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    Winter Riding "Often or Not" Is it safe?

    My lower limit has always been 20 degrees F (for a 10 mile each way commute). My hands, feet and ears can't take it any longer than that. The Barmitts did help my hands tremendously. (Also called pogies). I swear by them. My feet are too big for any of the bike shop shoe covers, so I've had...
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    * * * The 1000 Mile Club * * *

    Had a few gremlins that caused me to lose my cumulative miles, but I'm somewhere beyond 4500 miles on my ebike. Still love it, though no longer doing a daily commute, so the miles aren't adding up as quickly.
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    Electrifiening my tandem bike

    I've been considering the same with my old tandem. I was thinking of a front motor as well since the installation is so much simpler. Most tandems have a wider rear hub that would make connecting a hub motor more difficult. If you opt for a rear motor, be sure to check the width of the drop...
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    GREAT Commute This AM!

    If you're commuting regularly, buy a charger for work. I've lost a charger by carrying on my bike too much. They tend to have heavy components that don't take shock well (separate from the PC board, etc.). A small charger is probably fine since you'll likely be there 8 hours or so.
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    Cold Thumb!!!

    +1 for Bar Mitts. Been using them for 2 years now. Neoprene material. Big enough to cover my throttle and shifters and I can wear lighter gloves. I've used them to 20 degrees F. Everything else was freezing but my hands were OK.
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    Central battery mounting

    This is one of those obvious things that can bite you, but be sure there's enough room for your pedals and knees to clear the battery. That key sticking out could be a particular problem if it is not far enough forward to be out of the way. Anything more than about four inches wide could be a...
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    Ran stop sign. What would you do?

    My philosophy - safety trumps laws. I do what's safest first, then follow the laws as much as possible. My rule of thumb is the less real interaction with cars, the better: - At a 4 way stop, I'll barely slow if it keeps me out of the intersection with any other cars. - Choice of bike trail...
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    Poll: Average Speed, distance, total bike, etc usage..

    My stats (by no known scientific collection method): Average speed: 18-20mph Distance: Commute: 23 mi/day Other: 15 mi/day Usually do one or the other. e-riding ~3 days/week for ~ 50 mi/week total C rate (wild guestimate) 1 - 1.5C Time riding ~ 1 hour (longer on commute days...
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    I'm a jerk - a story of an ebiker playing with roadies

    We have a fairly large biker group where I work. On several occasions where a big wind kicked up in the afternoon (a common Spring occurence here) I've received grateful thank you's when I offered to let one of them draft me home. The common section we ride is about 9 miles. We have a lake at...
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    Ft.Collins CO City Council meet TONIGHT: eBikes on trails?

    In Ft. Collins case, the narrowest trails are also the oldest. They are also the most convenient to the center of town. The newer trails are much wider with few blind or sharp curves. This point came up in the City Council discussion. The multiuse trails are clearly seen as recreation...
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    Batteries vs Cold ☃

    I noted a comment/question about whether the self heating that occurs from the voltage droop you get when cold will correct the problem. I was riding in 25 deg F ( -4 deg C) weather last night where the bike had been parked outside for several hours (returning from the city council meeting...
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    Ft.Collins CO City Council meet TONIGHT: eBikes on trails?

    Here's my report from the Dec 20 Ft. Collins city council meeting. It was one of the stranger events I've ever attended and a good example where misinformation/education and other problems managed to block normally rational thoughts. The ordinance passed on this reading. What that means is...
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    Ft.Collins CO City Council meet TONIGHT: eBikes on trails?

    Lock - you're my hero! Thanks much. CVW
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    Ft.Collins CO City Council meet TONIGHT: eBikes on trails?

    OK, It's on the agenda for tomorrow night - Dec 20th. For those interested, here's the URL for the City council agenda. See the summary agenda and item 27 which contains the main and alternate wording for the ordinance. I'd like to present at the agenda tomorrow, but one thing I haven't been...
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    Ebike reliability. How often do you break down?

    In two years and around 5000 miles, among other things: - intermittent, then failed controller (stranded me twice > 5 miles from home - long, slow ride) - failed throttle (stranded me once 8 miles from home) - 3 flats and one blowout. Able to buy a new tire as bike shop was 2 blocks away. -...
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    what type of throttle do you prefer

    I swapped from a thumb to a half-twist. If you primarly do shorter rides, thumb throttles are great. Once you've been holding it an hour or so, you start feeling sorry for all the people with carpal tunnel syndrome as the tendons up your arm will get sore. I went with a half twist since you...
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    Fort Collins e-bike rider collides with Expedition

    Back to the rider. I'm just back in town and read about this. The location is about 4 miles from where I live. I haven't heard the details other than the posted article, but from the newspaper account and the location, the rider must have had some major distraction to have run the stop sign...
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    Wildlife Sightings

    Rode up a rise (on the tandem with my wife) to come head to head with a bobcat crossing the road right in front of us. Passed each other less than 3 feet apart. We also get elk coming down the river into town. It's always interesting to see them in the fall.
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    Broken Spoke. Am I fat or do spokes age??

    I've broken quite a few spokes - both on the front hub motor and on the rear wheel. The number one rule as mentioned above is to keep spokes tensioned. If they get loose, they'll definitely break much sooner. I weigh about 200 lbs but carry my work stuff in a pannier so am probably loading my...
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    Fitness and ebiking

    It's always a choice. I'm another from a biker background, so have to make a decision each time whether to take the ebike or one of my other (pedal) bikes. I find I probably drop a little behind in the early spring when I otherwise would be pedaling only. The rest of the year, I believe I'm...
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    What tyre sealant?

    Sounds like you're heading down the right path. Don't bother with light weight slime tubes. I tried to use them on my road bike and they were worse than racing tubes. I have had some mixed luck with Stan's. Our problem is "goat heads". I've pulled 4 or 5 from my front tire, but the rear...
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    A Bike for Hikes

    Looking over the specs for the conhismotor battery you bought, note that it is only spec'd for 20A continuous. To maximize battery lifetime, you might want to limit your max current to 20-25A, not the 30A you have now. I know the battery says it will allow 40A, but if you are doing long...
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    A Bike for Hikes

    Hi ndk, I assume when you say RMNP you mean Rocky Mtn and you live in/near Estes Park? I live in Ft. Collins - we have two ebikes you might want to try for comparison to help decide what you ultimately need. My wife's bike is a 9C with a 48V NiMH battery and 20a controller. It has the "speed"...
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    New Guy With Crystalite Phoenix Question

    I've been using the same motor as you're looking at on my commuter for over two years now. My commute is 11 miles with a 6-7% at the end of my commute. I weigh 190 lbs and always pedal along with riding. I'm running 48V with the 4840 controller (allows 40Amps current draw). My thoughts: 1...
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    Unconventional places to stick the batteries

    Well, Duct tape certainly comes in a wide variety of colors today, but I haven't seen the 2 foot wide version. It might be fun pulling that off the roll!
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