wwaswas

I was surprised by how little running the “warm up” cycle takes out of the battery.

The drain is relatively low for the car to become defrosted, only takes about 10 minutes, doesn’t really bite into the driving range too much.

I have a Nissan Leaf electric car, bought about six weeks ago.

You can warm the car up remotely, defrost front and rear windows, heat the seats, heat the steering wheel, ac on.

Really good feature, then just jump in and rive away in defrosted car all warm, nice.

Regarding the question about being a qualified risk assessor.

We had a consultant visit us to provide training for a morning a week for six weeks.

Classroom and shopfloor based.

We also had to submit a report on three selected areas of risk within the workplace.

He then marked / assessed the reports to see if we understood the issues whilst cross checking against industry safety standards.

We all enjoyed the course, and it did open our eyes to the world of H&S. he kept stressing that the risk assessments were not an arse covering exercise, and that they should be shared and communicated to the shopfloor employees.

I used to make presentations at the safety briefings about the individual risk assessments, explaining that they were not set in stone, and they needed individuals input to review and update any changes in working practices.

The shopfloor employees ( where most of the higher risk based activities were) were genuinely interested in these briefing sessions. Sadly stopped by the plant manager, who openly said they were boring………
The team of risk assessor did genuinely feel that they were trying to make the place safer, since I left the whole system has just disintegrated as there is a culture of fear. But that’s another workplace thread……

Never one to let my prejudices get in the way , on reflection and listening to some of the responses on here, yes, it probably is safer to reverse park.

I think I may have let the argument become clouded by the last employer not really taking serious h&s isuues on board.

As opposed to the more visible low risk stuff.

Humble pie has now been eaten for breakfast.

I said I’d leave it, but you don’t know anything about me or my work history.

Arse covering is not risk assessment…

Served an apprenticeship in a shipyard in the 70’s, had my best friend killed in a workplace accident in a alumina rolling plant.

The last place of employment was relatively dangerous with some really high risk areas.

The car park wasn’t one of them, but it was to the higher echelons of the organisation.

Qualified risk assessor amongst other senior roles.

Hey ho.

I’m fine with being in the minority point of view.

But they did put a traffic bump in at the exit to stem the follow of traffic out of the car park.

No accidents with free for all parking.

But we did have one accident due to the reverse parking, a lot of folk would park the rear of their car ( wheels) right up to the kerb.

There was a pedestrian path behind the kerb, a couple of people walked into the car protruding onto the path.

I prefer to let Darwins theory of natural selection to take its due course sometimes :-)

DinoDen signing off,

I suppose I must be the old dinosaur in the room, yep, I’ve read the responses and listened to the mantra put out by the last employer.
Well is was more of a dictator decision actually, it was even a disaplinary issue…….

However, the Grand Prix start at clocking off time was definitely more of a risk, but I”lol except that I am in the minority here.

As I said, I was a qualified risk assessor, and there were much greater risk areas other than parking the car in the car park.

Still can’t see how it is safer to reverse in.

Stats can be made to confirm all sorts of arguments.

Big supermarkets, nearly everyone parks nose in to load the boot with the stuff they have bought, I don’t recall seeing any accidents when I shop, but there must be some sort of stats that the big firms use to convince each you that parking nose in is safer in this case.

I just thought, and still do, that it was someone high up in the leadership structure who wanted to make a statement.

They did seem very hung up on low risk level politically correct safety issues.

At clocking off time it was like a Grand Prix start line with all the cars lined up in the same direction. The reduced awareness by a lot of people and their desire to leave rapidly was actually encouraged by facing the right way out.

When there was random parking, the driver awareness was actually higher, and less of a Grand Prix start.

No problem, glad I’m retired and away from the politically correct safety stuff.

I agree with the OP about the use of the phone whilst driving.

But the workplace has gone a bit daft in terms of some of the H&S risk assessments.

I was one of the risk assessor sin a large US company in the UK.

It was a chemical / pharma company where there was an obsession about handrail holding and reverse parking. The reverse parking in particular was pure non sense. Nobody can give a satisfactory answer as to how it is safer.

When parking it will always involve both driving straight in or out and a reverse manoveour.

There was so much attention to this politically correct low rise safety stuff, yet the fire assembly point was right next to 2 enormous vessels contain liquid alcohol.

In the event of a fire , we would have been standing right next to the biggest and most volatile substance in the plant.

It took ages to get the fire assembly point moved, due to the difficult act of getting the sign moved and altering the literature etc.

We even had to have a training session to “educate” all concerned where the new fire assembly point was.

Shameless plug,

Selling my 650b Chromag Wideangle in the classifieds.

Would seem to tick most people’s boxes for a long travel hardtail frame, given a glowing review by Singletrack mag not long ago.

Just checked, your first post and a 3/10 rant.

Have I upset you in some way?

Err……..ok.

Yep, didn’t bruise my sit bone, but it sure was painful for about a month.

Bosch CX motor with a 400w battery on my Lebowske Fat Bike will give at least 30 miles off road, includes 3,000 feet of climbing.

90% of the assist is in eco mode, but the rolling resistance of the 4″ tyres is probably more than most on here.

I’m surprised by the poor battery performance the OP is getting though.

Another thumbs up from me.

You will get used to the battery range, using eco mode will give you the confidence to ride further.

Have you got a 400w or 500w battery?

I have both, if I go for a long ride then I’ll put the spare battery in my backpack.

Great fun, but not the same handling as a non pedal assist bike though.

apologies, please delete, in the wrong forum.

So much for staying sober in 2017…..

I ride a lot at Afan, BPW and Brechfa.

However, I seem to be naturally becoming a little more cautious and don’t ride any of the difficult black graded trails anymore.

Ride the fat bike and e fat bike most of the time now.

Blue grade Singletrack, fireroads, taking my time, taking more photos, stopping for tea and cake are my 2017 goals.

I’m going to give up completely until my birthday later this month , three weeks away.

Just a little fed up with it really. Seems to be more of a habit that I have fallen into, rather than enjoying it.

Also, my sleep seems disrupted by drinking, and never feel that good first thing in the morning when I wake up.

Bikes and Yurts

Felt Lebowske e fat bike
Sonder Vir Fortis fat bike

Just about to open a bottle of Glenrothes Robur Reserve.

Never had of bottle of this before, my wife bought it for me on a return trip from abroad, duty free.

Looking forward to some extensive testing,just in from a ride in the gloomy mist, need to replenish my fluids…….

Just putting a new front tyre on the fat bike this morning, tubeless.

Had a bit of trouble seating, so inserted the inner tube and the tyre seated after waiting an hour or so.

Re fitted the tyre without the tube, fine.

Didn’t put any Stans in it, looked at the wheel and tyre, and the tyre is on the wrong way around…….

Just started all over again, waiting for the tyre to seat with the tube in.

Tyre is the right way round now.

I use a sort of halfway house rigid on my fat bike.

Lauf fork, carbon, light and a little bit of suspension with no maintenance required.

Ticks all the boxes for me.

fin25 has got it.

Ever consuming customers is what most of this is about.

Their does seem to be quite an industry built up now to make us healthy. This requires us to spend our cash to adopt a desired lifestyle and body image.

Some never attain it, and just pig out, there is an increasing fat nation growing out there.
Both the food industry and the health food industry are just businesses feeding off our disposable income.

Having said that, I am just on the cusp of being classed as overweight using the BMI index.

Time to eat and drink a little more sensibly.

DT rim is 675g

Depends on which Surly rim you go for , the Rolling Darryl is 860 g

Tubeless is the way to go though,

then there are light tyres and heavy tyres.

again the surly tyres are on the portly side.

tofu21

I haven’t owned the Surly wheels, but did fit a tubeless set up for my friend on his Pugsley.

World of difference in my opinion.

The Surly wheels / rims are a tad heavy, and a little workmanlike in their construction. Much like most of the Surly stuff, no bad thing in itself, but a shade heavy.

DT wheels are light and really well made.

Reducing weight and rotational mass here is a very good thing, as with any bike really. Good wheels, have stood up to everything I have thrown at them.

I can’t say I would totally agree with the plus bike option for trail centre riding though.

I had one of the first Trek Stache 9 ‘s, and just didn’t gel with it I suppose.

The fat bike is better for me and more fun, but there’s not much mud to be seen at Afan.

Main attraction for me is the comfort of the fat bike, plus I have always wanted one, now I have two.

One is an ebike, the other is the conventional have to provide all the energy.

Just off out now to burn some turkey off.

£7 in sunny Neath.

Once a month

Have to agree with dovebiker.

I bought the Sonder Vir Fortis as stock.

Since owning it the made some big upgrades , DT Swiss wheels tubeless tyres, flip between the Lauf Carbonara and Bluto fork.

Wheels and fork make such a difference , but are spendy items.

Good thing about the Lauf , is fit and forget.

Whatever you get, enjoy and ride.

Head over to Alpkit.

Have a look at their Vir Fortis Carbon fat bike.

Very good spec, very light, I ride mine regularly at Afan Argoed, typical trail centre .

Doesn’t have to be a beautiful lady , if you spill a lot……..

Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C Clark

The lies of Locke Lamora – Scott Lynch , probably the best I have read in a while

The Well of Ascension – Brandon Sanderson

The Power of the dog – Don Winslow

American Gods – Neil Gaiman

ref allthe gear

Battery running out…

well yes, you can run out of battery.

and you can run out of diesel or petrol as well.

In fairness, it does need a bit more planning to manage the battery / journey requirements, its not as smple as pulling into a petrol station.

As I said, not for everyone, but it would be for alot of people.

How many people drive more than 65 miles a day every day?

In the true spirit of Singletrack forum members, I would recommend you having a look at what I have.

Take a trip over to the Alpkit website, and have a look at the Vir Fortis carbon fat bike.

Can’t do any direct comparison , but the Vir Fortis is very good, and very light. Can fit 5″ tyres if you want as well.

I have had a few diesel engined cars.

Won’t be buying another one again.
The new engines with all the technology to make them pass the emissions testing is just making the engine way to complicated and expensive when it goes wrong.

Leasing is probably the best option, at least it is covered by the manufacturers warranty, and no long term big bill issues.

Had the EGR valve go on my Skoda diesel after 3 years of use. My driving habits changed, so no big mileage.

I’D just steer clear of any diesel unless driving a lot of miles.

Petrol, quieter, cleaner, nicer to drive these days in my opinion.

I went electric , Nissan Leaf, but it’s not for everyone, but no cam belt, egr, DMF, or any whirring around bits.
Lovely and quiet as well.

Petrol engined car with a cam chain probably best option for most, and would have an auto.

I also have a USE suspension post spare, the one with the elostomer inside it.

Might be the correct diameter.

The Double Edge looks more like what we would need, although the lapierre is nicer, but more expensive.

Been married some what seems like forever :-)

Thanks ty again

Other end of the country, near Afan in South Wales

The Lapierre looks a better option with the fork, I also have a sort of spare Pike fork which would fit.

I’ve got whispbars bars as well, taken off our now sold Skoda Fabia Scout.

Yes, bit of a stealth ad here.

Mine will be for sale.

Drop me a pm, and I can get some images.

Only selling as I haven’t used it for ages.

I’ve got a Felt Lebowske e fat bike, had it for about 6 months now.

Covered 1,500 miles, ridden mainly around Afan and a few times at BPW.

Chain slap is there, but have covered the chain stay inside an old inner tube, twice now, as the chain rubs.

Tyres are different for me, having 26 x 4 Jumbo Jims, run at around 8 psi tubeless.
Hardly ever look at the computer screen apart from the occasional check on the battery bars left.

Did have an intermittent problem with the bike cutting out, which was eventually tracked down to a faulty unit from the battery to the motor. Now resolved and works fine.

Likes brake pads, bit of a weight and mass to bring to a stop.
Motor has got noticeably noisier over time though.

I like it a lot, but still ride a conventional non assisted bike(s), as I also like being under my own steam.
Enables me to ride more often though.

IRC

We (Western world) have stood by and watched a truly desperate human tradgey on our TVs screens for ages.

C4 news in particuar have covered this.

We should have done more.

It’s not who started it, it’s simply watching the death of innocent women and children each day.

It’s not a blame thing, leave that to the politicians.