, he'd been using battery to keep up rather than slow her down forgetting he would have to get it back up to their house.
That is true for many ebikes, especially ones with fat tires and all. Not all ebikes are significantly heavier compared to normal bikes. Probably wouldn't ride up hill on an ebike without motor support though :P
As a smol guy with a thing for light bikes, they're all significantly heavier than anything I'd ride!
Hooray.
I was planning on taking my bike over to my parent's tomorrow and going for a ride with my brother (first ride of the year).
Got home from work and noticed my left wrist started to hurt and feels a bit numb.
I really hope it's not early signs of carpal tunnel, because that's the last thing I need right now.
🙄
I was planning on taking my bike over to my parent's tomorrow and going for a ride with my brother (first ride of the year).
Got home from work and noticed my left wrist started to hurt and feels a bit numb.
I really hope it's not early signs of carpal tunnel, because that's the last thing I need right now.
🙄
It depends on the amount of assistance you dial in. At least with mine, the lowest assist level (eco) feels more like it's just compensating for the increased weight of the bike going uphill, so you can still sort of replicate the non-ebike feel if you want. Anything above that makes big hills much less of a misery.
Keep in mind that some of the higher-end ebikes people are talking about here (throttle-based or >25kph) are legally classed as mopeds in the UK and EU with licence requirements to match, so you don't see them around all that much.
I'm just looking for something to take the edge off when coming home.
I'm basically downhill all the way to work in the morning, I barely have to pedal at all. Journey home sucks though 😂
Tempted by one of the Boardman ebikes, if only because it's a Boardman I'm riding now. My local Halfords seems to have an offer on where they'll give me 25% off if I trade in, which seems to represent ridiculous value.
One guy in the office has a "cheap" Apollo ebike and describes the sensation as a friend constantly behind you, giving you a push.
I was against the idea last year, I figured after a few weeks I'd conquer the hills and barely feel it, get fit and recapture my youth. It's not happening. Facing the fact you are middle aged and hilariously out of shape is sobering, especially when pushing a bike up a hill while a twenty something tears past you on a Trek ebike!
I'm basically downhill all the way to work in the morning, I barely have to pedal at all. Journey home sucks though 😂
Tempted by one of the Boardman ebikes, if only because it's a Boardman I'm riding now. My local Halfords seems to have an offer on where they'll give me 25% off if I trade in, which seems to represent ridiculous value.
One guy in the office has a "cheap" Apollo ebike and describes the sensation as a friend constantly behind you, giving you a push.
I was against the idea last year, I figured after a few weeks I'd conquer the hills and barely feel it, get fit and recapture my youth. It's not happening. Facing the fact you are middle aged and hilariously out of shape is sobering, especially when pushing a bike up a hill while a twenty something tears past you on a Trek ebike!
Tis the season. Nothing like getting one in your eye to tell you the weather has changed.
That's one of the reasons that I always wear glasses when cycling, even if it's just clear lenses.
If you have a Decathlon near you, try their cheapo cycling glasses, which are about a fiver. They do normal sunglasses, transparent ones, and yellow ones. I've not had any problems with them fogging up myself.
https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/st-100-mtb-sunglasses-category-0-transparent/_/R-p-129779?mc=8118518
Just started riding my new e-bike to work. Its about 26 miles roundtrip but its 95% riding on canal trails with the occasional road to cross over so a very "easy" ride especially with the e-bike assisting. I can make it one way in a little under an hour. I've been back on cardio in general for a year and a half so this is a great way to save some mileage and gas money on my car while also getting in a solid 2 or so hours of cardio in between my gym/workout days.
Well here's the unboxing...
The package
The internal box
The pedals
Congrats! My Assioma pedals have been flawless since I bought them at launch. They're fantastic.Well here's the unboxing...
The package
The internal box
The pedals
These pedals are expensive because they have built in power meters - hardware that tells you how much power you're putting through the pedals as you cycle, which is desirable for particularly keen cyclists who are training, racing or otherwise looking to monitor or maximise their effort. A pretty niche item for your average cyclist, though.
And the pedals in Frontieruk 's pic are actually more like £750 than £400 - you do get a £400ish version which only monitor power on one side, whereas the £750 version that Frontier has monitor both sides independently.
I've treated myself for the Garmin cycling dynamics for the independent sides, from my experience I prefer heart rate over power for monitoring rides as ongoing, but power is an interesting metric as power | speed can actually react independently to each other and reviewing rides can actually show you how to use your power more efficiently.
Minmaxing? Y'all are bonkers.
I'm just trying to get up a hill without sweating through my clothes 😂
I'm just trying to get up a hill without sweating through my clothes 😂
If you don't want the sweat to make it through the clothes, just use waterproof clothing!
Just to update as the final bill is just £630 for the pedals, I'd guessed at £750 total after import so I'm £120 up on that 😁
That's pretty sweet, did you get them directly from Favero then?
Yes, was just under £520 for the pedals the rest was tax and handling fee
It's not too tricky really.
One tip though, when you are replacing the bleed port cover on the levers, it really, really only needs nipping up, and it's super easy to over-tighten and strip the hex bolt head (which will result in bad times for you).
I finally got my tow-hitch and bike rack on my car, and was able to how my bike out for the first ride of the year (that wasn't just around the block).
(that paved path does a loop around the fenced field).
Nothing super difficult, but a good way to ease back in.
(that paved path does a loop around the fenced field).
Nothing super difficult, but a good way to ease back in.
Right, this is the season I get my fat arse back on the bike more regularly. The weather is good, the Quantocks are literally just over there so I have no reason other than pure lazy.
Also just bought my daughter her first 'decent' mountain bike, she's been coming with me on some gentle forays around the area on her knackered, too small, 10th hand horror bike, a very old and shabby Carerra Blast (and she's been doing great to be fair), but she wants to do more and go for longer so I got her a Carerra Vengeance. 14 inch frame so actually fits her, proper trigger shifters rather than the fucking awful grip shifters she's been stuck with so far, basic suspension that isn't wrecked etc.
Carerra/Halfords are fine I guess. I could doubtless have got something better second hand for similar money - but she had her heart set on this one, she's been making a beeline for it and lusting over it every time we go to Halfords for car things for the last year; also they were doing that 25% trade in, so we essentially got £100 for her ratty old bike making the new one £285 so I was happy enough and she is very excited.
Need to give mine (YT Capra) the once over now, needs a proper deep clean, lube, could do with some more brake pads, need to run set up the suspension again as I'm a bit heavier than I was last year, etc etc.
Also just bought my daughter her first 'decent' mountain bike, she's been coming with me on some gentle forays around the area on her knackered, too small, 10th hand horror bike, a very old and shabby Carerra Blast (and she's been doing great to be fair), but she wants to do more and go for longer so I got her a Carerra Vengeance. 14 inch frame so actually fits her, proper trigger shifters rather than the fucking awful grip shifters she's been stuck with so far, basic suspension that isn't wrecked etc.
Carerra/Halfords are fine I guess. I could doubtless have got something better second hand for similar money - but she had her heart set on this one, she's been making a beeline for it and lusting over it every time we go to Halfords for car things for the last year; also they were doing that 25% trade in, so we essentially got £100 for her ratty old bike making the new one £285 so I was happy enough and she is very excited.
Need to give mine (YT Capra) the once over now, needs a proper deep clean, lube, could do with some more brake pads, need to run set up the suspension again as I'm a bit heavier than I was last year, etc etc.