It's a bright chilly morning and I've already (at 10:30) covered 8 miles pottering about locally. There is a brisk wind blowing which has given me a good indication of how the bike will deal with headwinds and the answer is splendidly. The local hills which have been stealing my breath turn out to be small slopes, gentle gradients, mere nothings - and then I turned the motor off! This bike is just exactly what I wanted, and need. I'm going to really enjoy getting fit with it. Everything is solid and refined and the motor is so close to silent that one can forget it. One minor catastrophe, the prop stand has snapped in half. When it happened I thought I must have simply omitted to tighten a screw, and creaking down on my knees I spent 10 minutes trying to work out how the two pieces slid together before I realised that it had broken. The surface shows clearly that it was a faulty casting and I have contacted 50 cycles to tell them about it. My legs are feeling distinctly wobbly and I shall leave it now until this afternoon when I shall go as least as far again. Just off now to change the saddle.
11:30 - Just put another 4 miles on going down to The Ferry (Deben estuary) in lovely brisk conditions that are so good to be riding in. The wind is very brisk and dead in my face coming home but it didn't matter. Neither did a gradient which I have been accustomed to walk up. I begin to suspect that I shall have little use for the modes. It will either be Mode 1 or off as conditions dictate. The brakes are superbly gradual and powerful. I've never understood the need for disk brakes on bicycles but perhaps I am missing something. Annoying not to have the prop stand but there could be much worse teething troubles. My Body Geometry saddle is so much better for me. The Agattu saddle is a quality affair with transverse springs below and gel in the right places, but it didn't do for me whereas my own, which is a much less sympathetic looking job, suits me well. I suppose bums vary as much as people.
5:45 - I did have a little ride this afternoon and have put 14 miles onto the clock altogether today. I now ache in lots of places but pleasantly. I'm not saddle sore but I think I've always been lucky in that way - I can't remember ever being so. The battery was only down one light of course but I've charged it nevertheless and all five lights have just gone off. I really hardly know how I'm going to do the full discharge that is recommended at first. I can't ride all those miles that's for sure. Perhaps it isn't that important. I have an instinctive feeling that keeping it topped up all the time is more important for its life. And it will need to live - 500 charges at £250 = 50p a charge! That would really make for dear riding and I'm hoping it's very much of a worse case scenario.
8:45 - I've just spent an hour with the bike in the kitchen, giving the prop stand a splint with a bit of rod and a hefty bandage of duct tape. It's working well. Not the first time duct tape has come to my rescue and I don't suppose it will be the last.
I haven't heard anything from 50cycles yet. They are busy people of course.
2 comments:
Let's see a photo of the splint then, flecc might be able to use it on his superbike.
Hi grandad - this is another grandad. So confusing!
The splint would rather horrify Flecc I fear. I just superglued the break, put the stem of a very old marking guage into the angle of the arm, and secured it in place with several layers of duct tape. The tape is silver to match but it still looks a real bodgeup. I expect 50cycles will be sending me a new one soon although I haven't heard back from them yet.
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