4500+ Miles US Ebike Tour - August 2014
- Thread starter grindz145
- Start date
dnmun
1 PW
Pearl street mall. been there 30 years ago, in the exact same spot for Halloween which is way out there too. it gets so steep so fast when you go west it is a totally different type of bike riding. so glad you made it.
grindz145
1 MW
dnmun said:
Yeah I went up into the rockies a bit. I honestly don't think they're too bad. Lots of switchbacks. When compared to the roads in the catskills and adirondacks, the grade didn't seem that terrible, since the roads in the mountains in new york and PA seem to go straight up over the hills, rather than tack around them. I won't know for sure on this trip. I'm fairly confident it wouldn't have been an issue though. Of course I can see the allure of mid drive in any of such hills
grindz145
1 MW
coming up soon! I had class last night ( in which I missed the first one since I was on the road) so I didn't have time to do an edit last night.
Doctorbass
100 GW
Congrat Troy !!
I'm sure this advanture was awesome! That remember the Justin Cross Canada trip.. like you mentioned. I will watch all your video once I return to home after my work.
This summer I did a 2200km trip with my Zero and DIY range booster pack. I really appreciated the Meanwell to charge faster!
Troy you are awesome! Congrat for the record breaking :wink:
Doc
I'm sure this advanture was awesome! That remember the Justin Cross Canada trip.. like you mentioned. I will watch all your video once I return to home after my work.
This summer I did a 2200km trip with my Zero and DIY range booster pack. I really appreciated the Meanwell to charge faster!
Troy you are awesome! Congrat for the record breaking :wink:
Doc
dnmun
1 PW
yep, the switchbacks you rode up going west goes up past Chautauqua park. that's where lance used to train and about 5 million other bike riders in boulder and denver and ft collins. you woulda seen tons of bike riders in that area.
grindz145
1 MW
Doctorbass said:
Thanks Doc! My journey was not really comparable to Justins journey, many years prior. He is amazing. I think the time in which I was able to do 4400 miles is relevant and ultimately proves e-bike touring to be very practical, even if I did it at an accelerated rate.
grindz145
1 MW
whelp. In an ironic twist of fate, I pretty much destroyed my frame today on the way home. My front rack came loose suddenly, lodged itself into the wheel, locking it up, and sending me over the bars.... this was the aftermath:
http://instagram.com/p/sf3dQRtk5Q/
http://instagram.com/p/sf3dQRtk5Q/
Thud
1 MW
Ouchers!
Epic end to an epic adventure......prolly more fitting end to an old solder....went out with his boots on or something to that effect.
Did you get banged up at all?
Epic end to an epic adventure......prolly more fitting end to an old solder....went out with his boots on or something to that effect.
Did you get banged up at all?
melodious
100 kW
I recall you had mentioned on your big trip that you were getting front side wobbles (headset?). Could this have been a factor in your front rack failure?
I'm still trying to wrap my head as to how the failed rack locked up the front wheel
down tube break...
grindz145
1 MW
melodious said:
I recall you had mentioned on your big trip that you were getting front side wobbles (headset?). Could this have been a factor in your front rack failure?
I'm still trying to wrap my head as to how the failed rack locked up the front wheel
nope
grindz145
1 MW
veloman said:
take a look at how round the rack is in the picture. It wasn't like that in the first place
frock...
dogman dan
1 PW
Better the frame than your collarbones. That's one of my bigger fears when riding around 100+ miles from home, a frame issue that bad. Incredible it never happened till you got back to your hometown.
grindz145
1 MW
Thud said:
Not too bad. A little sore. It was violent for sure. Threw me right over the bars. Pretty hard to do with all that mass in the rear. I'm glad that it didn't happen during the trip! I think the frame was already weakened from the crash into the school bus in july so that didn't help matters any.
grindz145
1 MW
dogman said:
Yeah, this is lucky. It's just the rack that was the issue, I bet it would have lasted a long time without it. I think I can find another donor frame and keep all the xtracycle stuff. Not totally sure yet. I took it for a ride around the block last night after a bent it back. It's obviously not viable, but most of the stuff works.
jkbrigman
10 kW
Troy, dude, you overcoming the bad luck you run into just makes you more badass man. It's inspiring to those of us who have similarly bad luck.
grindz145
1 MW
jkbrigman said:
Nobody escapes it
Just have to keep pushing, and keep positive!
I myself am not always super-successful at this... Ask my wife
Thanks for the words of encouragement.
jkbrigman
10 kW
I hope, someday, to ride an ebike in your direction and shake your hand. Then sit down and have some actual as-God-intended Buffalo Wings with something from Southern Tier, Troegs or Ommegang. From where I'm sitting, that's 660 miles and 14,000 feet of cumulative climbing.
Makes me wonder if a mid-drive is a better choice than a hubmotor for that kind of riding....
Makes me wonder if a mid-drive is a better choice than a hubmotor for that kind of riding....
grindz145
1 MW
jkbrigman said:I hope, someday, to ride an ebike in your direction and shake your hand. Then sit down and have some actual as-God-intended Buffalo Wings with something from Southern Tier, Troegs or Ommegang. From where I'm sitting, that's 660 miles and 14,000 feet of cumulative climbing.
Makes me wonder if a mid-drive is a better choice than a hubmotor for that kind of riding....
I dunno, If anything I definitely trust the simplicity and reliability of a hub motor. I've climbed some huge hills, but without a temperature feedback, I was sheepish.
I grew up in Buffalo though, and if you ever pass through, I'll see to it that we find some good wings and a good microbrew
grindz145 said:
Yowch! I don't suppose anyone could post the images or whatever directly to ES; wherever I've tried so far with wifi access around here, that domain is blocked.
grindz145
1 MW
jkbrigman
10 kW
Troy - thought I'd ask, since no one has yet:
You have the two meanwells mounted on your bike, plus you carried the air-breathing charger. Do you consider the meanwells one of your successes of the ride? What about the air breather?
You have the two meanwells mounted on your bike, plus you carried the air-breathing charger. Do you consider the meanwells one of your successes of the ride? What about the air breather?
grindz145
1 MW
jkbrigman said:
Absolutely. If I could have 1300 of pure mean well I would. But I happened to get that 900w chinese charger for cheap, and it is fairly light for ~1kW. However, when it rained, it didn't do me any good, so it was really nice to have the mean wells.
Once I get the frame sorted out again, Ill eventually remove the air-breathing charger again, and just stick with my mean wells. That's the way I usually cruise around town, and then I'll thrown the air-breather in a bag if I'm going to head out of town (or bolt it back on). Truthfully I don't notice the weight.
