if you truly loved doing something, but were unable to do it, well how much would you pay for the equipment to enable you to do it?

You can’t buy happiness, ton.

… my attitude would be to stop trying to.

I just bought 5 Curly-Wurlys for a pound. I’m quite happy with that. I am easily pleased though.

crikey, what would you do then…..just give in?

The stuff that makes me happy cant be bought with money alone.

£26.43 exactly! And not a penny more!!!

I’d be willing to sell the wife to pay for my happiness.

Is what you want available at any price?

I can’t put myself in your position but if I genuinely felt I couldn;t ride a bike that cost less than, say, £10k for health reasons I’d probably try and find something else that got me out and about in the countryside.

Is walking any distance also not an option?

Horse riding? They do make some quite big ones 😉

Oh…. and ton…. talking of happiness, I finished little Binners 24″ bike build on Saturday and she’s whizzing about gleefully on it. So a huge thank you from both of us, for the donation of the bars, which are perfect for her. 😀

I’d do something else.

Seriously ton, I would take the best advice I could regarding the chances of me being well again, and decide from there.

If you can’t ride a bike again, I don’t think spending money on a near substitute is going to make you happy.

What is the thing that would make you happy and how much is it?

It totally depends upon how long the thing you are paying for will effectively last I think.

£1000 a year perhaps?

it is a electric mtb and the cost is 3k.

You can’t buy happiness

+1

Happiness is a state of mind ,and there are a million things that will get people there.

Follow the path of enlightenment grasshopper 😉

One month’s gross salary. Use the same calculation for engagement rings too!

You cannot put a price on happiness? You still thinking about electric bikes – get a crank mount kit for one of your existing bikes – this could be fitted to different bikes and will retain its value if you don’t get on with it.

You can’t buy happiness

but, you can buy a bike, and that’s close enough.

ton – Member

it is a electric mtb and the cost is 3k.

those gruber-assist kits look ace fun!

from a review on bike radar:

“Gruber differ from most other electric bike companies in the way they present the system as a fitness aid rather than something that will take all the effort out of cycling, and this is reflected in the product – it’s aimed at people who enjoy cycling but want a little bit of assistance without disturbing the look, balance or handling of their bike.”

probably need a pinch of salt for this bit:

“Our test riding, using a 203Wh battery, showed 20 miles was well within its capability if used fairly constantly – and if used sparingly you could probably ride all day on it. “

but even so…

Happiness = happy ending? Don’t know what the going rate is to be honest. Honest.

teej, i have looked at all options regarding the kit’s available.
nothing gives you a good range i need, the kits are all designed for power rather than range.

The thing is you’re not really trying to buy happiness are you. You’re trying to buy an object that will enable you to do the thing that you already know makes you happy. I think there is a world of difference.

Given that distinction, I would be willing to spend as much as was necessary (assuming I could afford it). I would certainly go a lot higher than 3k if I had to.

it is a electric mtb and the cost is 3k.

If I had the money then yes, defo.

what TJ said and also talk to ben kinetics – I’m sure his experience can be put to good use.

I think somethign you can fit to any mtb frame will serve you better in the long run.

£3k is less than my bikes are worth, so I’d spend that, to answer your original question.

muppetWrangler, you have just said what i was meaning to say.
i wish i was good with words. cheers. 😀

Ton, with respect and sympathy for where you find yourself, I would say that that 3k would be spent to make you a bit less miserable rather than to make you happy.

Sorry, I feel like I’m pissing on your chips and I don’t mean to, but maybe you might look beyond an mtb if its not going to be…

I’m never very good at explaining what I mean at the best of times but I’ll give it a go anyway….
Over the years I’ve been as guilty as the next man of focussing too much on what I think makes me happy, rather than what actually can.
For example, from when I was sixteen until I was in my late thirties I genuinely found it hard to believe that I could be truly happy without a couple of trials bikes to ride and fettle – I just couldn’t imagine that anything could replace that. Except bass playing, which I’d been doing since about 14 – my worst nightmare was an injury or illness that would prevent me from both playing and riding……
However, circumstances change and I found myself less fussed about trials and, almost without realising it, I found myself without a bike for the first time in nearly twenty years. Life went on and the world still turned. Same with bass playing – I was more than half good at it, and I’d devoted a lot of time to being so, but now I hardly gig and although there are times when I think that I miss it, what really gets to me is the feeling of losing something that I (rightly or wrongly)felt defined me in some minor way.
The fear of becoming just another anonymous old man, I suppose.
Am I less happy now than when I was a trials riding 35 year old or a “big fish/small pond” type bass player? I don’t really know any more.

What I am able to define though is what I most enjoy about riding mountain bikes – it’s mostly about the places where I end up – which are the same places that I walk and where I’d take a horse (if I had one).I frequently tell my wife that if I’m ever feeling a bit down or unhappy that she’ll always be able to find me in one of my favourite spots in the hills and woods near where we live. It’s why I enjoy trail clearing and discovering and building new routes almost as much as riding.

But, to come full circle back to trials – if I physically was unable to ride a bicycle reasonably well then I think I’d get involved in trials again (classic/twinshock probably). Or sidecars even, for maximum banter and abuse value.

As said above really Ton.

If the electric bike is the ‘last chance saloon’ to keep doing what you’ve enjoyed for years then it’s got to be worth a go I think.

Hope it works out.

do you think that riding an electric bike will bring you the same physical tiredness and associated hormone release that you get/got from riding.

if so, spend away

Don’t like to ask but what has happened for you not to be able to ride ?

ton – I know you’ve had a really rough time of it but I do think you need to think this through, step by step. Perhaps write a list of questions – why do I ride, is it the banter of mates, the scenery, the exertion, the exhilaration of a speedy descent.

Thing is, you can’t turn the clock back and recreate what you were able to do. Moving on is really tough but there has to be something for you that you can enjoy within your physical limitations.

I’m not intending to be unsympathetic, on the contrary I am cos I had to give up running due to a shonky body. That meant not running with folk I’d known for 10 years, regular events, social stuff etc etc. But a group of us started walking and, before I’d known it, I’d given up running and was training instead for the national 3 peaks 24 hour challenge.

Your life hasn’t ended, you’re merely taking a different path and that path can still be enjoyable, whatever form it takes. Don’t be afraid.

With best wishes.
CG

What CG said is what I was trying to get across, but she has some it far more eloquently than I did; been on nights and am a bit dull as a result.

Ton.

This is obscure, I know, but there is a chap in a small town in Germany who fits electric motors to normal bikes.

I saw him doing it to a recumbent, but I don’t see why you couldn’t have it done to an MTB. All he had was a small motor, smaller than a coke can, with a sprocket on it. I reckon with a hardtail you could mount it above the chainring on the downtube but on the non-drive side, and run another chain down to the other side of the rear wheel. You’d need to look for a hub that could take it though, probably a flip flop ss hub.

He reckoned his setup could provide 500W for an hour. Plenty of fun with that!

I can probably get you the name of the shop but he didn’t speak English particularly well. More practically, someone else is probably doing it, and to be honest it’d be easy enough to do yourself. I’m sure STW could come up with enough expertise to donate.

For balance, I WOULD keep trying to do whatever the hell I wanted to. These disabled people skiing or climbing or whatever always get loads of admiration on here – I don’t see this as any different. It’s just equippment to help you do what you want. I can’t see that you have to be pedalling 100% yourself to enjoy a good downhill or a swoopy bit of singletrack.

Jeffus – Member

Don’t like to ask but what has happened for you not to be able to ride ?

His heart started going “boom biddy boom biddy biddy biddy booom.”

Ton – MY understanding from the kits I looked at is one is available that would do what you want – which I thought was to get you a boost up hills and allow you to ride down them. Crank mounted units give better torque at low speed than wheel mounted ones. It was dead expensive tho – £ 3000 for the kit but the advantage is you could continue to try it on different bikes

I posted this in it’s own thread but it seems appropriate to post it here too. DIY Electric MTB
http://endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=37489

+1 for CG’s advice

Really think long and hard about what it is about Mountain biking that you enjoy before committing lots of money towards something quite specialist. If it is the be all and end all and you absolutely must go on, then IMO you can’t put a price on happiness so do whatever you think you need to. But question why very carefully before hand, and really start thinking outside the box to see if there are actually other things out there that may keep your interest in the same way mountain biking has done previously.

I’d hate to not be able to go mountain biking ever again, but I’d probably make more music, start snowboarding again, get back into rugby, possibly give climbing a go etc. The point is there is always another hobby or interest that can turn into the next big thing, lying in wait just around the corner.

If its something you really want to do and can afford it (there or there abouts) then I’d go for it.

You’re only here once, if you genuinely think it will cheer you up then I’d buy it in a flash.

and on a slightly less serious note, maybe you could fund it by offering uplift services..fit a tow rope….it’ll pay for itself in no time 🙂

[His heart started going “boom biddy boom biddy biddy biddy booom.”]
Ok thanks , my wife and eldest daughter, have a similar problem, they are very carefull when carrying out exercise, mainly Zumba and the occasionl bike ride, stopping for rests and not slowly dropping their heart rate can make for a very unpleasant time, but I’m guessing there are many heart problems all with different concequences,
good luck Ton, I am sure you will find a direction that makes you happy.

You can’t buy happiness, ton.

… my attitude would be to stop trying to.

Indeed. Happiness comes from within. Sure, it’s cliché, but it’s a cliché because it is the truth.

I really really really enjoy flying Spitfires, but I can’t afford to. End of story. Hey ho. Sometimes in life happiness comes from reducing your expectations and/or goals.

If i couldn’t do the mountain bike thang for health reasons, i guess i’d get a motorbike over an electric bicycle. If you enjoy two wheels it’s an obvious choice.

thanks for the kind words and showing interest, thing is that i ride mainly for the banter with my mates, for the enjoyment of meeting other riders and for the enjoyment of being out in the countryside enjoying the fresh air and views.
i have ridden offroad since being 14yrs old, and the thought of not being able to do it in some form will make me a very sad boy……..selfish maybe but it is what i have always done and it is what i want to do.
walking bores me, and i cant walk uphill now anyway any faster than a snils pace.
i dont want a motorbike, too noisy and limited access, and like teej say’s all i want to do is get up a mountain/big hill once in a while and enjoy the buzz of riding back down whilst laughing and having fun with mates.
i never cycled for the exercise side of it like some blokes do, i dont wanna be the fastest up or the 1st down, i just want to get out in the hills with likeminded people.

If the electric bike is the ‘last chance saloon’ to keep doing what you’ve enjoyed for years then it’s got to be worth a go I think.

+1.

Not sure that it will sell on the classified adds on here though Ton. 😀

Can’t wait for “Ton’s first electric bike ride” There will be loads of us joining you, I bet.