Just collected my new fat bike in time for some fun in the snow next week.

Same as this demo model.

 

Edited 16 November, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

Delighted with it.

It is a medium and my other bikes are L or XL.

I wanted smaller for transporting and use on snow and rough ground, getting it over gates, walls etc.

My other bikes are doing more miles on road and track and pedal strikes are a PITA with my Cannondale even with shorter cranks fitted.

Good dropper post & shifters. Cheaper components like the gears and brakes but again what i wanted, they work.

Light wheel set and tyres and good quick release which is handy.

 

So there is walking mode & the Yamaha motor behaves differently to the Brose on my 6 fattie Levo which is much has more torque and get up and go & is silent and the Bosch on my full suspension  Cannondale which  is more jerky and you can hear working.

The Yamaha motor gives assistance and low down torque very easily and on full (turbo) setting still likes you to use the gears. That's as i wanted.

Less chance of going through as many or wrecking cassettes & chains i hope.

Edited 17 November, 20196 yr by Roottootemoot

If anyone has any buying advice, specifically, what to look for / necessities...........as I am really interested in going Pedelec myself.

 

I have a quality full suss mtb and had some fantastic rides on it, and a reasonable road bike too but due to the inevitable, the Prdelecs look very enticing to me nowdays.

I like the look of the Turbo Levo / integrated battery look.

One question, has anyone got used to riding a full suspension and then swapped to a hardtail??? Regretted it or found it fine???

 

If money was no object I would definitely get a full suspension, I think.

That Cannondale Full Sus in the pic above your post is a PITA. Good range though.

Too much pedal strikes for me and i have been using it on road and not much off.

I have to stay in the saddle and like my hard tails with plus tyres and brooks saddle.  I have bikes with a Brose, Bosch & Yamaha motors.

I prefer the Brose on my Levo Turbo hardtail.

 

Be sure to try different bikes, types, wheel size, motors etc.

1 hour ago, Tilt said:

One question, has anyone got used to riding a full suspension and then swapped to a hardtail??? Regretted it or found it fine???

If money was no object I would definitely get a full suspension, I think.

 

I've tried full suspension bikes, but they're not for me.  Felt like riding a jelly.  But then it all depends on what you use it for - I don't ride up, or down, mountains, so it doesn't suit my purpose.

 

If money was no object, I'd have an R&M Supercharger.

 

55 minutes ago, Roottootemblowinootsoot said:

Be sure to try different bikes, types, wheel size, motors etc.

 

^^^ What George says ^^^

 

There is so much choice out there, you have to try as many different bikes as you can.  The bike I had my heart set on three years ago turned out to be horrible to ride.  And one I wasn't interested in (a Wisper 905 Torque) turned out to be such a surprise I nearly bought it then and there.

 

Here's a good starting point to look at, good spec, bargain price:

https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Scott-Sub-Sport-eRide-SE-2019-Electric-Hybrid-Bike_223237.htm

 

Gaz

26 minutes ago, CallmeGaz said:

full suspension bikes, but they're not for me.  Felt like riding a jelly.

 I agree.

They can do if you don't tune in the suspension or have lock-out for climbing etc.

When you are in the £3,000 plus Full Sus e-bikes there is much tune-ability, when you are on Levo-Turbo / Kenevo etc and £4,000 plus it is a different kind of jelly that you appreciate downhill.

I wouldn't bother with full suss if not going off road, but when you are flying around Dalby Forest (on a new years day) and in 3 inches of snow, then I was glad that I had invested in full suspension. On or off road though, never really had the problem of it feeling like jelly, but they do need setting correctly to rider weight.

 

I do think they allow you to descend faster too, or at least you feel safer doing it.

Horses for courses of course though, and I do love riding proper off road.

 

It will definitely be an mtb.

 

I had considered fitting a wheel motor (so not pedelec) but neither of my current bikes are really suitable for me to do this, and I would still be looking around £500 ish.

 

I like the look of the FatSix. It looks a bit like a full suss with the shaped rear carrier.

 

Edited 8 January, 20206 yr by Tilt

It is weeks since i have ridden my Levo as been using my other bikes.

It is so smooth and loads of power and by far my favourite. 

 

7 hours ago, Tilt said:

I had considered fitting a wheel motor (so not pedelec) but neither of my current bikes are really suitable for me to do this, and I would still be looking around £500 ish

 

If you're into off road and mtb, you definitely don't want a hub drive motor.  Torque will almost always be exactly where you don't want it.  From what you've said you're after, only look at crank drive motors.  Hub motors are best left for commuting only.

 

Also, don't necessarily go chasing the highest toque outputs.  A lot of people find there's more unpowered drag on a Performance line motor than the Active line variant.

 

Best to try the different motor types too so you get a feel for them all.  They're such a personal choice.  Mine's a Shimano E6010, but if I was looking now, I'd want to have an E8000 in amongst the motors you try.

 

Gaz

Edited 8 January, 20206 yr by CallmeGaz
Typo

 

 

 

Tweedlove, Innerleithen,

Scotland. 20th May 2020

 

https://www.tweedlove.com/events/the-bosch-emtb-challenge-supported-by-trek

 

 

 

Edited 5 March, 20206 yr by DarkPeakCycles

Edited 8 April, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

@Roottootemblowinootsoot You're letting us down George............

 

Expected way more pictures from your outings. Hope you not been unwell. Glad you are getting out some now.

 

An E-bike for me is on hold for a bit, money worries and all that 5h1t going on but I still manage on my older bike for now, for exercise only, obviously. 

@Tilt

I am just doing the same local routes as usual & tying that in with caring duties without having to drive much.

Getting in early and late rides & trying to stay away from the many dog walkers and groups out and about.

Also there might not be many vehicles about but no matter how bright you might dress and how many lights you have on they somehow seem to want to kill you.

Edited 8 April, 20206 yr by Roottootemblowinootsoot

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best time of the day, before the paper/ milk boys and girls have started their rounds,

& home before the rain comes.

I bought one of these for my daughter to get about on recently during lock down. She lives in a 2nd floor apartment so a folding design was needed for easier storage.

I had a go on it before giving it to her & I have to say  I was impressed. For the price (sub £500) it was quite well made. A bit heavy though so not something you would want to carry too far. 

This model has no gears (optional) & has 3 modes - normal pedal, assisted pedal & pure electric on a twist throttle & has a battery range of 25-35km.  Disc brakes, front headlight, rear suspension & it can even re-charge your phone while riding, what's not to like😎

 

I think my wife & I will stick to our matching pair of 35 year old 18 speed Falcon Majorca's which I'm dusting off as we speak - at least for the time being. That said, the attraction of a folding electric bike that can fit more securely in the boot of the car rather than having to be strapped on the roof is starting to make me wonder. Roof mounted bikes are also too high for a lot of height restricted car parks unless you take them off before entering which is a bit of a faff.  Then again if the boot is full of folding bikes there's not much room for anything else. I did consider buying a couple of electric conversion kits for our existing bikes but tbh its now almost cheaper or the same cost to buy a pukka electric bike & get a better overall product. Humm. Decision time is looming......

 

It all leaves me cold I'm afraid, I would be far more interested in seeing pictures of your proper 35 year year old doeswhatitsaysonthetin bikes.

 

Mine is an 80's Dawes Switchback, still feels modern to me, has done everything that I could ask of it for close to 40 years and I have no desire to change it.

@Colin170CR

Basically the bike is illegal in the UK to use on public roads since it has twist and go.

 

Saying that i have one that is illegal to use on the UK's public highways as it is to a US spec / max speed when using with pedal assist, so OK for 'offroad use'. 

49 minutes ago, J.R. said:

It all leaves me cold I'm afraid, I would be far more interested in seeing pictures of your proper 35 year year old doeswhatitsaysonthetin bikes.

 

Mine is an 80's Dawes Switchback, still feels modern to me, has done everything that I could ask of it for close to 40 years and I have no desire to change it.

 

Here are some pics of our Falcon's hanging in the garage. I have only just uncovered them after a major garage clear out & tidy up. Up until this week I couldn't actually see the bikes which were totally boxed in with all sorts of other stuff.  I bought the Falcons new in 1986 from the local bike shop when we moved to our current address (shop sticker is still on them).  The idea was to cycle around all the local redway paths near where we live & get to know the area. Well, due to work & other life stuff that never really happened so apart from the odd trip out & taking one bike on a camping trip to France, when my son managed to buckle one of the wheels doing bunny hops, they've hardly been used for the last 34 years & are pretty much in mint condition.

Last year I decided it was time to dust them off & use them so I got the buckled wheel replaced & replaced the tyres & tubes - originals. What a pain that was. Apparently 26" wheels are no longer a standard size any more & the shop had to get one specially made to order? Well by the time the wheel was sorted out the summer was over so the plan to use them was put on ice until this year. Then Covid struck & while that's not an excuse for not using the bikes the wife was not happy about leaving the house for the first three months. The plan is to get the bikes up & running again so I've just added some missing mud guards, bought a micro pump & I have a rack & pannier bags on order so I can carry enough of my fishing gear to ride to some local spots without having to use the car. Having recently retired I now have more time (& no excuses) than ever before to make more use of the bike. 

When I was a kid our bikes were our first method of transport & freedom to get around. For quite a few years all my bikes were "hand me down's" from my cousins until my dad won a small amount of money on the football pools & bought me & my sister new bikes for a Christmas present. My sister got a mini Moulton & I had a drop handle bar BSA 5 speed with Simplex gears & side pull brakes. I quickly found out that Campagnolo gears & centre pull brakes are what  most kids were after in those days but I guess my dad's budget didn't stretch that far. I rode that bike for many years on my paper round & all over the place in & around London where we lived at the time. I also built my own "track" bike out of parts I found at the local dump. The most expensive part of that bike were the cow horn handle bars which I bought new & were all the rage back then😎  I'm never going to be another Chris Froome & I certainly do not want to be a MAMIL but the bike is a way to get some much needed exercise into my life. Just need to remember all the training I got when I did my cycling proficiency lessons / test back in the early 60's!!   

 

 

We are a similar age and background, making a tracker with cow-horn handlebars, remember it well. Do you recall the "ape hanger" bar craze after Easy Rider?

 

I have never owned a new bike and was doing up & selling bikes for a living at the age of 11financed by the money I collected doing a paper round but being a "Junior Agent" I earned 1/2p per paper delivered out of the 6p collected from the customers, my pay was 75p a week which I deducted from the £3 collected from the customers (if they paid 😞) but critically I had the free use of €2.25 +ve cashflow for 7-14 days to finance my buying and selling.

 

I would buy a bike and immediately advertise it for sale in that Fridays paper, had to make sure that all the repairs were done and hope that it sold or I would have to hide when the guy came to collect the takings.

 

I never had pocket money and have always had a business on the side of one kind or another whenever I wasn't self employed or running my own business. The pushbikes got me started.

 

I have used my Dawes extensively since I got it in around 1990 including 500kms from Canberra to Sydney, an all that time it has only needed brake blocks, tyres, chains and one rear sprocket set, last year the Shimano STI 7 speed changer finally broke and I after a worldwide search on the interweb I finally found a new old stock one (it was second hand 🙁) in Japan that cost me more than a new bike would have cost but I cannot put a price on the attachment I have to something that has served me so well.

 

Even now when I ride it the STI gear selector seems state of the art