Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 81 total)
  • E-MTB upgrades – forks, brakes, dropper, etc
  • geex
    Free Member

    Link to the tow rope please?   I’m gonna call mine a **** taunter™…

    Still yet to meet one of these **** IRL but it could be a lot of fun if I ever do  😉

    [edit] didn’t really think **** was rude enough to need hidden from kittens eyes

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Anyone used the Thule UpRide carrier? It holds the front wheel rather than the frame. Or am I the only person stupid enough to lift a 45lb bike onto my roof?

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    TowWhee

    Looks a good idea. Doubtless someone will come along and tell us they could make one for 20p…

    geex
    Free Member

    Not being able to lift 45lb would make you weaker than a pre-pubescent child. not stupid

    Sorry. Can’t really help with roof carriers mine all either go in the car or on a towbar rack.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    It’ll certainly be easier than putting my 6 man air beam tent in the loft!

    geex
    Free Member

    Not elastic so not so great for kids but £4 for 5m ?

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25mm-Webbing-Rolls-Polypropylene-440kg-Straps-and-Lashing-Choice-of-Colour/301766119493?hash=item4642a99045:m:mbCaa_fQQLcR2vnplb9uaBA:rk:2:pf:0

    Webbing strap clips etc readily available too if you wanted something a bit more pro to attach it to your saddle rails.

    Not recommending this for your kids but.
    When we used to do tow up uplifting we’d pull the strap/tow rope under the bars, round the back of the stem and hold it with the oposite hand while also holding onto your grip. This way if anything went wrong (being towed by vehicles. it often did) you just loosened your grip and the cord fired out free of the bars.

    geex
    Free Member

    You keep 6 men in your loft… ooooh Cheekygrooveguru you 😉

    geex
    Free Member
    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Well that was hilarious! Filthy wet muddy slippery conditions, lots of sideways action, some air, one small fist/tree interface (need to chop the bars down a bit), my riding mates more amused than offended. Kept changing the assistance through the ride, turbo’d there and back, then on eco or no assistance for most of the group ride.

    I had pretty fresh legs so eco was a bit too easy and it rolls well enough that the weight penalty of it unassisted isn’t too bad. Went full turbo on one rutted chalky slippery fireroad climb and pedalled like my life depended on it, turned a three minute grind into a one minute sprint, absolutely redlined. It’s great being able to push harder knowing that if I kill myself it’ll help out later in the ride if I can’t keep up – I wasn’t pacing myself so much but working a lot harder, like I was on a shorter ride. Suspect my cardio fitness will increase because it’s like doing interval training – I’d got good at endurance but was down on my few minute max aerobic ability.

    It’s bloody fast downhill – rolls so quickly, I had moments of wondering if the motor was doing something when I wasn’t pedalling because I was catching people so quickly. A lot of bike in the tight stuff but not bad at all. Fantastic at drifting with the long wheelbase and chainstays, low centre of gravity and low-ish BB.

    Poopscoop
    Full Member

    ^^ You make that ride sound like great fun mate!

    Makes me want to get out in the slop even though I don’t have an e bike.Lol

    Cool write-up!👍

    VanHalen
    Full Member

    i like the idea of pinned uphill tech

    i need borrow it for a ride alex!

    colp
    Full Member

    Great write up Chief!

    They’re wicked hey?
    I did a 20mile ride last night mainly on eco but a lot above 16mph so only used 1 bar of the battery. As you say though, it’s great having that backup for the climbs at the end of rides

    Tracey
    Full Member

    Glad you enjoyed it, nice write up, still waiting on the pics.

    geex
    Free Member

    The extra momentum and speed when it boosts (not pedalling) out a compression is awesome isn’t it?

    Wrapped up warm (not like me at all) and rode mine in howling wind the 15mile off-road round trip to the post office yesterday to collect a parcel despite having a stinking cold that’d mean any sane non-Ebike owner would have driven or stayed at home. Felt better for it too.

    To think some folk think a gravel bike is versatile

    singlespeedstu
    Full Member

    Come on chief get some pics up.

    doomanic
    Full Member

    What was the final bill?

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Pretty much bang on £5k, with the Hillbilly for the front, the Vaults (they’re not here yet, so I borrowed them off my hardtail), the Revive and then the upgrades via the shop of Lyrik RC2 and Hope Tech 3 V4s.

    geex
    Free Member

    That’s one happy looking christmas elf

    Enjoy dude. You deserve it! 😀

    Nobeerinthefridge
    Free Member

    Nice!

    Tracey
    Full Member

    Looks good. Nice upgrades

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Thanks, it’s a great bike regardless of the motor – I knew I’d like a big 29er full-sus! That thread about your favourite British rider reminded me that one thing I’m loving about having the motor is it makes me feel like I have the explosive sprinting power of Chris Akrigg – sadly I have almost none of the trials skills but maybe I’ll be inspired to improve them?

    If you’ll permit me a moment of geometry geekery (well, there’s a surprise!) the manual lists the geometry as 66 deg HA / 347mm BB in the high flipchip position and 65.5 deg / 342mm BB in low (which is how the bike ships unless you order the 27.5+ version), whilst all the geometry info online lists the bike at 66 deg HA. I don’t know which is correct because I’ve been having too much fun to measure it!

    But anyway, with the 160mm Lyrik it’s either 65 or 65.5 deg HA which is pretty aggressive for a 29er, especially with the shorter offset fork that I’ve gone with. Regardless, the steering feels great!

    singlespeedstu
    Full Member

    Looks good.😎

    geex
    Free Member

    sadly I have almost none of the trials skills but maybe I’ll be inspired to improve them?

    Haven’t had long on any brose motors but if it’s turbo is anything like a Shimano is in boost it’s hard as anything to calibrate torque for wheelies, nevermind rear wheel trials hops. I’ll be well impressed if you master them on it. (folk have). to be fair my real problem with both is my lack of skill/calibration/coordination with brake levers. Never really got the hang of the things TBH.

    Others elsewhere have mentioned the new Levo’s closer to 65deg measured than 66
    They really should be more honest and list the 342mm setting as “slightly less high” as well 😉 But as long as it rides nice don’t fret over it.

    Who’da thunk an Ebike could cure the Chiefs numerical autism?
    (hopefully it won’t simply be replaced with range anxiety that’s all too common in the Emtb world)

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    It’s more like halfway between motorbike and pushbike trials riding that it feels should be possible on these machines – Junior E-Kickstart here I come, a few decades too late! 😉

    I think the BB height is within a few mm of my Spitfire – low enough but not so low that I get pedal placement worries, the odd smack but rarely catastrophic moments – lots of hidden stumps and roots amongst the leaves on many unofficial trails. I guess if I was designing it I’d make the high position the low one and add a lower one for properly steep or groomed trails – and tell anyone wanting 27.5+ tyres to buy a different bike…

    No range anxiety here – I have strong legs, can happily pedal it without the motor! As it’s got a 42 tooth big sprocket that more than compensates for the extra weight over my hardtail with slightly smaller wheels and only an 11-36 cassette.

    geex
    Free Member

    Yeah. I find range anxiety pretty odd too. My hardtail has an 11-25 so any climb of a decent gradient needs to be ridden entirely stood up. A switched off Eeb with an 11-46T is a luxury

    Spesh at one point did actually make FS bikes with low BB heights. Clumsy folk complained. Many many of them did it here. A lot. Low BBs come into their own cornering way more than on properly steep stuff. I don’t pedal if I can’t see what’s hidden where the pedal is passing. It’s not a race and if it was I’d have walked the track and spotted every single sniper stump/root/rock on the lines I was planning to take 😉

    Have you had fun trying power drifts yet?

    I have a Kenevo and love it. Only thing I changed was the horrible Butchers for 2.6 DH casing Ultrasoft Magic Mary’s – will probably change the rear for something less draggy. Not too much of an issue, as I have it de-restricted

    [url=https://flic.kr/p/27r34uE]IMG_20180817_173121[/url] by davetheblade, on Flickr

    weeksy
    Full Member

    as I have it de-restricted

    Stone him ! stone him !

    Stone him ! stone him !

    🙂

    geex
    Free Member

    Chief. That tow rope arrived today and I towed my daughter home from School using it this afternoon about a mile of which is a horible uphill and it’s awesome.
    Clipped onto one of my saddle rails, passed under her bar next to the stem, round the back of the stem and clipped onto the oposite brake lever body. It interferes with nothing and is stretchy enough it never once dropped low enough to get anywhere near fouling either of our wheels.
    £7.99 well spent. The bag it came looked promising but in reality is awful and ripped 3 times just carrying it to the school.

    Tow rope

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4m-Tow-Rope-2000kg-Vehicle-Car-Recovery-Hooks-Elastic-Bungee-Stretch-2-Ton-New/131673493041?

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    That’s brilliant!

    Tracey
    Full Member

    That looks good. Probably better than the extendable dog lead we tried with hilarious results.

    TroutWrestler
    Free Member

    We have 2 tow ropes made from 25mm tubular climbing tape with 5mm shockcord threaded through the middle. Loops at each end. Shockcord pre-stretched before knoting to get shrink + extend effect. Perfect for towing 5 + 7 yearold.

    Yesterday the 5 yo collided with a temporary roadsign on the A9/Tay bridge just north of Dunkeld. Embarassing.

    EDIT: I haven’t tried towing with the eBike as I worry about what the load might do to the motor. I reckon I weigh 95KG kitted up, so the additional load of 20KG kid plus 10 KG bike is pushing the limit for the Levo.

    geex
    Free Member

    I have no idea how to compute what I just read

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    Bit of an update. The Levo is so good I’ve dismantled my trusty Spitfire to sell most of the parts, so I’ll just have the full-sus e-bike and my Bird 150mm hardtail.

    The stock bars and stem on the Levo (which looked suspiciously delicate but felt absolutely fine on all those winter rides) are too bendy with me hauling on them on dry trails (during last week’s brief spring interlude). I’ve swapped the beefy RaceFace Atlas 35 50mm stem and Renthal Fatbar Lite 35s across from the Spitfire and it’s so much more direct and positive.

    And I’ve ordered some Rimpact Sendnoodz inserts because the Specialized Grid tyres have rather a narrow psi band between skittering and squirming. Last week’s ride really showed that up because some trails were very wet, very greasy, roots trying to send you off in all directions but others were super tacky and grippy. And I hate tyre squirm!

    geex
    Free Member

    Glad you’re still loving it. Has it really been 3 months already?
    Mine’s broken again.
    I hate tyre squirm too so run higher pressures than most all the time.
    Talking of which I’ve barely been off my 100mm 4X hardtail. Been riding wet trails on it the last two days on DMR motoRTs at 50psi front, 60psi rear and loving it. It’s about half the weight of my Eeb and ridiculously nimble/fast. I’ve also been doing shit loads of climbing on it. mainly stood up because of its inappropriate 11-25 road cassette.
    Yeah. I’m a pervert.

    I <3 BIKES THO.

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    I wrote a post about wheels but the stupid pop-up spam ad thing ate it.

    What would you get for a tough wheelset? Our combined torque is HIGH! I like the idea of a wider but less stiff rim at the front and a slightly less wide but super tough rear rim.

    Gotama
    Free Member

    Whilst being a long term Hope fan i would be very tempted by the Newman A30 in the e-spec if they’re in budget. Paul Aston doesn’t seem particularly gentle on things and seems to rate them..

    https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-newmen-evolution-a30-wheels.html

    chiefgrooveguru
    Full Member

    I’m not really sure what my budget is. Don’t want carbon rims. Want something with a freehub that doesn’t die prematurely with all the torque going through it (I’m not super fit but I have a lot of power for short bursts so once you add in the motor it’s going to be like gate-starts from a pro). I like Hope hubs but can the pawls handle that?

    Flow EX 27.5 on Pro 2 Evo were great on my non-ebikes but would prefer 30mm width (or more up front).

Viewing 40 posts - 41 through 80 (of 81 total)

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